GAMSAT Physics & Math A List of Must “Reads”

Question: Can I leave physics as it constitutes only 20% of the 3rd section?
Answer: No you cannot.
Whoever thinks it is ok to leave (physics and math) for the Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences section must be nut!

You should know that GAMSAT has a very tricky scoring system. The questions least answered by the test takers are given more weightage. I don’t mean to say that physics or math are the least answered among all, but then again you never know what you might be able to answer. So, don’t take the chance of leaving anything out.

Anyways, physics is only 12th standard level compared to the other 2 (biology and chemistry) that are 1st year university level. In the last 2 episodes you got a pretty good idea of what textbooks to keep with you for studying biology and chemistry. In our final episode of the series “Must ‘Read’ for GAMSAT” we will see what books will help us get a good enough knowledge to study physics and math.

Before beginning, let me answer a question that is going on in your mind right now. “Why are you adding math too along with physics, mate?”
Answer: Math is a universal subject for this section. Although not mentioned explicitly in the GAMSAT info booklet math still is important. After all you need to be doing a number of data interpretations and random calculations in quite a number of questions.
So, Math is important. So, get hold of any 12th standard math book and practice questions from the topics BODMAS, Probability, Permutation and Combination, Trigonometry, Venn diagram and Speed and Time and Height sums.

Coming back to physics, let’s see what books could be used.

Physics

The first thing to keep in mind is this is a subject which if a get a grasp of GAMSAT questions will look like a breeze.

Get hold of the physics book you had studied in the 12th standard. If you didn’t have physics then, buy one. One good textbook is Heinemann Physics. It has 2 volumes – for 11th standard and 12th standard. Study both to cover all topics.

Another popular one is Excel HSC Physics. It has simple explanations, is not as scary as the other big ugly textbooks.

If you don’t like the above options try Basic physics self teaching guide by Karl F. Kuhn. It’s cheap and well … basic with all the basic topics covered. The book is written in a very conversational style, so you might actually like to read it.

The one book series I refrained from suggesting is the “Dummies“. Although I should tell you about this before I end my series on the must “read”.
Why?
Because they are not standard science books. But still if you are comfortable with these dummies, go for it. They are available for all the subjects – Physics, Chemistry and Biology. My suggestion would be, go through it once, if you like it, I mean if you are comfortable with the understanding then buy them and read them. Although, always have some standard textbook too with you along with this.

That is all I have here for you regarding the textbooks you must have. But textbooks don’t help you completely. Tutorials give you a pathway. Coming up soon is the Prepgenie Tutorial … The Learning Management System which will help you prepare for GAMSAT in the MOST successful way.

Until next time …

Have a nice day