Award-Winning Physics Tutors serving Cambridge

The student and I first worked on finishing and editing her physics lab report. We then worked on her pre-calculus assignment, which covered graphing parabolas by first determining the vertex and x- and y-intercepts. She understands how to do graph transformations well, so she caught on quickly. By the end, she was able to determine the vertex and intercepts from the standard form and quadratic form.

Today we covered the interpretation of position and velocity versus time graph. On his current homework, he had a solid understanding of conservation of energy equations but did not fully understand them conceptually. I gave him a lesson to strengthen that knowledge and we worked on practice problems to reinforce that knowledge.

We started talking about different optics subjects as well as certain quantum topics, such as the photoelectric effect, de Broglie wavelength, and uncertainty principle. We spent most of the session covering Snell's law, internal reflection, and light speed through mediums.

The student has a test the following week on the concepts for work-energy principle and conservation of mechanical energy. He understand the basic concepts and seems to understand the process now. After our sessions, he should be able to pass the test.

We went over the basics of how to model physical situations in regard to forces. After a quick explanation of the concepts, we worked on a few problems together, which he was able to complete effectively. We then reviewed trigonometry required to be able to use vectors efficiently. He was new to the trigonometry, but despite it being new material, he used it well when applied to a few practice problems.

Long sessions with the student continue since she has the exam coming up on Friday. Luckily, we have reviewed pretty much every topic on her exam. All that remains is for her to finish the remaining practice problems with ample time for her exam. Today we reviewed tension and ropes extensively. I'm sure that topic is engraved in her head very well. I'm proud of the student's progress and understanding, especially the diligence with which she prepares for our sessions. I'm confident her hard work will pay off and she will begin scoring in high B's and A's.