fcb1013 Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 Does anyone know if there is much difference between the following two textbooks?http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Principles-Applications-MasteringPhysics-Edition/dp/032168785Xhttp://www.amazon.com/Higher-Level-Physics-IB-Diploma/dp/0435994425They are both by Pearson but I've been recommended the latter, with many saying that it is one of the best physics textbooks out there.Are there any other textbooks or combinations which you would recommend for PHYSICS HL?Thank you! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadMouse Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 (edited) I second the latter. I can't say much for the first textbook, but I have other one and I find it's it's great when it comes to explaining concepts; it's easy to read through, the language is very easy to understand, so far I haven't experienced any ambiguity--they've done an excellent job making it clear cut. You won't be welcomed with crap loads of dry mathematical problems where you're asked questions like :'If John gives two apples to Julia....find the mass of the sun when, keeping the number of tampons constant'.That being said, the book is oversimplified. So while it's great for concepts it's no replacement for a teacher. The problems given in the book are trivial a lot of the times, so use past papers, questions etc. to prepare for real IB type questions. If I were given the choice between the two, I'd go for the second link, just cause it's written according to the IB course, whereas the other one isn't (I think). I've never used both so I can't say for sure. Just my 2 cents. Edited June 27, 2013 by DeadMouse 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dniviE Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 The Pearson book is very good (even though I don't like Physics much). My teacher wrote it and he is a genius on this! He is currently re-writing it for the new syllabus which I think will be the one that OP is doing as he is scheduled to have his exams in May 2015. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcb1013 Posted June 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 The Pearson book is very good (even though I don't like Physics much). My teacher wrote it and he is a genius on this! He is currently re-writing it for the new syllabus which I think will be the one that OP is doing as he is scheduled to have his exams in May 2015. The second one looks great. The thing is that our school listed the first as a requirement, but since they're both from Pearson, I'm wondering what the difference between the two is (if any)? What is OP? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IgnisRexLeo Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 I am not a physics student but in boarding school, both my roommates are Physics HL, so this is the only info I can give:1. The best book (and toughest by a substantial margin) is the one by K.A. Tsokos - http://www.amazon.com/Physics-IB-Diploma-Full-Colour/dp/0521138213I've heard the questions are damn tough and if you want a 7, this is the one to practice from.2. The second one is the one by Pearson Baccalaureate, but I've only seen my roommates use this for revisions and not when they're actually going through the course material for the first time.I only thought I should post this because they always get a 7, so there must be some validity in what they say 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ib-dying Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 the second Pearson one by Hamper is alright but quite unorganised if you study by the syllabus outcomes.the diagrams and explanations are pretty good but i wouldn't really recommend it if you're SL because the SL and HL stuff are mixed so you don't really know what is SL and what is HL. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctrls Posted July 15, 2013 Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 I've found the book by Michael Dickinson to be helpful. It lacks exercises and there are a number of mistakes, but I've found the explanations to be clear and concise. I got it several weeks before my end of year exams, but I found it extremely useful to go over topics I didn't really understand.I haven't really found any that give particularly good questions though, so I've been relying on past-papers for the most part. I tend to struggle with definitions and explanations, which a lot of books seem to skip over. Do keep this in mind when choosing books - understanding concepts is important, but do also make sure to familiarize yourself with the style of questions.1. The best book (and toughest by a substantial margin) is the one by K.A. Tsokos - http://www.amazon.com/Physics-IB-Diploma-Full-Colour/dp/0521138213I've heard the questions are damn tough and if you want a 7, this is the one to practice from.Personally, I didn't find it to be that good. While some of questions are challenging, it seems to be generally repetitive and the difficult questions aren't really relevant. Since the Maths behind the actual IB questions are so simplified in most cases, I didn't think it was particularly useful. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollath Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 (edited) I have two textbooks, the Pearson and the Cambridge by Tsokos, and the Cambridge is waaaaay better. In my opinion the single best textbook I've ever used, the descriptions are concise, detailed and well explained, and the questions get really challenging, which is good in my opinion.http://www.gobookee.org/physics-for-the-ib-diploma-tsokos/download it for free there. Edited October 23, 2013 by Hollath Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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