Differences between Physics SL and HL books?

[ouribjourney]

Hi guys,

 

I am currently taking Physics SL for one of my courses. I was wondering what the difference between the SL and the HL book is  (the Pearson Baccalaureate books)? I wanted to get one of the books, but I'm wondering if getting the HL one would help me in university. I know that for chemistry, the topics in the HL level are after the SL level topics, so it would help to get the HL version if someone were to take SL and want the book for university. Is there a difference between the physics books? I mean, does the SL material stay in the front of the book, or is it kind of mixed in the HL material? 

 

I'm sorry if I don't make myself clear enough. I've never been too good at explaining myself.

 

Thank you for any help you can provide!!

[ctrls]

I'm not sure if an IB textbook will be particularly useful for post-IB studies with physics, because it's closely written based on the syllabus. As a result, a lot of results tend to be oversimplified - particularly with mathematical relationships where all forms of calculus are omitted. I would personally recommend just getting a different, more suited book later on, which albeit more costly.

 

Though using the HL textbook shouldn't really be a problem. Although the content in each chapter is mixed between HL and SL, the two are kept separate in each sub-section. At the start of each sub-section all the covered syllabus points are listed, so you can quickly look at that to figure out if it is HL only or not (topics 9-14 are AHL).

[John Hoose]

You'll probably go into extra depth by using HL books - the only real major difference is that the HL books will not examine all the SL options, and some HL only stuff. 

 

Although it should all be marked clearly (what is SL and what is HL) - my advice would be to just study topics that are in your syllabus, and if you learn some extra detail, it will only help you.