Physics tutoring for high school.
Physics almost always gets stuck at the same point: the formula is written before the phenomenon is understood. In the lessons we restart from there (force diagram, reference frame, dimensional check) before the numbers.
First the phenomenon, then the formula.
The students I work with
- Catching up a failed subject in physics in September, with a test plan targeted on the catch-up exam syllabus.
- Revision before a test on the current topic: dynamics, energy, thermodynamics or electromagnetism.
- The liceo scientifico maturità: the oral and practice papers on the physics questions of recent years.
- Students who "know the formulas but cannot solve the problems": the most common case, and the easiest to fix with the right method.
How it works
- You send in advance the exercise or the test that is holding you back.
- Together we rebuild the physical phenomenon with a drawing: what happens, which forces act, what is conserved.
- We state the reference frame and check the dimensions of every formula before using it.
- We solve step by step, not by rote: every equation comes from the drawing, not the other way round.
- At the end of the lesson you receive the outline of the reasoning, reusable for similar problems.
What we cover, year by year.
The whole high school physics syllabus, from the first year to the maturità. Whatever the book and the teacher.
- Years 1 and 2
- Physical quantities, units of measurement and scientific notation
- Kinematics: uniform and uniformly accelerated straight-line motion
- Dynamics: Newton's three laws, forces and friction
- Equilibrium of rigid bodies and statics
- Year 3
- Work, kinetic and potential energy, conservation of energy
- Momentum and elastic and inelastic collisions
- Gravitation and the motion of satellites
- Fluid mechanics, statics and dynamics
- Year 4
- Temperature, heat and calorimetry
- Ideal gases and thermodynamic transformations
- First and second law of thermodynamics
- Mechanical waves and geometric optics
- Year 5 and the maturità
- Electric field, potential and capacitance
- Electric circuits in direct and alternating current
- Magnetic field, electromagnetic induction, Maxwell's equations
- The oral and practice papers on the physics questions of recent years
Frequently asked questions.
How many hours do I need to make up a failing grade in physics?
For a failing grade in the first term, 5-8 lessons targeted on the specific syllabus that will be tested are usually enough, as long as you also practise between lessons. For an end-of-year failed subject or a more serious situation, we start from 10 lessons.
Is the problem that I do not understand the formulas, or that I make mistakes in the calculations?
They are two different mistakes and I treat them differently. If you make calculation mistakes, we work on method and execution. If the problem is understanding when to use which formula (the most common case), we restart from the physical phenomenon: what happens physically, even before writing the equation.
Do you also help with lab reports?
Yes. I do not do experiments with you, but I help you analyse the data you collected at school: error calculation, graphs, interpreting the results. It is often the part that weighs the most on the grade and gets studied the least.
Does physics count for the liceo scientifico maturità?
It depends on the track and the year: it can come up in the oral or, in some papers, in the second paper together with maths. Either way I prepare you to handle physics questions with confidence, whatever its official weight that year.
My child is in the first two years, physics is not "serious" yet: is help really needed?
Yes, and it is the best moment to step in. Kinematics and dynamics of the first two years are the foundations on which everything else is built: students who start with a weak method here struggle for three years. Better to fix it now than to chase it in the last three years.
Are you at a liceo scientifico? Take a look at the dedicated page on tutoring for the liceo scientifico, with the full path in maths, physics, science and the other high school subjects, from catching up to going further.
Want to go deeper into the method? I wrote a guide on the 5 typical physics mistakes in high school: force diagram, reference frame, dimensional check, conservation laws. Or take a look at the general page on physics tutoring, which also covers the university level.
Shall we start from your next test?
A 30-minute introductory phone call is free: we work out where you are stuck and I propose a plan tailored to you, with no commitment.