Physics tends to intimidate candidates who haven't studied it recently, partly because school-level physics can involve heavy derivations and theory. The IMAT tests it differently, and knowing that difference changes how you should actually prepare.

The short answer: the IMAT tests physics through direct formula application with clean, calculable numbers, not derivation or deep theory. Knowing which formula to use, fast, matters more than understanding where it comes from.

Application over derivation

You're very rarely asked to derive a formula from first principles. You're asked to correctly identify which formula applies to a given scenario and apply it accurately with the numbers provided. That's a meaningfully different, and generally more approachable, skill than theoretical derivation.

Clean numbers, not messy ones

Given values tend to be chosen to produce clean, calculable results rather than long messy decimals, which is itself a useful sanity check: if your answer to a physics calculation comes out unusually messy, it's often a signal you've made an error somewhere, not that the question is unusually hard.

The formulas that show up repeatedly

Core mechanics, kinematics and forces, along with basic electricity, circuits and resistance, tend to recur across past papers more than more niche physics topics. Building genuine fluency with this core set of formulas covers a disproportionate share of what actually appears, compared to spreading equal attention across the entire physics curriculum. For how that fits against the rest of the section's time budget, see Physics & Maths time strategy.

How to actually practice this

Work through past questions specifically to build speed at identifying which formula a scenario calls for, not just solving it once you already know which one to use. That identification step, more than the arithmetic itself, is usually where time gets lost under real exam pressure. If you're starting physics from zero, catching up on IMAT physics from scratch covers how to build that base without falling behind on everything else.

Physics consistently the section where you lose the most time? That's a specific, fixable pattern, and it's exactly the kind of thing 1:1 mentorship helps you diagnose and drill.

Apply for the mentorship

Physics on the IMAT rewards fast, accurate application far more than deep theoretical understanding. That's genuinely good news for most candidates.