How to study for Physics?

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xbowers003

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So far on my first two physics quizzes Ive gotten a 25/30 and a 22/30...while those grades arent terrible they aren't what I want or what Im used to. I would like to nip this before it heads down a slippery slope of some of the same scores.

I've heard that doing problems is the way to go....and I have been doing that. Perhaps not enough? What was everyone elses way that they succeeded in physics? Should I stray away from reading and instead focus more on problems?
 
I can't speak for calculus-based physics, but working problems has been doing the trick for me! Read the book for concepts if your professor likes to test on conceptual stuff too. It's still early in the semester, but the bulk of the class seems to be divided between "know bunches of ways to use this equation" and "understand a principle (assuming a magical faerie world with no air resistance and ample sports analogies)."
 
Download Khan academy physics torrent (or his entire library torrent). I watch them at 1.5-2x speed (if its new material i sit there with a pen and paper and write out everything he is writing digit for digit, would guess it increases absorption of information orders of magnitude).
 
So far on my first two physics quizzes Ive gotten a 25/30 and a 22/30...while those grades arent terrible they aren't what I want or what Im used to. I would like to nip this before it heads down a slippery slope of some of the same scores.

I've heard that doing problems is the way to go....and I have been doing that. Perhaps not enough? What was everyone elses way that they succeeded in physics? Should I stray away from reading and instead focus more on problems?

It's all about the practice problems. But it's not enough to do them, you need to thoroughly understand why you got each problem wrong. When you get a practice problem wrong make sure you understand BOTH a)how to get the right answer and b)how you got the wrong one in the first place.

Don't abandon reading entirely but yes, you probably do need to up the number of practice problems.
 
It's all about the practice problems. But it's not enough to do them, you need to thoroughly understand why you got each problem wrong. When you get a practice problem wrong make sure you understand BOTH a)how to get the right answer and b)how you got the wrong one in the first place.

Get a partner, or two - this expedites the process tremendously. Unless of course you're working with a complete bonehead.

Just make sure you don't "move on" to the next problem if one of you doesn't completely understand the problem. If you're too shy/prideful to admit when you don't understand something, then having a parter(s) actually hurts you more than it helps.
 
You don't. You don't study for physics.
 
I recently got a rock solid A (not an A with a little tail after it) in physics 2, and i thought i've hit the jackpot

while every teacher is different, my suggestion is to thoroughly understand ALL assigned homework problems. usually, the quizzes will only include problems that are EXTREMELY similar to hw problems and in-class examples, so be sure to ace those. don't just memorize the steps and the answer, but thoroughly understand the steps and how they make sense.
 
Read it until the point that it just makes sense. You should not be memorizing formulas but more like reasoning out the formulas. My professors great example came from showing us how to derive F = ma from the 3 formulas of motion (the V=Vo +at....etc). Also youtube stuff about physics and get familiar with the concepts and how they are applied in real life. This helps a great deal when envisioning the problems in your head. For example, go on youtube and look up the channel minutephysics, they explain many cool concepts very quickly, they might not be related to your classwork but they get you thinking in a physics sort of way.

Hope that helps!
 
The concepts are generally simple as well as the math. Doing well is mostly a matter of relating the equations to one another. The best way to accomplish that, like many have said already, is through practice.

The prof will likely assign homework or practice problems that you can use. If they're challenging, there's resources like Khan Academy and other practice problems from your text that should do the trick.
 
Download Khan academy physics torrent (or his entire library torrent). I watch them at 1.5-2x speed (if its new material i sit there with a pen and paper and write out everything he is writing digit for digit, would guess it increases absorption of information orders of magnitude).

Good idea! Any idea where to get it though? Or how to for that matter?
 
Google 'Khan academy physics torrent' the 4th result down (pasting torrent links might be a bit sus so i wont do it) :

Khan Academy - Physics › isoHunt › BT search
isohunt.com/download/270287625‎
Browse All Torrents » Khan Academy - Physics » Summary. Torrents on isoHunt are indexed and cached from hundreds of sites, and enhanced by aggregating ...

Or his entire library is available for download (~20GB) just google Khan academy torrent (or can just get different sections of it maths/physics etc. I use Utorrent as the app.
 
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