Physics Advice

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ShoTyme

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Hello all. I write text a bit hung over from wallowing in self pity last night. Yesterday, I had my physics midterm; lets say my performance was less than stellar. I was thinking about getting physics for dummies to help me. But I was curious if anyone else had issues with this class. If so, what did you do to get through.

So far my premed classes:
Biology 1: A
Chemistry 1: A
Chemistry 2 A

In Progress:
Organic Chemistry: A
Biology 2: A
Statistics: A
Physics: Very not good

I know how to study. For whatever reason, physics seems to elude me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hat in hand,

Sho-
 
Hello all. I write text a bit hung over from wallowing in self pity last night. Yesterday, I had my physics midterm; lets say my performance was less than stellar. I was thinking about getting physics for dummies to help me. But I was curious if anyone else had issues with this class. If so, what did you do to get through.

So far my premed classes:
Biology 1: A
Chemistry 1: A
Chemistry 2 A

In Progress:
Organic Chemistry: A
Biology 2: A
Statistics: A
Physics: Very not good

I know how to study. For whatever reason, physics seems to elude me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hat in hand,

Sho-

How's your aptitude for math?
 
How's your aptitude for math?

I've always been great at math. Granted, it's been 16 years since I took calculus, but this is an algebra/trig based class. In lab, I'm the one showing people how to do the calculations. I just don't seem to be able to put it all together... I don't know... I'm just exasperated.
 
I've always been great at math. Granted, it's been 16 years since I took calculus, but this is an algebra/trig based class. In lab, I'm the one showing people how to do the calculations. I just don't seem to be able to put it all together... I don't know... I'm just exasperated.


Practice problems over and over again are good for helping putting concepts together. My advice would be to try and find a question book and just do a crap load of questions following whatever you're studying in class. Don't only try to get the right answer- but think about what that answer means. A simple example is if the answer is the acceleration will be negative 4. does that mean the ball will speed up/slow down and what will a graph of its speed look like -is it contant or does it change over time.
 
i'd get some tutoring and buy an mcat review physics book (an old used one should be fine). The mcat books may explain relationships better than a professor using socratic method.
 
You should be able to find a physics tutor through your school. If you're lucky, the school may even pay for or at least subsidize it. If not, if there's any room in your budget, I'd recommend hiring a tutor. It sounds like you've got the smarts to understand all this, but for some reason you aren't. Which suggests your physics teacher is either just kind of lousy, or else for some reason he's teaching in a way that doesn't work for you.

Good luck!
 
You probably already know this from your math experience, but always always always always show your work. Especially if you're good at math and can do stuff in your head. Show baby steps. Show units. Show calculations. Assumptions. Circle your answer. You may be able to start a problem but if you get derailed along the way there's no reason to lose all the points.

When you get your exam back, take photos of it and post (or pm). If we knew where you were messing up we could help you.
 
If we knew where you were messing up we could help you.

Pretty much this. I'm going to guess that if math isn't your problem (which I'm inferring from your post), then the problem may lie in translating the problem in words to equations to be solved, and that's more along the lines of "thinking process." There's nothing mechanical or rote to be suggested that would likely help.
 
I found that freelance-teacher.com (all over youtube) offered physics lessons that helped me tremendously. He has systematic approaches to problems that will never leave you guessing as to what formula to use. A book by Isaac Asimov titled "Understanding Physics" also helped a bit.
 
I'm no physics genius but I got A+'s on both my midterm and final second semester because I figured out how to take the exams. If you can get a hold of old exams you can probably start to see a pattern in them. Or you can google some of the test questions on your midterm and find schools with similar exam formats that post all of their old finals. At my school, being able to do the book problems was not enough, I would have been in the same position as you are if I had just done book problems.

What I would do is, a week before my exam I'd start doing old exams. Then I would do the questions I got wrong over and over again. Then I would do all of the old exams over and over. Then, come exam time, I'd work all of the problems in the exam 2-3 times (usually I'd do one quick pass over, then work the problems I wasn't sure about or that I knew needed more time, then I'd work the entire exam again). It felt more like playing a musical instrument by the end, more autopilot than physics skill, but it did the trick.
 
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My advice is a little different, as repetition of similar problems never helps me with this class. I'm getting an A so far (after 2 tests and tons of homework problems).

I draw out pictures for every single concept and formula we get. I go through the chapter and conceptualize everything visually with colorful lettering for each variable and colored parts of each picture that relate to what the variable is or does. My velocity v is orange, my acceleration is always blue, then I derive/draw out the equations with the same colors so the arrangement is visually "burned" into my brain. That way, you don't have to waste time referencing the formula sheet.

By now I've accumulated tons of pages of colorful drawings, full of cartoons of all sorts of real world situations. An example of such a sketch would be a bat and ball with the bat "moving" toward the ball from t0 to tf. The bat is shaded with orange marker with the equation for impulse directly above it in orange (with the rest of the variables in their assigned colors). The ball labeled with a purple "m" is coming towards the bat (labelled vi) and shown going away from the bat (vf) with the the trajectory colored in and the equation for conservation of linear momentum drawn to the side of it in the same color as the trajectory. Each picture-filled sheet covers a bunch of interrelated concepts. The one I'm working on now covers uniform circular motion and gravitational forces. I have planet Earth with a satellite orbiting around it, a person on a scale inside the satellite, the vectors for free fall acceleration and centripetal force and the equations for true weight and apparent weight on it. You'll have a study guide (a huge packet!) that allows you to look back and instantly understand what you previously learned. Also, I find that just creating the picture allows me to understand the concept for every type of problem I'm thrown (they're all pretty much the same in physics if you know the underlying principle!) and remember it forever... well, at least I haven't forgotten how to solve anything from previous chapters yet. It makes repetition pretty much useless, which is awesome if you have ADD and get incredibly bored with repeating the same stuff. I still do the hundreds of homework problems 'cause we have to turn them in for credit, but they go quickly after the initial picture drawing phase.

Repetition and following the professor's orderly steps might be easier for you though, depending on your learning style. This method works brilliantly for me... the people who make fun of my cartoons don't laugh when the tests come back, haha.

The best physics textbook for algebra-based physics, which someone recommended on these forums, is by Cutnell. Ditch the one your prof uses if he never takes problems out of it for tests and homework. You can ask him if he does - by now I guess you'd know already.

Physics youtube videos can really help you understand concepts and calculations, too.
 
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My advice is a little different, as repetition of similar problems never helps me with this class. I'm getting an A so far (after 2 tests and tons of homework problems).

I draw out pictures for every single concept and formula we get. I go through the chapter and conceptualize everything visually with colorful lettering for each variable and colored parts of each picture that relate to what the variable is or does. My velocity v is orange, my acceleration is always blue, then I derive/draw out the equations with the same colors so the arrangement is visually "burned" into my brain. That way, you don't have to waste time referencing the formula sheet.

By now I've accumulated tons of pages of colorful drawings, full of cartoons of all sorts of real world situations. An example would be a bat, ball, and clock I sketched out with the bat "moving" toward the ball from t0 to tf. The bat is shaded with orange marker with the equation for impulse directly above it in orange (with the rest of the variables in their assigned colors). The ball labeled with a purple "m" is coming towards the bat (labelled vi) and shown going away from the bat (vf) with the the trajectory colored in and the equation for conservation of linear momentum drawn to the side of it in the same color as the trajectory. Each picture-filled sheet covers a bunch of interrelated concepts. The one I'm working on now covers uniform circular motion and gravitational forces. I have planet Earth with a satellite orbiting around it, a person on a scale inside the satellite, the vectors for free fall acceleration and centripetal force and the equations for true weight and apparent weight on it. You'll have a study guide (a huge packet!) that allows you to look back and instantly understand what you previously learned. Also, I find that just creating the picture allows me to understand the concept for every type of problem I'm thrown (they're all pretty much the same in physics if you know the underlying principle!) and remember it forever... well, at least I haven't forgotten how to solve anything from previous chapters yet. It makes repetition pretty much useless, which is awesome if you have ADD and get incredibly bored with repeating the same stuff. I still do the hundreds of homework problems 'cause we have to turn them in for credit, but they go quickly after the initial picture drawing phase.

Repetition and following the professor's orderly steps might be easier for you though, depending on your learning style. This method works brilliantly for me... the people who make fun of my cartoons don't laugh when the tests come back, haha.

The best physics textbook for algebra-based physics, which someone recommended on these forums, is by Cutnell. Ditch the one your prof uses if he never takes problems out of it for tests and homework. You can ask him if he does - by now I guess you'd know already.

Physics youtube videos can really help you understand concepts and calculations, too.

This sounds fascinating to me - would you mind sharing a sample page so we can really visualize what you're talking about? I too have discovered that I'm a visual-spatial learner, but I've never thought about doing this. Thankfully, my physics prof last year was BIG on drawings, but color-coding would really have helped with visual recall in an exam setting. Would like to think about starting to use this in my classes this year in prep for med school in the fall. Really, awesome idea!
 
This sounds fascinating to me - would you mind sharing a sample page so we can really visualize what you're talking about? I too have discovered that I'm a visual-spatial learner, but I've never thought about doing this. Thankfully, my physics prof last year was BIG on drawings, but color-coding would really have helped with visual recall in an exam setting. Would like to think about starting to use this in my classes this year in prep for med school in the fall. Really, awesome idea!

Sure thing! Here ya go:
nqttol.jpg

25srcsi.jpg


I would love to talk to you about how your premed prereq classes were for you, fellow v-s learner. Congrats on getting into med school! I will threadstalk you first. :laugh: Am a bit scared of future med pre-req courses that don't involve stuff you can draw out and would like to know what study strategies you used for those courses. 🙂
 
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Sure thing! Here ya go:
nqttol.jpg

25srcsi.jpg


I would love to talk to you about how your premed prereq classes were for you, fellow v-s learner. Congrats on getting into med school! I will threadstalk you first. :laugh: Am a bit scared of future med pre-req courses that don't involve stuff you can draw out and would like to know what study strategies you used for those courses. 🙂

Wow - that's crazy involved! I don't know that I would have the patience to sit down and work that all out, but I'm sure it would have helped quite a bit last year...especially with electronics and magnetism, which I struggled to understand conceptually. I actually ended up thinking about induced EMFs as a toilet...(I think this is what it was...but to be honest, once I got my score and knew I wouldn't have to take the MCAT again, a lot of physics entered the trash bin in my brain) and the way the water flowed indicated the direction of the voltage.

Depending on what you've taken already, I think what you have as a basic structure will work great for bio. My bio prof used powerpoint slides and LOTS of images, so I never really needed to make my own drawings. If I studied the drawings she gave us, I could recall a good majority of what I needed to know. Ochem is all about drawing - mechanisms, arrows, resonance - and I'm not sure how color-coding would work with those, but I'm sure you could figure out something that made sense. I have calc and stats right now, and those two would seem the hardest to use images for, though there are some things that you could do (for example, my calc prof drew a table of function shapes that corresponded to +/- first and second derivatives).
 
Oh - I forgot - I've started using my computer to take notes. What I've been doing for biochem is taking the pdf notes the prof gives us, then grabbing any important images from the lecture and putting them in my "notebook" and jotting my own notes so I understand and can look back at them more easily (I rarely review handwritten notes in a notebook because it doesn't work for me...probably because it's not visually appealing). I've looked for a drawing/paint program that I could download for my Mac so I could add any drawings my prof does on the board. Anyone have any good recommendations??

Also, if you're lucky enough to have a prof who does powerpoint for bio, I remember the best thing I did to study was making a NEW powerpoint that included all the important images from the slides and studying primarily from that. Of course, I didn't figure out how useful this would be until the end of second semester. 😛
 
Sure thing! Here ya go:
nqttol.jpg

25srcsi.jpg


I would love to talk to you about how your premed prereq classes were for you, fellow v-s learner. Congrats on getting into med school! I will threadstalk you first. :laugh: Am a bit scared of future med pre-req courses that don't involve stuff you can draw out and would like to know what study strategies you used for those courses. 🙂

This is incredible! I think I may try to incorporate some of this into my studying as I do something somewhat similar with my other studies. I'm not quite sure where to begin, but I will work on it. Amazing advice.
 
Pretty much this. I'm going to guess that if math isn't your problem (which I'm inferring from your post), then the problem may lie in translating the problem in words to equations to be solved, and that's more along the lines of "thinking process." There's nothing mechanical or rote to be suggested that would likely help.

Unfortunately, I do believe this is my problem. This is sad for me to admit because I have always thought of myself as a very linear thinker. I figured my way of thinking would have made a perfect fit for physics. Alas, I was mistaken.

I very much appreciate everyone's input. I will try to incorporate several different learning styles in order to fully grasp the concepts. Thank you all very much!

Sincerely,

Sho-
 
You should be able to find a physics tutor through your school. If you're lucky, the school may even pay for or at least subsidize it. If not, if there's any room in your budget, I'd recommend hiring a tutor. It sounds like you've got the smarts to understand all this, but for some reason you aren't. Which suggests your physics teacher is either just kind of lousy, or else for some reason he's teaching in a way that doesn't work for you.

Good luck!

There are physics tutors in the math lab. I will check to see if I can get more one on one tutoring. I've gotten emails saying this is available, but I typically delete them since I've previously done well with my studies. Thanks for the suggestion!

You probably already know this from your math experience, but always always always always show your work. Especially if you're good at math and can do stuff in your head. Show baby steps. Show units. Show calculations. Assumptions. Circle your answer. You may be able to start a problem but if you get derailed along the way there's no reason to lose all the points.

When you get your exam back, take photos of it and post (or pm). If we knew where you were messing up we could help you.

This is something I am pretty anal retentive about. I ALWAYS show every step. I like to make sure the units come out how they are supposed to. I appreciate the suggestion to post the problems, but at this point, I would be mortified if I were to do so. I am really embarrassed about my performance, or lack thereof.

i'd get some tutoring and buy an mcat review physics book (an old used one should be fine). The mcat books may explain relationships better than a professor using socratic method.

I will go to the library tomorrow and grab an MCAT physics book. Maybe that will get me back on track. Thanks!
 
Hello all. I write text a bit hung over from wallowing in self pity last night. Yesterday, I had my physics midterm; lets say my performance was less than stellar. I was thinking about getting physics for dummies to help me. But I was curious if anyone else had issues with this class. If so, what did you do to get through.

So far my premed classes:
Biology 1: A
Chemistry 1: A
Chemistry 2 A

In Progress:
Organic Chemistry: A
Biology 2: A
Statistics: A
Physics: Very not good

I know how to study. For whatever reason, physics seems to elude me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hat in hand,

Sho-

I have written extensively about this topic here:

http://medschoolodyssey.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/168/

Other things that may help:

1) Office hours

2) Khan Academy has some really good explanations about introductory physics

3) Practice problems. You have to do a lot of them, and when you get stuck, go to office hours, tutor, the MCAT forum here on SDN, etc. until you get past it.

4) Show your work. The best physicists I know show all their calculations as they do problems.

5) Draw a picture. Always. The picture solves the problem. If you're stuck, draw a better picture, a bigger picture, label everything, etc. Seriously, I learn this to be true more and more about everything I do. Draw a picture for everything.

6) Useful texts: Schaum's Outlines for Physics for Scientists and Engineers is really good at seeing how other people solve problems. Probably the best place to go. I also have to mention the Feynman Lectures on Physics, but they are undoubtedly beyond the level of most first-year physics students and are likely to be more confusing than helpful.

Best of luck to you.
 
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