Physics misery! How long does it take you to go through one chapter ?

[ZwitterionMike]

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I have made a few posts on physics misery. It makes me feel slow and stupid but I already said that. So I am curious of how long it takes you to go through one chapter in a physics text ?

I went through several chapters in the last few weeks and noticed that a difficult chapter can take me between 30-40 hours of work and easier chapters like nuclear physics ( decay and such ) only take me about 16 hours to really get a grasp. Are there time quantities normal or excessive ?

 

[Timmythemic22]

Only class in which I had to get a tutor. Sorry Mike, I didn't learn it truly until I spent 8 hours a day for 3 months, studying my Princeton Review Physics texts. Are you studying for class or for the MCAT?

I still don't get college physics.

 

[XildUpNawth]

A really hard chapter would take me about 15-20 hours, and an easier one more like 10-12. I usually spent all day Sat. and Sun. doing physics. It sucked. I found that I got faster as the year progressed. Once you get better at solving problems and math, it should go faster. Don't get discouraged. Everyone has at least one subject that makes them want to go to cosmetology school.

 

[baylormed]

I'm going to be weird and say that I enjoyed physics.

I'd say, each chapter would take me maybe 3-4 hours to read twice and take notes on and comprehend well. Then I would spend some more time doing homework problems.

I've never heard of anyone spending 10+ hours on a physics chapter. 😕

 

[theothernguyen]

Ditto above, I liked physics quite a bit, so 10+ hours seems crazy. I just worked the problems for a few hours instead of reading, at least that worked for me. I feel that physics is more of a thinking subject where you have to really struggle through the problems rather than trying to understand everything though the readings. That's me tho.

 

[DoctorPardi]

I have enjoyed physics also. It is the strangest thing but in college I have learned that I am much better at math/problem solving classes (physics/gen chem) than I am at memorization (biology/organic).

I usually just do the back of the chapter problems, and read what I have to in the chapter to be able to do them. I feel like I have a really good professor because rarely do I need the book as a resource because the notes usually explain everything we need. Sometimes all that homework (30ish problems) will take 4-5 hours, but often it can be done in 2.

So I guess it really depends on the professor, and how you learn this type of stuff.

 

[odgey27]

I'm going to be weird and say that I enjoyed physics.

I'd say, each chapter would take me maybe 3-4 hours to read twice and take notes on and comprehend well. Then I would spend some more time doing homework problems.

I've never heard of anyone spending 10+ hours on a physics chapter. 😕

You're not weird... I love Physics, too. I don't have the patience to sit there and study it for 30-40 hours a week, though.

 

[dr_90210]

I have made a few posts on physics misery. It makes me feel slow and stupid but I already said that. So I am curious of how long it takes you to go through one chapter in a physics text ?

I went through several chapters in the last few weeks and noticed that a difficult chapter can take me between 30-40 hours of work and easier chapters like nuclear physics ( decay and such ) only take me about 16 hours to really get a grasp. Are there time quantities normal or excessive ?

the same amount of time ur plane flight to the caribbeans will...

 

[baylormed]

You're not weird... I love Physics, too. I don't have the patience to sit there and study it for 30-40 hours a week, though.

Neither do I. Nor do I have the time! That's like a full-time physics job.

I have 6 other classes to worry about. Most of the time I did my homework problems regularly (that's what really helps) and then I crammed the day before for my exams (usually ~4 chapters per exam), and I did fine.

 

[ShyRem]

Loved physics. Remember: physics is there to explain what you already know happens. Don't make it defy the normal stuff you see every day.

 

[Robizzle]

Yea.. I never actually read a whole page in my physics textbook.. just looked at the HW questions and then looked back in the chapter for key concepts and equations.. This didn't always work for Electricity & Magnetism though.

 

[nighthawk3]

I'm surprised by the number of people who are afraid of physics. In my opinion, the basic mechanics and E&M stuff taught in pre-med physics courses is significantly easier than most of organic chemistry and bio/bioc courses. The math never goes beyond basic second year calculus at worst and the concepts in mechanics are all intuitive. I think that most chapters should be read in less than two hours at most, depending on the length of the chapters. You learn physics by doing many practice problems, so zip through the reading and then spend the majority of the time on problems.

 

[szhao]

i think we agreed on multiple thread that reading is not the best way to learn physics.

 

[JRockdown]

Gonna have to agree with Robizzle. Not a big book opener. I am no star student, but come on 40 hrs a chapter. Normal college pace you are looking at 10-15 chapters. That is 400 - 600 hours. I mean I think If I sum all the hours reading for my 5 years of classes I might get close to those numbers. This says nothing for me, but tells me you have a fiendish work ethic. Props for sticking it out for that long. What are you going to do if you get to a class that is truly boggling and difficult. There are only so many hours in a day?

 

[szhao]

y don't u focus on doing the problems, i mean no one cares about what you read, they just care if you can do the problems. during the process of obtaining a physics major i never read a single chapter of a single physics book (well i read part of some books that i didn't need to read for fun)

 

[FuzzyPinkKittie]

Awww... I feel your pain in enduring the evils of PHYSICS! Although I don't need to spend 30-40 hours on each chapter 😱 I do feel that I needed to study more for this subject than for bio, chem, and orgo. Out of the four biggies, I've found that I need to study for orgo the least, the memorization stuff like bio a little more, and actual thinking + memorization (physics) the most. Don't worry, we're all in this together!!!

 

[future_dr_house]

no need to even buy the physics books, just do problems until you puke

 

[hp540]

I know how you feel. Certain physics chapters were nightmares for me since I made them harder than I probably had to. I mean, if you really looking into the topics, the start to become way more complex than you'll be tested on the exam. I found this started happening with the thermodynamics and electricity topics and it gave me so many headaches and late nights.

Best of luck

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Honestly, I'd read the chapter once and then start doing problems. You'll miss plenty of questions and you'll learn the theory by understanding your mistakes.

After that read and do more problems.

I'm not surprised Physics takes so long...doing it in one sitting is horrible. I would do Physics in my spare time since the 10th grade and I still don't have a really good grasp of it.
-Dr. P.

P.S.: Sorry for my long Hiatus, how y'all been?
P.P.S.: Ignore the y'all, I'm not from the South.

 

[BigRedPremed]

I'm going to be weird and say that I enjoyed physics.

I'd say, each chapter would take me maybe 3-4 hours to read twice and take notes on and comprehend well. Then I would spend some more time doing homework problems.

I've never heard of anyone spending 10+ hours on a physics chapter. 😕

I agree. The hours quoted in the original post are um...absurdly high. 40 hours per chapter?

I usually spent around 3-4 hours reading each chapter and doing the 13 question practice test and this is without taking any kind of physics in high school. Admittedly, outside of the practice test, I never did any kind of practice problems like the other students were doing but even then I think 6-8 hours is reasonable.

 

[UIC Killa]

I have made a few posts on physics misery. It makes me feel slow and stupid but I already said that. So I am curious of how long it takes you to go through one chapter in a physics text ?

I went through several chapters in the last few weeks and noticed that a difficult chapter can take me between 30-40 hours of work and easier chapters like nuclear physics ( decay and such ) only take me about 16 hours to really get a grasp. Are there time quantities normal or excessive ?

Love physics👍 ....only up to what the mcat covers though (mechanical, optics, electromagnetic...etc)...any higher level physics requires understanding of more advanced mathematical concepts and I draw the line there...lol

 

[DrMT]

i'd take orgo many times over before i'd ever touch physics again