Physics, oh, how I loathe thee.

Oh my God I so hate physics.

I don't understand why it's a 'required' premedical prerequisite.
I don't understand why such a flawed program such as MasteringPhysics is employed.
At least it helps me in understanding the world around me slightly better and will fulfill the required premedical prerequisite.
There are also very pretty girls in my class as well! =)

Seriously, I f'ing hate physics.

So, if you've taken physics, would you mind sharing how you managed?
How much did you study?
How did you study?
How did you come to understand the concepts presented?
How did you manage your unrelenting hatred of the subject? =)

I don't know why you would need physics as a premed prereq; I would think that you would be taking chemistry classes instead.

I'm afraid I don't have any advice I can offer, as I was in engineering and had no problems with physics. The thing that helped the most was watching example problems get worked out, but I'm a visual learner...

I had a number of classes that I didn't like; I just had to keep working problems over and over.

I hope you make it through with your sanity intact.

I remember struggling with it in high school. I have to take 2 semesters of it for my med program this next year as well, not feeling particularly optimistic about it. So I appreciate your questions and look forward to the replies. Any advice is appreciated.

Not having taken it myself, I will hope for the best for you as you go through it. If it's been like some of my chem classes, usually there are tutors if you need them; find one so as not to get behind. In the meantime, continue to enjoy the the sights in class too , helps lighten things up or even see if they are interested in helping you out, get a group together as I am sure you are not the only one that would benefit. Bonus too. GOOD LUCK!

Let me put it this way, my son decided he was going to be a physicist--and then he took a course in it! He is VERY bright, and managed to pull a "C." I'll ask him when he gets home if he can make some suggestions. Frankly, the professor can make a great deal of difference--and I have heard that even Einstein was a lousy teacher!

Have you asked some of your peers in class how they are coping? (How about the pretty girls? )

So, if you've taken physics, would you mind sharing how you managed?
How much did you study?

A lot. It was my major.

How did you study?

How? Mostly by myself, in the evenings, in my dorm room.

How did you come to understand the concepts presented?

Only by applying the concepts to working out particular problems; you know, "the rest is left as an exercise for the student". It was the only way to really get to understand the meaning of the theories.

How did you manage your unrelenting hatred of the subject?

I loved it, not hated it. But instructors can vary greatly in how they present the subject; they can make it easy or hard for you.

I studied physics for many years, eventually flunking university in third year of it.
It is the most fundamental physical science - most advanced models of chemical and biological systems depend on an understanding of the basic physics of how the world functions at the molecular and microscopic levels. Without basic physics, you would struggle to understand how cells work and how many modern diagnostic tools function. Xrays, ultrasound, MRI ... its all about physics.

At school level, it was mainly about memorising formulae and deploying them appropriately to solve problems. The deeper you go into it, the more you need to understand the principles and be able to derive them and use them to infer conclusions which will correctly predict physical behaviour. All of this is expressed in the language of mathematics, and good mathematical skills are essential.

How do you cope with a subject you loathe? Well I didnt hate physics but I didnt like many other subjects. I concentrated on developing advanced memory and study techniques which enabled me to memorise the required information with minimal time and effort. There is no easy way - I developed note-taking techniques and repeatedly wrote down key information till it stuck.
I spent an eight hour day before my French exam just writing down irregular verbs in different tenses and conjugations - over and over and over. Its like reps in the gym - if you keep doing it, the results will come.
I never liked math much till someone told me of a friend who did it as a hobby. It seemed unbelievable to me, but I tried messing about, drawing graphs about things that interested me, working out football statistics...just playing with what skills I had in ways that were fun. I'm not saying I developed a love of the subject, but I did begin to find it less dry. Maybe you could try looking for aspects of the subject or its applications which interest you?
[Oh, and I would avoid the beer and strippers in the student bar, the main reason I flunked eventually ]

Strippers in the student bar? What school were you in?

I'd get a tutor to explain things to you that you didn't understand. It's how I got through my German class.

I remember my physics classes were all taught by this really scary Romanian lady...

I excelled in Quantum mechanics, but suffered greatly in classical physics...good with the small stuff, useless with the big stuff.

Why? Classical physics bored me to tears(I did like astrophysics). Something is infinitely more fascinating about the trajectory of atoms than the trajectory of a car......if you get my broad meaning.

Sorry I am not very helpful but one thing that helped is to learn your formulas off by heart and learn the language of physics like you are learning a language you are not particularly fond of. Work harder at it than anything else. It does start to click in to place eventually. Keep going.......don't give up because it does get interesting. Are you doing premed physics to do with fluid dynamics or something? Get those drips going?

Remember to laugh. It was the only way I retained my sanity.......

Take good care...

Michah

PS (in the words of Captain Picard, Enterprise - D........

.........."Make it so")

I have. Many of them are as disgruntled as I am.

But I've actively encouraged my peers to work together with me for the MasteringPhysics homework assignments and to study together for the exams. It has helped!

But those pretty girls seem to be a bit elusive. Perhaps I should try another strategy...

I feel I need to work on this during my weekends. I feel afraid of mathematics, and that is what I struggled with during my first PHYS1111 exam.

I will try this this weekend.

I love flowcharts, and I found that for my first PHYS1112 exam I scored well due to my ability, for example, to link together how electric field and force were related to electric potential and potential energy.

I also found that I did well when I watched videos on YouTube and created a systematic approach to solving a physics problem.

I also found that once I understand physics I can verbally explain it clearly to others in study session.

And I found that my professor for PHYS1111 is awful, but attendance is required (and, incidentally, has as much of an impact on the grading scale as the tests and exams combined).

But beer and women. It's quite hard to avoid that temptation... =)