First year Definition and 132 Threads

Thank you guys for taking the time to read this - I'm decently struggling with first year and need some tips on how to properly conceptualize problems and learn what the right approach is on certain problems. Have a wonderful day, again thank you for checking this post out!

Summary: I am just curious I know 🧐 Im coming up the end of intro university physics mechanics chapters. It has been quite enjoyable, especially chapters on energy, momentum and fluid mechanics. There’s so much information packed into these chapters though. I am wondering what was your...

Hey everyone! I started Astronomy Ph.D at a very good (as good as any top university) university this fall but I'm struggling a lot and it's only been 3 weeks! The problem isn't the amount of stuff that I have to do (I am taking two undergrad classes, one grad class and am being a TA), it's...

Hey, I'm tutor for theoretical physics for first year students and I found a question that I couldn't answer so far. It's about the rocket equation. I tried to derive the acceleration without using infinite small variables, but somehow there is one term left that shouldn't be there. In the...

Hey everyone! So, I’m starting my second year of physics this Wednesday ,but I have a bit of a problem. I’m having trouble recalling concepts and fundamental details from first year. I took a full year physics course in 1st year (divided into kinematics/ dynamics -first half and Electricity...

Hello! What can a first year PhD student (in an American university) do, research related, in the field of Theoretical (mainly high-energy) physics? I know in the USA you need to start research from the first semester of PhD (even if you formally choose a definite field of research at the end of...

I’ll be taking the year long physics sequence at my college this fall and I want to know what specific math topics I should master, so that I can conquer my first year of physics. I’m planning to brush-up on any necessary topics from algebra, through precalc, and including calc 1. It’s an honors...

Background: https://translate.google.pl/translate?sl=pl&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.syllabus.agh.edu.pl%2F2018-2019%2Fen%2Fmagnesite%2Fstudy_plans%2Fstacjonarne-inzynieria-mechatroniczna%2Fmodule%2Frme-1-101-s-matematyka-1&edit-text=(mindless applying of 'algorithms'...

Hi all Trying to improve my level of maths and would like some help with the below question please. A 10-year lease with annual rental payments to be made at the end of each year, with the rent increasing by 2% each year. If the first year rent is £20 and the OCC is 10% per year, what is the...

Yeah who hoo, I did my first year of college. All I did was did all my homework at the library for hours on end and completed all my classes. I used to think high achieving students were born smart. Now I know that the just spend endless of hours at the library. All of my classes are really...

I am in a small school in North Dakota and will have four students in the class next year. I have been here two years after retiring from another state. Two years ago they took an online physical science class and from what I can figure out they learned very little to use for background. They...

Hello physics forums. I'm a freshman at a top school for physics and have two general options for my track this semester. (1) I can take the standard multivariable and linear algebra class that provides an introduction to proofs and an extremely rigorous first year mechanics course. The average...

I'm starting my first year of university this September, and I'm trying to pursue an combined honours in mathematics and physics. I'm starting the standard physics course in first year, covering classical mechanics and electromagnetism and some special relativity, but I'm most worried for the...

I just successfully completed my first year for a Ph.D program in a top 10 Ivy league school and I must say it was the hardest year of my life. I would work 12 hours a day and on average spend 8 hours on a single problem in my problem sets. Luckily I am done with all of my classes and quals and...

Hello. Based on very good reviews on this site I have chosen the books Kleppner Kolenkow Mechanics and Purcell Electricity and Magnetism to study the physics coursework for my first year in university. So here's my question: Does Kleppner Kolenkow cover all the prerequisites I am going to need...

Hello comrades, I am a bit silly about this, but i started 1 month ago the first year at college (physics) after 10 years out of any academic course. When i graduated from high school (a long time ago), i got good grades at pre-calc, but now I am having lots of problems because i feel lost and...

Hi folks, I was wondering if there exists a generic book that explains all the math for a first year at the university. I am thinking about a book like Tipler in Physics, but for Math. The topics I need to review are: Vectors in 3d. Scalar, vector and mixed product. Trigonometry...

Hello guys, I just finish my first year at uni Phys and Maths,and would like to self teach Quantum Mechanics during this summer, as so I was wondering if you guys could suggest me any good full online courses/ lectures available on the web . I have found from neptel from Oxford Bookwise...

This post is directed at the college professors and graduate TA's on the forum. You may or maynot be aware that the College Board recently redesigned the algebra/trig based AP physics course and split it into two - 1 year courses. The first year effectively covering mechanics through waves and...

Hi, I am wondering what are some good ideas for a first year undergraduate science research project? I am majoring in Astronomy so am after some ideas. My special interests are Pluto, Black Holes and of course Planet X.

I am a senior in high school who is anxious to begin my physics major. Next year, I will likely attend UC Berkeley or UT Austin. I have general question, but if someone has information particular to these schools, that would be appreciated too. What does the course load for a first year physics...

Homework Statement A space traveller lands on a small planet whose circumference is 12,500 km. He releases a hammer and a table tennis ball simultaneously from rest and from a height of 1.6 m, timing their fall to take 0.66 s. Determine the density of the planet. What can you conclude about its...

Homework Statement Planets A and B are 10 light years apart in the reference frame of planet A. A deep-space probe is launched from A, and 5 years later (in reference frame A) a similar probe is launched from B. Does a reference frame exist in which these two events (a) are simultaneous and (b)...

It's the middle of the semester of my first year and I'm finding this math course extremely difficult. The course is essentially teaching real analysis and they labeled the course honors calculus. I am finding the professor is not teaching the material well which made me find some supplementary...

Anybody have some thorough books on first year physics and calculus courses? My courses use mostly books written by the profs at my university, and I don't feel like they have the breadth and depth that other books might have. Any suggestions?

Homework Statement Answer true, false, or Cannot tell to teach of the five statements below. A) A 2 kg ball and a 3 kg ball are dropped from a tower. The net forces on each other are the same. B) An astronaut stands on a bathroom scale on the surface of the moon; the scale reads the astronaut's...

I've noticed that Harvard Extension and other colleges seem to only offer one year of "physics" courses in their course offering books. After the first year, what is a logical next step for someone wanting to learn more? Favorite physics topic is electricity, all applications of it.

My name is John and i am currently studying a bachelor of engineering at ANU and am currently in my first year. I joined this website because of the discussion about homework/problems, giving advice and asking for advice. As i always see results show on google, i thought it might be smart to...

Background: I am a non-traditional student currently enrolled in a large research-centric university planning on majoring in physics. Graduated H.S. in 2009. Spent 5 years in the military working in a field wholly unrelated to any of my studies(current or planned) The situation: I see a lot of...

I signed up for my first semester classes and I'm in the first calculus based physics class. I took calculus in high school, but my physics classes weren't all that intensive in my opinion. Well, I guess that's what you get when your teacher has to teach 8 classes and work as a lab technician in...

Are there any good first year textbooks which cover first year differential (limits, partial derivatives, intro vector calculus), integral calculus, DEs, AND linear algebra - vectors and matrices. other stuff like complex numbers, infinite series, etc would be a bonus. As in a single textbook...

ZapperZ submitted a new PF Insights post Surviving the First Year of College Continue reading the Original PF Insights Post.

I'm a first year physics major, and I feel like I'm hitting a wall in physics. I have been doing well in physics so far, even though I have been studying more and more and I just feel like I am hitting a wall and not learning anything. Even though I still like physics a lot, I'm losing the...

I'm starting a physics major this year and I'm currently enrolled in foundation physics (algebra, vector based). However, during second semester I'll be doing doing a regular physics unit which is based around technology. The main topics are Electromagnetism (LOTS and LOTS of circuits work...

Homework Statement Damping is negligible for a 0.164 kg mass hanging from a light 6.70 N/m spring. The system is driven by a force oscillating with an amplitude of 1.77 N. At what frequency will the force make the mass vibrate with an amplitude of 0.500 m? There are two possible solutions...

Hi y'all, I have underlined the questions, bolded the important parts, and did both for an important question for your reading convienence. let me give you a bit of my academic background so you understand my problem a bit better. I am currently 20 years old and i decided i wanted to go to...

hello friends my name is thembile from South africa starting next iam going to study chemical engineering via distant learning i was hoping to be given tips and what to expect and be given recommendations about what kinda books must i study in advance to equip myself regarding physics and maths...

Hi I can see that MIT, Stanford and Yale have open courses in Classical physics and electromagnetics. Which courses would you recommend for self-studying all the general first year topics at university such as Classical mechanics, electromagnetics, light etc? For classical mechanics I think...

ah, but which ones? There's some personal stuff mixed in here, which I hope you don't mind reading, but which is relevant. Some background (for those that don't know me here) I'm 37, just completed my bachelor's (BA in mathematics). I am married, no kids, but with a supportive wife...

Hi all, I'm really struggling in Physics and I need some guidance. I got a 50% in my first class test ever and although it counts for 5%(of which I got 2.5%) of the overall year mark, I'm freaking out. I got my second class test next month and I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it to 90%+...

The Attempt at a Solution I tried solving this question a few different ways, and I got different answers every time. My first attempt I realized that the relationship between the changing x, changing y, and changing angle was tan(\theta) = y/x , so first of all I tried to figure out the final...

I'm thinking of taking it because of the simple reason that I'm really interested in it (I'm replacing it with another course but I'm not going to major in it), its description mentions interesting topics like relativity, time travel, quantum entanglement (sounds interesting yet very scary lol)...

In the late 80’s and early 90’s there was the idea of ‘calculus reform’ and some emphasis and syllabus changed. The order of doing things in calculus also changed with the advantage of technology. Similarly in linear algebra there was a linear algebra curriculum study group which produced some...

Here is my schedule for the fall. Chem 1 Cal 1 intro to engineering design. I need a fourth class that isn't Mechanics/physics 1. Any ideas?

Part v is where I'm stuck. All relevant equations and the bit where I'm stuck are in the second attachment with my workings

Prove by mathematical induction: (2n)! < (2^(2n))*(n!)^2 , for all n=2,3,4... I know that to start you must prove that it is true for n=2, (2*2)! = 24 < 64 = (2^4)(2!)^2 Then you assume that n=k and show tha n=k implies that n=(k+1) (2k)! < (2^(2k))*(k!)^2 ... At this point I...

I'm in my first year of university and will be taking a math, physics and an Earth science course. I'm not sure which subject to choose for my 4th subject however, at the moment I'm thinking either a second language (French or German) or chemistry. Would first year chemistry be useful for a...

I met with a REALLY nice professor who is doing theoretical nuclear and particle physics (one of my interests). I am in my first year, but can graduate in three years instead of four because of AP credit (with already having taken AP Physics with Calculus and am currently taking Quantum). So he...

I am a non-traditional student looking to change career paths. Though I am in my first year of college, I already know I want my major to be in high-energy physics. I am in a small community college for now as I need to save money. As such, there is not much of anything in my field that I can...

ΔHomework Statement I'm preparing for my first year university physics exam and was wondering if the PF community could give me some 'more difficult' problems that I could work on. If you could can the problems involve combinations of topics (ex. relative motion, kinematics, dynamics...