Do I go Physics, Chemistry, or Engineering?

[danielandpenn]

Do I go Physics, Chemistry, or Engineering?

Boy, do I need some insight if any are willing and serious. I'm a 34 y.o. married nurse(assoc degree), wife, and mom who has been seriously considering a career change for the past year. I want to figure out how things work to help our environment. I love learning about solar, wind, hydropower energy, geothermal energy. I'm not, however, good at tinkering and building things. I live near the steel mills where a lot of coal-burning takes place. Where do I start? Thanks!

 

[leumas614]

You can get a 4-year degree in engineering or science or try a technical school where you can train to be a technician.

Not good at tinkering? If you can imagine it you can do it.

 

[Howers]

Boy, do I need some insight if any are willing and serious. I'm a 34 y.o. married nurse(assoc degree), wife, and mom who has been seriously considering a career change for the past year. I want to figure out how things work to help our environment. I love learning about solar, wind, hydropower energy, geothermal energy. I'm not, however, good at tinkering and building things. I live near the steel mills where a lot of coal-burning takes place. Where do I start? Thanks!

That right there says I love engineering but I might not be good at it.

Physics will teach you the fundamentals of nature. That is, you will really understand that energy is merely a mathematical concept we devised to understand motion. This, and other fundamental facts, will be derived and discussed.

The other two are more "applied sciences". That is, they apply physical laws to understand different things. Chemistry is the study of matter and how it reacts. It is a very broad science that deals with things like plastics, materials, and medicine. Chemistry won't deal with different kinds of energy used in power plants per se, but you will get a detailed treatment of coal-burning (and other combustion reactions) as well as pollution.

Engineering will probably discuss these things in depth, as they are the ones building our plants. They will only gloss over the theory, but you will have enough knowledge to understand how these plants function.

 

[FrancisZ]

Boy, do I need some insight if any are willing and serious. I'm a 34 y.o. married nurse(assoc degree), wife, and mom who has been seriously considering a career change for the past year. I want to figure out how things work to help our environment. I love learning about solar, wind, hydropower energy, geothermal energy. I'm not, however, good at tinkering and building things. I live near the steel mills where a lot of coal-burning takes place. Where do I start? Thanks!

Yes, I would definitely go with engineering. These 3 subjects, of course, are all related. But if you go the engineering route, you will definitely encounter general physics and general chemistry.


You might consider also: MATERIALS SCIENCE. This is yet another branch of the science tree; and I think a very cool subject.

 

[GCT]

Boy, do I need some insight if any are willing and serious. I'm a 34 y.o. married nurse(assoc degree), wife, and mom who has been seriously considering a career change for the past year. I want to figure out how things work to help our environment. I love learning about solar, wind, hydropower energy, geothermal energy. I'm not, however, good at tinkering and building things. I live near the steel mills where a lot of coal-burning takes place. Where do I start? Thanks!

Are you math proficient?