First term of foundations of physics vs the second term

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around a student's concern about transitioning from a Foundations of Physics course focused on Newtonian mechanics to the next course covering electricity and magnetism. The student feels confident in their mathematical skills, as they are currently studying vector and multivariable calculus, but is unsure about retaining the physics concepts from the previous course. Responses indicate that the foundational understanding from the first course will likely resurface quickly, and the math background will be beneficial. The student plans to review the textbook shortly before the new class begins to refresh their knowledge.
andyroo
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
I took the first term of a Foundations of Physics sequence (251) last year, and understood most of the material fairly well. It was calculus based Newtonian mechanics; units and vectors; one-dimensional motion; Newton’s laws; work and energy; momentum and collisions. Since it's been a year though, and I was considering taking 252, which is about electricity and magnetism; charge and electric field; electric potential; circuits; magnetic field; inductance, I wasn't sure if I would be prepared enough for the class. I'm in vector/multi-var. calculus right now, so the math involved won't be an issue, I'm just more concerned about any physics concepts from 251 that might be needed to understand the material in 252. If anyone has any suggestions or thoughts on how I might want to prepare, I would greatly appreciate it.

-Andy
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I don't think it will be that much of a problem.
 
Having the math background will help a lot. You may be a bit rusty after a year off, but it wouldn't worry about it too much.

If you understood most of the stuff in the first part of the course, conceptual things should come back fairly quickly when you need them.
 
G01 said:
Having the math background will help a lot. You may be a bit rusty after a year off, but it wouldn't worry about it too much.

If you understood most of the stuff in the first part of the course, conceptual things should come back fairly quickly when you need them.

Alright. I'll just go over the textbook for a few hours the week before class starts and leave it at that. Thanks!
 
TL;DR Summary: I want to do a PhD in applied math but I hate group theory, is this a big problem? Hello, I am a second-year math and physics double major with a minor in data science. I just finished group theory (today actually), and it was my least favorite class in all of university so far. It doesn't interest me, and I am also very bad at it compared to other math courses I have done. The other courses I have done are calculus I-III, ODEs, Linear Algebra, and Prob/Stats. Is it a...
Yesterday, 9/5/2025, when I was surfing, I found an article The Schwarzschild solution contains three problems, which can be easily solved - Journal of King Saud University - Science ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT https://jksus.org/the-schwarzschild-solution-contains-three-problems-which-can-be-easily-solved/ that has the derivation of a line element as a corrected version of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equation. This article's date received is 2022-11-15...
Back
Top