The discussion revolves around the challenges faced by students who excel in mathematics but struggle with physics. Participants share their experiences, strategies, and insights on how to bridge the gap between mathematical proficiency and physical intuition, exploring concepts, study techniques, and the nature of understanding in physics.
Participants generally agree on the challenges of transitioning from math to physics and the need for physical intuition. However, there are multiple competing views on the best strategies for improvement, with no consensus on a singular approach to mastering physics.
Some participants mention the difficulty of grasping vague or fuzzy concepts in physics, highlighting the potential for misconceptions and the need for clarity in understanding relationships between different phenomena.
This discussion may be useful for students in STEM fields, particularly those who excel in mathematics but find physics challenging, as well as educators seeking insights into student experiences and learning strategies.
-Dragoon- said:At least you are being honest about it, which I thank you for. I am tired about hearing all of the people on this board who say all it takes is just "hard work". Yeah, right. I doubt most qualified physicists today ever struggled with the introductory classes and concepts.
At least I know I gave it my best shot, after all, most people aren't good at physics and there's a reason why most people hate it (and it's not purely because of bad teachers, like other posters on here like to claim). Meh, I'll just stick with math. At least I won't have to be good at physics and I was always interested in math, physics was just something I was moderately interested in since I found it pretty interesting to see the real-world applications of math.
nlsherrill said:Think again.
Anyway, if you want one persons opinion to sway you away from an interesting field, be my guest. It takes hard work to be a physicist or a mathematician, even if you are naturally good at the kind of thinking required. If you think math is much easier for you, then come back and tell us that after you take real analysis.
Dickfore said:I don't mean to be impolite, but maybe you are just not good at Physics. That's why grades lower than A are for.
At least I know I gave it my best shot, after all, most people aren't good at physics and there's a reason why most people hate it (and it's not purely because of bad teachers, like other posters on here like to claim). Meh, I'll just stick with math. At least I won't have to be good at physics and I was always interested in math, physics was just something I was moderately interested in since I found it pretty interesting to see the real-world applications of math.
-Dragoon- said:I find the last part of your statement to be laughable. If that is your definition of "being good at physics", then why do many physics graduate programs except students with less than A average (<3.7 GPA)? Clearly, they are not good at physics by your definition, so why do graduate schools still accept them? Are their supervisors idiots or something?
Graduate programs also require you take a set of obligatory physics courses. If you get a B- (less than 3.0 on a number scale) in Physics II, then what would you expect to get in Classical Mechanics, Theoretical Electrodynamics, Quantum Mechanics, Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics, all required by graduate schools? Surely, your GPA would be below 3.0, or even 2.5, which would not be enough for a grad school admission. Thus, your point is moot.
Dickfore said:Thus, your point is moot.
homeomorphic said:Physics is more than just an application of math. It's a part of math. The roots of a lot of math are in physics. It's possible to be a successful mathematician without knowing any physics, but I don't know that I would recommend it. Eventually, if you go far enough in math, there are parts of physics that will just be "more math"--as I've been saying, no different from the rest of math, except as some weird superstition that you have in your mind that they are completely different subjects. You can look at some things from a very mathematical point of view, if you want.
Even when I was studying electrical engineering, I thought the theory side of it was the same thing as what I'm doing now, studying math. I use the same sort of thought processes to understand all of it.
-Dragoon- said:I don't even want to go to graduate school in physics, I just find it something interesting to think about from time to time. I'll still be taking classical mechanics, E&M, and quantum despite what people like you think. I don't care if I do terrible in them, I just want to see what they are about and see the math applied to those rigorous topics.
Dickfore said:Graduate programs also require you take a set of obligatory physics courses. If you get a B- (less than 3.0 on a number scale) in Physics II, then what would you expect to get in Classical Mechanics, Theoretical Electrodynamics, Quantum Mechanics, Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics, all required by graduate schools? Surely, your GPA would be below 3.0, or even 2.5, which would not be enough for a grad school admission. Thus, your point is moot.