How Can I Motivate My Son Who Loves Advanced Topics to Enjoy Basic Physics?

[thegreenlaser]

Wow - thanks! I will check them out.

I remember sitting in my high school chemistry classes and thinking that I wouldn't get to do the really interesting stuff until university and I was right -- the chemistry in high school was boring by comparison. I really wanted to learn chemistry so I understand my son's frustration that the physics he is being introduced to seems so remote from the physics he is interested in. I was able to stick it (high school) out and then take chemistry in university. Like someone said above, interests can change. My interests changed from biochem to molecular genetics and cell biology and then of all things to science policy so I do understand that he may decide he prefers Medieval Literature over physics. My concern is that students have to choose which sciences to take in the higher levels -- physics and chemistry or chemistry and biology or physics and biology -- usually not all three -- and I hope he isn't put off by the initial taste of physics he gets in the early years. I took biophysics in university so I don't really know the curriculum for normal physics.

It should be reasonably easy to take all three sciences as far as they go in high school. I did it, and the most homework I ever had was thanks to me squishing calculus and physics into 2.5 months each when they were both supposed to take the entire year. Even then, my workload was pretty light.

In first year university, I'd be surprised if they don't allow taking all three. I know that for science degrees at my university there's absolutely no problem in taking two courses from physics, bio, and chem. Usually courses from two of those are required and then the others are optional. There's also quite a few major options that mix and match different amounts of each science. Maybe it's different up here, but I'd be surprised universities aren't accommodating to people who know they're interested in science, but aren't quite sure which science. At least at my university, they're realizing that there's a lot of kids like this.

As to interestingness, for me at least, the physics in first year uni is WAY more interesting than high school physics. What frustrated me most in high school was how everything was restricted to a few select cases that just so happened to be solvable with only algebra. Suddenly in first year uni you've got a good enough foundation in calculus and linear algebra that you can start to look at real science. I didn't like electromagnetism in high school because it was a lot of "trust me, it works this way". Now, with some basic integral calculus and vector math under my belt, I can not only see why I would have had no hope understanding this stuff in high school, but I can actually start to understand how things really work. It's still the tip of the ice-berg, but at least I feel like I'm actually learning real physics.

 

[hikaru1221]

They don't do calculus until later. In fact, at his age, they don't study physics as a separate discipline. It's just one section of their "science" course and it's really basic. He does like math so that's a plus. I think what he wants is context. Why is this important to study? How is it relevant to what interests him? I try to explain as best I can but I'm no expert.

Hello,

I think if he truly likes physics, sooner or later he will overcome the math. I came to physics, driven by physical phenomena, without any formulas in mind or anticipating the need for strong foundation in math when pursuing physics. When I entered high school, as I started to dig into physics, I realized math was crucial for studying physics, and I started to learn math beyond the standard curriculum just because I wanted to understand what exactly the physics books were talking about (I used books for college those days). I recalled that I once even learned differentiation and integration within a night.

One of my friend is also the same: unlike me fascinated by everyday phenomena, she was intrigued by "nano" things (I put "nano" in inverted commas as I guess she didn't get exactly what phenomena at nano scale were like), and now she's pursuing material engineering (higher education in physics in my country isn't really good, so that's why my friend goes for engineering).

Your son is still young, so I don't see there is a reason trying to convince him to learn math/ vectors/ etc. Instead, I think you should let him discover things by himself. When comes the right time, he will find math essential and useful.