Should I Take Physics C? - Math-Oriented Junior's Guide

[zaboda42]

I have absolutely no physics experience but decided to take Physics C next year as a junior. Is this a good idea? I am a very math-oriented person and the questions that some people as on these forums interest me a lot. So, is physics really interesting? Or should i not take Physics C?

 

[Lambda3]

I find Physics very interesting and think that everyone should be at least a little educated in how, to our current understanding, the universe works. I think that you should take the course; however, you should know that you're probably only going to be taught some of classical mechanics, assuming you're in high school.

 

[djeitnstine]

I concur, physics is indeed interesting, however -as lambda has said- assuming you are in high school, you will not see the real interesting side of it.

You should read scientific american and other sources to see the really interesting physics

 

[vanesch]

I would even add that most high-school physics is rather dull, simply because one lacks the mathematical tools to do some more interesting stuff. This is not entirely true, you can do fun stuff at high school level, and maybe at some places one does so, but my souvenirs of it are terrible: expansion coefficients of heating a copper bar, buoyancy, pulleys, elementary electrical circuits, ...
In fact, the most interesting stuff you can do at high school level is mathematics. Now, maybe it depends on the school and certainly it depends on the teacher. I think I had a brilliant mathematics teacher, and a mediocre physics teacher.

BTW, I moved this to "academic guidance".

 

[Choppy]

The best way to get physics experience is to start by taking a fundamentals of physics course. I have no idea what "physics C" is, but I'm assuming this is a first year university level course.

Whether or not something is "interesting" is a very subjective debate. Some people find rocks interesting. Other people aren't interested unless things are about to explode. As others have said, in a fundamentals course, you will cover a lot of the basics. And as a result, interest will largely come from how much you engage yourself in applying what you learn to external phenomena.

 

[lubuntu]

"Science is interesting; if you don't agree you can $#&% off" - R.Dawkins

 

[wildman]

I remember in my first class in modern physics where the professor was describing relativity for the first time. No one in the class moved. They were riveted by the absolute strangeness and beauty of what he was describing. Physics interesting? Nothing is more interesting!

 

[lubuntu]

Alas, there seems to be a big chunk of our society who isn't really interested in see how the world works. I guess you just have to ask yourself if you are interested in learning about how we can describe the world scientifically or more interested in subjective human experience.