Undergrad Frustration: Dealing With Thermal Physics

[eep]

Hi,
I'm a junior in college right now and I'm getting extremely frustrated with one of my classes this semester - "Thermal Physics". When I read the textbook, I find the material to be interested, however when it comes to problem sets I don't even understand what the questions are asking for sometimes. This is the first time I've ever come across a physics class where I felt lost. Has anyone else run into similar issues? Could it possibly be just the way the material is presented? Any suggestions on how to deal with this class?

 

[franznietzsche]

Hi,
I'm a junior in college right now and I'm getting extremely frustrated with one of my classes this semester - "Thermal Physics". When I read the textbook, I find the material to be interested, however when it comes to problem sets I don't even understand what the questions are asking for sometimes. This is the first time I've ever come across a physics class where I felt lost. Has anyone else run into similar issues? Could it possibly be just the way the material is presented? Any suggestions on how to deal with this class?

What book are you using?

I'm in my first quarter of Thermal Physics right now.

 

[eep]

Kittel and Kroemer - Thermal Physics, 2nd Edition. We're only very loosely following the book, however. The problem sets usually consist of 4 problems, 1 of which is from Kittel and Kroemer. I'm really having problems with more complex uses of thermodynamic identitities. I don't understand when it's beneficial to replace one differential element with another.

 

[michealsmith]

talk to ur teacher ..he or she might havea suggestion... he or she may suggest another book,,if ur not using theirs ...but talk to them anywayz.

 

[JasonRox]

That's complete normal to not get a course.

The best thing to do is what michaelsmith said. You never know what kind of insight they might give you.