What Should I Study After Basic Physics?

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The discussion revolves around a user seeking guidance on advancing their physics knowledge after initially reviewing basic concepts. They express familiarity with Newtonian mechanics and some quantum mechanics principles but feel uncertain about their understanding of specific topics, such as energy conservation and the ideal gas law. Participants suggest that a solid grasp of mechanics is essential before moving on to more complex subjects like electromagnetism. Recommendations include studying specific chapters from the Kleppner textbook and exploring the Feynman Lectures to deepen understanding and fill knowledge gaps. The emphasis is placed on the importance of applying theoretical knowledge to problem-solving in physics to truly grasp the concepts.
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I had this post about a hour ago, and a mentor on this site said i should start of with basic physics, so i went online and had a look around. After half an hour I watched several videos/read some stuff about basic physics, but I already knew all the stuff I came across, so what should I do now? Any tips on what I should learn about next? I really like physics and especially the theories from Einstein and Newton, I know really basic quantum mechanics, like the Schrödingers cat, and I understand the two-split expirement, with particles moving in waves

thanks!
 
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So can you tell us what you want to do and what you already know?

As for basic physics, you do need to know mechanics well for anything. Here is a very good mechanics book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521198119/?tag=pfamazon01-20 Click on the image of the book and look through the table of contents, and tell us what you already know.
 
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micromass said:
So can you tell us what you want to do and what you already know?

As for basic physics, you do need to know mechanics well for anything. Here is a very good mechanics book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521198119/?tag=pfamazon01-20 Click on the image of the book and look through the table of contents, and tell us what you already know.

Should I just go over all the chapters and tell you which I know/understand?
 
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Yes, that would be nice. What is your goal by the way?
 
micromass said:
Yes, that would be nice. What is your goal by the way?

I know Newton's laws (2), Forces and equations of motions (3), Energy (5), however I know some of the paragraphs but other I don't, such as energy conservation and the ideal gas law. I know a little of central force motion (10) , and I know the special theory of relativity, last chapter.

I do not really have a goal, I just think it is interesting to get more knowledge in physics,

btw thanks for your help
 
Maybe you should go through kleppner then? Study the chapters you don't yet know. After that you can probably do some electromagnetism.
 
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micromass said:
Maybe you should go through kleppner then? Study the chapters you don't yet know. After that you can probably do some electromagnetism.

thanks!
 
To: siebe22 The question is what do you mean by understanding. Just being able to follow the logical and mathematical development of a topic does not automatically imply understanding. You must be able to apply that "understanding" to different scenarios i.e, solve problems related to that topic. If you are successful then yes you understand. Learning Physics to accomplished by doing Physics.
 
To help with Electromagnetism and to fill in the gaps in your knowledge of basics, I would recommend the Feynman Lectures. Chances are you've heard of them, but if you haven't looked into them I can't recommend them enough. The table of contents can be found here:

http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/
 

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