Why is physics so frustrating for me?

[kliker]

i can't understand it, our teacher is not good at all, he hasnt even solved a decent exercise the whole semester and whenever I go to his office to ask something, he's always like "be quick because I have work to do", I am studying Computer Science and I love it, but man, physics, it's so hard for me, in the first semester I passed it with a B, now second semester, I just don't know, these transistors are giving me a hard time

I think i ve passed all the other exams, now I have this last exam, and I am not sure if I pass it, why should I learn physics If I am not ever going to use it in my life? But again, it's CS, it's not just programming and Math, right I agree, but I just hope our prof was better, I usually end up watching vids on youtube to understand basic principles

the good thing is that it's the last physics, if I pass it, then no more physics for me

I ve studied many hours, days, weeks, and I just can't understand it, our book sucks too(has too many mistakes)

If I fail, I will have to resit the exam this September :(

have you ever failed a physics exam or have you ever felt like that before?

 

[gretun]

i can't understand it, our teacher is not good at all, he hasnt even solved a decent exercise the whole semester and whenever I go to his office to ask something, he's always like "be quick because I have work to do", I am studying Computer Science and I love it, but man, physics, it's so hard for me, in the first semester I passed it with a B, now second semester, I just don't know, these transistors are giving me a hard time

I think i ve passed all the other exams, now I have this last exam, and I am not sure if I pass it, why should I learn physics If I am not ever going to use it in my life? But again, it's CS, it's not just programming and Math, right I agree, but I just hope our prof was better, I usually end up watching vids on youtube to understand basic principles

the good thing is that it's the last physics, if I pass it, then no more physics for me

I ve studied many hours, days, weeks, and I just can't understand it, our book sucks too(has too many mistakes)

If I fail, I will have to resit the exam this September :(

have you ever failed a physics exam or have you ever felt like that before?

Try Khanacademy, what physics level are you at? Ican send you a pdf of a freshman calc-based physics book to self-study.

 

[kliker]

the physics I am doing now is called "Electronic Physics" it has to do with circuits, transistors, diodes etc

 

[ronaldoshaky]

I was stuck on a peturbation theory question the other day. stuck on the bloody integration. i thought physics was frustrating then. but i stuck at it and solved the problem. maybe you just need a better tutor

 

[kliker]

I was stuck on a peturbation theory question the other day. stuck on the bloody integration. i thought physics was frustrating then. but i stuck at it and solved the problem. maybe you just need a better tutor

thank you, I won't give up, even if I fail I will try my best this summer

I would love to have a decent tutor, because my prof is not good at all

 

[General_Sax]

I'm always frustrated by physics. It's a love hate thing. Mostly hate though.

 

[PieceOfPi]

I'm sorry to hear that you are not getting along with your physics professor--physics is not an easy subject, but it can get easier with a good professor. I would certainly try to find a tutor who can not only show you how to solve problems, but can explain the concepts behind those problems.

One thing I would like to comment:

why should I learn physics If I am not ever going to use it in my life?

That's not really what a physics class is about. A purpose of taking physics class is to learn how you can solve certain things in nature using concepts of physics. Think of an example in calculus: You can certainly find a max/min of some mathematical functions using a computer or graphing calculator, and in most practical cases, that approximate max/min is really what you need. But you can use concepts of calculus to find max/min of some functions, and all you need are paper and pencil! Might not be practical, but I think using calculus gives much more elegant solution than using a computer.

So you probably won't use physics again in your life, but it just gives you another way to look at this world. And I personally think it is a nice way to look at this world that any science majors should learn it. (I won't lie--there are subjects that I did not like, and I did not see any practicality in it. But this is just to give you some motivation to study the material--you'll learn the subject better if you have positive attitude toward it!)

 

[tramar]

If it's any consolation, I failed a couple of the assignments and one midterm in my first year physics courses. Now, well I'm a month away from a Master's degree and I've been accepted to start a PhD program. (in physics)

It is rough at times, but just keep at it until it sinks in.

 

[Feldoh]

why should I learn physics If I am not ever going to use it in my life?

the physics I am doing now is called "Electronic Physics" it has to do with circuits, transistors, diodes etc

It's important to understand the fundamentals. Why do we use digital logic? How does a computer run at a hardware level?

It all starts with electronics

 

[arunma]

Yeah, I guess physics is sort of used as a weeder class for engineering and CSci majors. I don't have a good answer for you as to why you'll ever need it. Hell, I'm a physics PhD student and I rarely use any of that old freshman stuff in my research (granted I do need to know a lot about electronics, which is what you're studying). I guess the most I can say is that this is the way the system is set up, and no amount of protestation will change that. So it's best to just do whatever is required for your major and get the best grade you can.

Can you be more specific about the stuff that's giving you trouble? You mentioned transistors. Which aspect doesn't make sense? In principle the idea is easy: a transistor just has a base and collector, and the emitter current is proportional to the base current. But I guess it can get complicated when you've got to work with circuit diagrams and calculate voltages and stuff. If you've got specific problems that are giving you trouble, maybe we can help.

You might want to see if you can find a copy of Horowitz and Hill's book "The Art of Electronics." I wouldn't recommend buying it since it's probably a bit pricey. But it's very useful; I still have a copy on my shelf. If you can find one at the library that'd probably help you out.

 

[kliker]

thanks for your help guys, i took the exam today I was lucky to have solved exercises that he had uploaded on his page and i think i did well

thank you again