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Daryl Pedigo, 2007

Tips on Learning Physics, version 2.2

Learning any subject is much easier and more effective if you tailor your study
habits to match the discipline. These tips should help you see how to adjust your
approach to introductory physics.

Doing physics is like playing the piano
You would not expect to just sit down and play a Chopin opus effortlessly, unless
you had years of training and practice. Do not expect to solve physics problems
without practice.
Finger exercises and scales are very useful to develop the dexterity and
coordination required for playing the piano. Solving word problems is the
equivalent for learning physics: the more you do, the faster you learn the skills
that are needed to apply physics concepts to real world problems.
No one would ever confuse being good at finger exercises with being able to play
beautiful music, though there is a relation. Similarly, if you can do all of the
example problems in the text it is still possible to falter when presented with a
brand new scenario. However, the more standard exercises you are familiar with,
the more possible approaches you can choose from in attacking an unfamiliar
problem.
However, if you practice the wrong techniques in your finger exercises, the result
is worse than not doing the exercises at all! When you solve physics problems,
focus on the process and reasoning involved, not on plugging numbers into the
first equation that comes to mind.
There are many ways to solve a physics problem, just as there are many styles of
piano. But there are techniques that are known to produce good results in both
cases, and practicing them is essential.

Physics is not math.
Math is a tool. It is easier to loosen a stuck bolt if you use the right size wrench
rather than pliers or a hammer. But you must know when and how to apply the
wrench.
Most students fear the math in physics, but in reality more students have trouble
with the reasoning than with the math.

Memorization is only marginally useful.
Unlike biology, memorization is only useful for minor things in physics. Focus on
being able to reconstruct or derive things from a few basic principles.
Re-reading and underlining long passages in the text may also prove futile in the
study of physics, unlike history or English. Certainly a first reading is necessary,
and probably a quick review, but put more effort into new problem solving than
into reading over again.

Physics takes the easy road
Most students believe that physics is hard, and they panic when exposed to a new
situation. But physics problems are usually chosen so that they are soluble. The

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harder a problem looks, the more likely there is an easy solution just waiting for
you to find. Once you see the trick, the problem becomes easy, perhaps even
trivial. The solution may rely on a symmetry principle, or be a superposition of
other simpler answers that you already know.
Physics problems are all related to each other, because physics is a coherent set of
principles that describe the world in terms that are accurate enough to yield useful
results. When you begin to see the similarities among all the problems in one
section of the textbook, you are thinking like a physicist!

Key elements of learning physics;
Take responsibility for understanding how each new topic fits in with the other
things you have learned. Never let something go by with the hope that you will
get it later. If it is inconvenient or embarrassing to ask immediately, write
yourself a note and find a comfortable way to ask later (but soon!).
Focus on the ten or so fundamental principles that are introduced each quarter. Be
sure to note the limits of applicability or the circumstances in which each
principle is valid. Example: Newtons second law F =ma is valid only in
inertial reference frames for objects with constant mass. Think about these
principles first when attacking any problem.
Logic is often helpful. Suppose that it is absolutely true that all cats sometimes
purr. Which of these is the also certain to be true?
1. Some cats always purr.
2. Some things that purr are not cats.
3. Some things that are not cats purr.
4. Things that never purr are not cats.
5. All things that sometimes purr are cats.

{The answer is #4, an example of the statement that the contrapositive of a true
proposition is always true [if A then B if (not B), then (not A)].

Once you decide which principles might apply, the next step is finding a strategy
to use the principle or principles to obtain an expression for the desired answer.
Follow the procedure outlined in my lecture notes for how to apply any physics
principle. Basically, start from a principle expressed as a generic equation, then
draw the appropriate pictures and use them to help construct a specific equation or
set of equations for the problem at hand.
If at the end there are too many unknowns and not enough equations, then you
may need to use some additional principles to set up more equations!
Once you find an answer, reflect for a moment on whether it is a sensible answer.
Does it conflict with any principles you know? Is it dramatically larger (or
smaller) than you would have thought? Do the units make sense? (If the solution
is for speed or velocity, are the units of your answer m/s?)

Studying for exams
Presumably you will have read all the material once, worked all of the assigned
homework problems, and paid attention in class. Then it is useful to review the

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work you have done very quickly, skimming the material in the assigned text
sections and skimming your notes and worksheets from class. Absolutely no more
than 2 hours total for all this review; even one may be enough.
Be sure to look at the worked examples in the text and try to follow all the steps.
The vast majority of your exam study time should be spent trying to work
problems that you have not tried before, or have been unable to work previously.
Paradoxically, you learn more by solving practice problems slowly, with great
attention to following all of the steps in the procedure for applying principles. It
is not so much how many problems you practice, as how thoughtfully you
practice them. This slow, thoughtful approach actually makes you faster when
you need to be faster, such as on an exam. If you move as fast as possible on all of
your homework and practice problems, you miss most of the learning
opportunities.
Physics exams are stressful primarily because of time constraints, so your study in
the last few days prior to the exam should try to mimic this situation. Set a kitchen
timer to 15 minutes, turn to a relevant section of end-of-chapter problems, pick
one at random, and go! When the time expires, stop and repeat with a new
problem (regardless of whether you were able to work the first one). After
working about 4 or 5 in a row, stop and do something completely different, such
as eat dinner. Do this several times in preparation for each exam.
The purpose is to give you practice working under a time limit, expose you to a
variety of problems, and build up your thinking skills. Whether or not you get the
right answer, or finish the problem, is almost irrelevant. It may well take several
attempts before you are able to fully complete a problem in the allotted time.
Get a good nights sleep the night before the exam. This is much more useful than
cramming all night, because physics is about thinking and reasoning. You need a
sharp brain more than you need a larger collection of facts.
Each exam (and the final) will include a cheat sheet containing all of the
important (numbered equations from the relevant chapters of the textbook. Your
task is to remember what the variables mean and under what circumstances the
equations apply.

The role of intuition
Physics problems are about physical situations. Often they are idealized, but they
are always related in some way to the real world. Thus, if you can visualize a
problem situation as a physical thing, and imagine what would happen in the real
world, it may be possible to guess the answer without having to do any
calculations. Mathematical answers are only a portion of a physics problem.
J ohn Archibald Wheeler (a famous physicist) has stated that his first principle of
physics is never perform a calculation until you know what the answer is going
to be. By that he means that you should learn to estimate and approximate, get a
rough idea of what an answer should be, and only then bother with the details of a
calculation. Then if your numbers dont come reasonably close to your estimate,
you probably made an error in your detailed calculation.
Be careful: Before you have a good understanding of the fundamental principles
of physics, your intuition can actually work against you! It is not the things you

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dont know that will hurt you, it is the things you believe you know that are not
true that will trip you up. For example, everyone knows that if you want to keep a
heavy crate moving at a constant speed across a floor, you have to keep pushing
on it. Yet Newtons Second Law says that zero force is required to keep an object
moving in a straight line at a constant speed. How can both of these be true? Well,
Newtons 2
nd
is a statement about the NET (or total) force acting on an object,
whereas your experience with crates is based only on the force that you yourself
must exert. If there were some other equal and opposite force (friction) acting on
the crate while you push, then both of the above statements become consistent.
Learning physics is about requiring consistency between the fundamental
principles and real world behavior.

Pitfalls of problem solving
The basic ideas of physics sound so easy that it is tempting to think that you
understand everything after a cursory reading or attending a lecture. Actually you
do not understand the physics until you are able to apply it in an unfamiliar
situation. This is where attempting to solve lots of problems comes in.
Having worked your way through the homework and the examples in the text, and
solved a few problems from the end of the chapter, it is easy to believe that you
are ready for an exam. But in these cases you likely had a lot of time to think, and
you also had friends to work with or answers at hand to check yourself by. See
studying for exams above.
Because learning physics is based on understanding rather than memorization, it
is not possible to cram everything in very well just before the exam. Pace
yourself by spending a little time each day on physics. Building up a good
knowledge of physics is a slow process, rather like building a house. If you try to
do it all in one step the framing will sink into the wet concrete and the roof will
collapse.
Sometimes problems do not quite give enough information, so you will find
yourself in situations where you have to make reasonable assumptions in order to
get a solution. Perhaps you will need to decide whether or not to ignore friction or
air resistance; whether to treat an automobile as a particle or as an extended
object, or whether to rule out one possible solution as physically irrelevant. As a
general rule, the easiest possible scenario that matches real world behavior is
usually the best choice.
Details are important in problem solving, but dont get so caught up in details that
you fail to see the big picture. Start from basic concepts and a global view and
work your way down to the details rather than beginning with details and working
your way up.