Why do people think physics is so hard?

[Schrodinger's Dog]

I find math to be incredibly easy compared to physics, probably because physics facts are much more disconnected. Physics gets easier for me once I can axiomatize it & that approach isn't usually taught in classes.

I find both hard - if you find maths and physics easy I think the nobel prize awaits you - but together they make it much easier, if you can show one in visual form and get the math behind it it becomes more manageable, a good model is worth a thousand words.

For example I didn't get complex numbers until I saw an example where a graph was used, then I said: I could call that 4D (x)(y)(z)(t), time and space, then time and space became much easier to comprehend mathematically. Minkowski diagrams and then light cones were the icing on the cake

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:World_line.png

 

[pivoxa15]

I am not a US citizen, When you mention GPA, do you mean their University or high school grades? SAT is taken by final year high school students looking for a place in Uni isn't it?

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

I am not a US citizen, When you mention GPA, do you mean their University or high school grades? SAT is taken by final year high school students looking for a place in Uni isn't it?

No neither am I, GPA at University, SAT scores to enter university, drop out rates, and a few other things.

 

[joshtring]

i think physics is the abstract or may be the funda of the rest of science! you feel physics easy then you find yourself able to solve anything that happens in this this world!

 

[pivoxa15]

The tests are the standard SAT's and the GPA(grade point averages) Mathemeticians tend to gain in maths GPA's though. But it's not really apt to compare GPA in two different subjects, essentially it was a combined statistical average of who dropped out who stayed in GPA's and SAT's. Plus some other factors.

So you are saying maths students tend to get better marks at maths than physics students at physics?

SAT consists of general testing including essays so one would tend to favour physics wanna-be scoring higher overall than pure maths wanna-be's.

For me though, I am not particularly bright or good at either physics or maths but I do have a large curiosity for nature and abstract entities. However, I feel that in general there isn't near as many 'impossible' type problems in physics than in maths. In other words I feel that given sufficient time, I am able to do any solved problem in physics but with maths, I can very quickly find a problem that I can't do and after a while get a feeling of 'never' be able to solve this problem. So you can say I am more confident at physics than at maths.

 

[pivoxa15]

i think physics is the abstract or may be the funda of the rest of science! you feel physics easy then you find yourself able to solve anything that happens in this this world!

I agree. If you succeed in physics than I think you would success in any other 'practical' endeavour. 'practical' being associated to the real world.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

So you are saying maths students tend to get better marks at maths than physics students at physics?

SAT consists of general testing including essays so one would tend to favour physics wanna-be scoring higher overall than pure maths wanna-be's.

For me though, I am not particularly bright or good at either physics or maths but I do have a large curiosity for nature and abstract entities. However, I feel that in general there isn't near as many 'impossible' type problems in physics than in maths. In other words I feel that given sufficient time, I am able to do any solved problem in physics but with maths, I can very quickly find a problem that I can't do and after a while get a feeling of 'never' be able to solve this problem. So you can say I am more confident at physics than at maths.

GPAs alone would not be representative. Is the point.

 

[chromosome24]

the hard thing about physics is statistical mechanics! i have an assignment due tomorrow and I am just about to gouge out my eyes.

 

[doc.madani]

some aspects of physics is hard and requires a lot of knowledge but physics is really fun and pretty simple stuff.

 

[malawi_glenn]

physics is really fun and pretty simple stuff.

quite arrogant from a person asking questions about Newtons laws of motion..

 

[_Mayday_]

I haven't ventured that far into physics to be honest so I can't really comment on how difficult physics is after school. One of my teachers studied at a top university and said it was extremely difficult, but then another one of my old teachers said it was alright if you put the hours in. You can't really draw a conclusion from those two opinions really.

Personally I enjoy Physics, so I can live with it being difficult, some aspects I have covered are quite straight forward, like the Particle Physics we have covered, but that was in very straight forwards terms. The questions are a lot harder when put in context with a real life scenario, and you have to figure out what a, b and c is, but the topics I have covered so far, when they are just numbers on a piece of paper, the formula are easily manipulated, and solved.

Overall I would say it is a difficult subject, in comparison with other subjects at the same level. If you say physics is very easy then surely you should have some grades or qualifications to back it up? As much as I would like to say it is straight forward, I will only know straight forward I find it in the summer when I get my results, or when I start university.

_Mayday_

 

[Nano]

I see a lot of people are saying that if you're bad at math, you'll be bad at physics. However, I'm quite advanced for my grade level at math, and I also happen to enjoy it, so I assumed I would be good at physics as well. But that's not the case, I'm actually terrible at physics for reasons I don't understand.
So is there some inherent difference between math and physics that I'm overlooking. They both seem to rely heavily on problem solving.

 

[humanino]

So is there some inherent difference between math and physics that I'm overlooking. They both seem to rely heavily on problem solving.

I too was much better at math at a young age. The thing with math is that you always know what you're talking about. Physics is actually more abstract ! In math, you cannot let the slightest detail ruin your work, you must pay attention to every little thing. In physics, the problem is not to focus on irrelevant features, you must know how to approximate reliably.

 

[Nano]

In physics, the problem is not to focus on irrelevant features, you must know how to approximate reliably.

I'm not quite sure what you mean, could you give an example?

I find that I'm as bad at solving physics problems than I am at understanding conceptual questions. A lot of people say that physics is hard because it messes with your intuition. But don't all subjects do that on some level or the other? Eventually you learn the misconceptions you held were wrong, and you learn the new way. But I don't seem to be able to "absorb" the new intuition that physics presents. Manipulating equations is fine, but thinking through a foreign concept with a new set of rules they give you is challenging.

 

[D H]

This thread has been raised from the dead four times now.

The thing with math is that you always know what you're talking about.

Whereas physicists don't have to know what they're talking about?

One difference between mathematics and physics is that physics is bound to reality (go ahead, humanino, give me the grumpy face back for making an enthymematically disparaging remark regarding mathematics; I deserve it). In physics one has to know what's important and what's important to ignore. Example: I'm working with some people new to a regime that I know very well. They kept adding a requirement to model an effect important in the regime in which they normally work. I kept striking this requirement because I know both regimes and I know the effect of interest is irrelevant. They finally got it when I made them realize that this capability is more than an order magnitude smaller than uncertainties in the dominant effects in this new regime. (Sorry to be so obtuse. I can't give out the details.) Knowing what throw away and what not to throw away is very important in physics.

 

[humanino]

I'm not quite sure what you mean, could you give an example?

What is the volume of a cow ?
Roughly the same as the volume of a sphere of water with the same weight !
(It's well-known)

Whereas physicists don't have to know what they're talking about?

Look, I'm a physicist !
What I mean is, a circle is a circle, we all agree on all properties of circles, no matter which definition we use of a circle (as long as they are equivalent to each other). But there is no circle anywhere in Nature. We know the mathematical objects we use to describe reality, but we should not forget that they are not reality. We don't know what is out there for sure.

 

[Hurkyl]

Knowing what throw away and what not to throw away is very important in physics.

And it's not in mathematics? From one perspective, this is the entire point of calculus, and the primary proof technique of real analysis!

Knowing what to throw away is important even in cases (apparently) far removed from the idea of approximation. For example, the theory of rings can be quite difficult and complex. One of the most important advances was Emmy Noether's observation that most rings of interest satisfy a certain technical condition which greatly simplifies the theory (we now call such rings Noetherian, in tribute). Knowing to consider only the important Noetherian case makes it much, much easier to deal with many of the questions that arise in ring theory / algebraic geometry.

 

[Wellesley]

A lot of people say that physics is hard because it messes with your intuition. But don't all subjects do that on some level or the other?

At least for me, some topics in Physics are hard to grapple with conceptually...For example the speed of light (and it's limitations). The traditional way of thinking (think Star Trek, Sci-Fi and Star Wars) has made the reality much harder to grasp. Everyone (who hasn't taken Physics) thinks objects can be accelerated past c, and that's what we group up thinking. This also makes learning Physics much harder than understanding how to manipulate equations.

 

[Winzer]

In my years of schooling I have found mathematics easier to learn then physics. Physics is a skill that I have developed. A lot of hard work has gone into it and I am proud to say it is not in vain.

Its funny. I considered going into pure and applied math for college study. But I found physics to be even more challenging; it was always the one science class I would get a B in High School. In addition I was not satisfied with my physical understanding of the world at the time. So for reasons of being stubborn and seeking perfection I joined the physics tank--no regrets.

Yes, I think physics is hard. I still have a long way to go with physics and I HOPE it is hard as hell.

 

[ice109]

because they've never done it. they see all these funny looking symbols and get scared.

whenever anyone comments on my genius with regards to my studying physics i always emphasize how dumb i actually am and how i could teach anyone that was interested.

 

[D H]

But I found physics to be even more challenging; it was always the one science class I would get a B in High School. In addition I was not satisfied with my physical understanding of the world at the time.

High school physics is hard. It involves a lot of disparate equations that have to be memorized and don't seem to be connected to one another in any meaningful way. Calculus-based physics is a lot easier. Things fit together, and there is a lot less memorization (but a whole lot more to derivation).

 

[Winzer]

High school physics is hard. It involves a lot of disparate equations that have to be memorized and don't seem to be connected to one another in any meaningful way. Calculus-based physics is a lot easier. Things fit together, and there is a lot less memorization (but a whole lot more to derivation).

I would agree. After studying calculus based physics more concepts and derivations became clear and even intuitive. I would take being able to do derivations over straight memorization any day, as I would expect most people would.

 

[ice109]

High school physics is hard. It involves a lot of disparate equations that have to be memorized and don't seem to be connected to one another in any meaningful way. Calculus-based physics is a lot easier. Things fit together, and there is a lot less memorization (but a whole lot more to derivation).

this is all of physics. every single physics class I've ever taken save for my mechanics classes has been like this.

 

[matthayzon89]

I commonly hear the words "Physics" and "Genius" combined in many sentences, which seems to be a bit of a misnomer, considering that most of physics is rather simple, and only gets complicated once you have to apply hundreds of possible changing factors in a problem.

Or am I just being pompous? X.x

Just so you know. I knew nothing about physics before this year. I never took Trigonometry (which is usually required b4 taking physics). I am going junior in a college and I have a 3.2 GPA. Physics is simply HARD! Intro to Physics is what I am talking about. It's not hard to understand the basics and know the formulas but its hard to apply it REAL life situations and really understand different concepts in different situations. I strongly disagree when people say 'its easy'. I would say it's very very time consuming and requires hours of hard thought to completely understand a given concept 'in and out'.

 

[thack45]

High school physics is hard. It involves a lot of disparate equations that have to be memorized and don't seem to be connected to one another in any meaningful way.

I think high school physics is hard if you have any interest in actual physics. Others breezed through advanced physics in HS while every problem for me just drew more questions. So much was to be taken as a given. Just do the math and you're in there. I failed that class.

 

[Galteeth]

This has been touched on, but there is a stereotype that pople who are good at abstract thinking are not as good at concrete mathematical processing and vive-versa. To do well with physics one needs both types of cognitive ability and must be able to use them in parallel. This is intimidating to a lot of people, even those who may be intelligent but are aware of their own cognitive weaknesses.

 

[Pythagorean]

High school physics is hard. It involves a lot of disparate equations that have to be memorized and don't seem to be connected to one another in any meaningful way. Calculus-based physics is a lot easier. Things fit together, and there is a lot less memorization (but a whole lot more to derivation).

I agree that this is how it should be taught, but I'm afraid that it depends on the teacher in my experience :/

 

[rewebster]

Why do people think physics is so hard?

well, first I would say that most people don't care about physics (or math and the sciences).

If you think about what grade school kids, then high school kids, in general, care about, its usually not math, physics, or the sciences. And if you asked those kids about them, they would probably say that they care less about them first, before they would say they were hard.

By the time that people who became interested in the sciences, they are on a goal course that doesn't resemble what most peoples' goal courses are--and at that time, those people look at people in science and wonder why they are trying to figure out what gravity is--and think, big deal, gravity is gravity. With no comprehension what all those symbols that physicists use, its like a foreign language that they see no sense in learning---so they think its 'hard'.

 

[MHD93]

The beauty of Physics lies in its hardness

 

[Jack21222]

Argh! Necroposter!

 

[Chi Meson]

This thread has been raised from the dead four times now.

Six times


and counting?

 

[MHD93]

and counting?

yes yes

 

[stevenb]

I think physics is simple. It can be made complicated with poor explanations, but a good explanation reveals just how simple it is.

Still, modern physics encompasses so much breath now, that intelligence is needed to keep it all in your mind. Also, many years are needed to even learn the basics.

Of course, being a great physicist (or a great anything for that matter) requires being born gifted, being driven by a love of the field and working hard as a result of that.

So, I would submit that physics is easy in principle, but being a physicist is not easy, with the caveat that finding joy in your profession always makes it a whole lot easier.

 

[kaos86]

I think learning physics is hard compared to mathematics because in a physics textbook, a minimum of explanation is usually given to justify an equation. So to understand it really, you have to do the in-btw steps, which are somtimes very complicated, and other times you simply don't have enough information to do the steps and you're just wasting your time.

The best example of this taken from my life is when I tried to understand Optics. There are tons of approximations made btw equations and you have to find them and justify them if you're to understand the subject (imo). I would often spend an entire day studying a single page of the book. Of course, at university level, it is not permissible to take so much time to learn material so I had to stop. As a result, I feel I know nothing more about optics than before I took the class. Well look at that I'm ranting again.

It's ok, I don't the optics topic, too.

 

[Galteeth]

I agree that this is how it should be taught, but I'm afraid that it depends on the teacher in my experience :/

It should also not be taught at 6:45 in the morning.