HOW TO STUDY PHYSICS 2

Reading Your Physics Textbook Reading the text and solving homework problems is a cycle: Questions lead to answers that lead back to more questions. An entire chapter will often be devoted to the consequences of a single basic principle. You should look for these basic principles. These Laws of Nature give order to the physicists' view of the universe. Moreover, nearly all of the problems that you will be faced with in a physics course can be analyzed by means of one or more of these laws. When looking for relationships among topics, you may note that in many instances a specific problem is first analyzed in great detail. Then the setting of the problem is generalized into more abstract results. When such generalizations are made, you should refer back to the case that was previously cited and make sure that you understand how the general theory applies to the specific problem. Then see if you can think of other problems to which that general principle applies. Some suggestions for your physics reading: 1.Make use of the preview that you did prior to the class. Again, quickly look at the major points of the chapter. Think back to the points stressed in class and any questions you might have written down. 2.Read the homework problems first. If specific homework problems have not yet been assigned, select several and look these over. Critically assess what principles seem to be most significant in the assigned chapter. Based upon your brief review of the class and your examination of the problems, try to generate questions in your mind that you want the chapter to answer. 3.Read actively with questions in mind. A passive approach to reading physics wastes your time. Read with a pencil and paper beside the book to jot down questions and notes. If you find that you are not reading actively, once again take a look at the problems and the lecture notes. Read to learn, not to cover material. 4.Stop periodically and pointedly recall the material that you have read. It is a good idea to repeat material aloud and especially to add notes from the textbook into the margins of your class notes. 5.During your reading you will notice sections, equations, or ideas that apply directly to assigned problems. After you have read such a section, stop and analyze its application to a homework problem. The interplay of reading and problem solving is part of the cycle of question --> answer --> question. It helps you gain insights that are not possible by reading alone, even careful reading alone. Passive reading is simply following the chain of thought in the text. Active reading also involves exploring the possibilities of what is being read. By actively combining the questions that are inherent in problem solving with your reading, you enhance both your concentration while reading and your ability to recall and to apply the material. Back to the Top Problem Solving in Physics You may now be like many students a novice problem solver. The goal of this section is to help you become an expert problem solver. Effective, expert problem solving involves answering five questions: - What's the problem about? - What am I asked to find? - What information am I to use? What principles apply? - What do I know about similar situations? - How can I go about applying the information to solve the problem? - Does my solution make sense? You, the expert, will decide, "this is an energy problem," or, "this is a Newton 2 problem." A novice is more likely to decide, "this is a pulley problem," or, "this is a baseball problem." The novice concentrates on the surface features of the problem while you concentrate on the underlying principle. You, an expert problem solver, will answer these questions, play around (briefly) with the problem, and make drawings and sketches (either in your mind, or even better, on paper) before writing down formulas and plugging in numbers. A novice problem solver, on the other hand, will try to write down equations and plug in numbers as soon as possible. A novice will make many more mistakes than you will when you become an expert. In a physics course it's important to remember a couple of things about physicists and physics professors: - A physicist seeks those problems that can be modeled or represented by a picture or diagram. Almost any problem you encounter in a physics course can be described with a drawing. Such a drawing often contains or suggests the solution to the problem. - A physicist seeks to find unifying principles that can be expressed mathematically and that can be applied to broad classes of physical situations. Your physics textbook contains many specific formulas, but you must understand the broader Laws of Nature in order to grasp the general overview of physics. This broad understanding is vital if you are to solve problems that may include several different principles and that may use several different formulas. Virtually all specific formulas in physics are combinations of basic laws. Be cont...