<p>A lot of people at my school are struggling to get an A in physics esp. because most of the professors can't teach well/extremely difficult/physics is just hard in general. What do you guys do to get an A in Physics? What books/study tools do you use? Do you use the MIT Opencourseware? Is it any good? Has anyone see The Mechanical Universe? Do you read Feynman's lectures in physics? What do you do? </p>
<p>Thanks!! :D</p>
<p>Read the book, work through problems in the book, take advantage of free tutoring available at your University, and go to class. Nothing you haven't heard before, but there's nothing about Physics that makes it mystically harder than other subjects. If you're having trouble, work harder.</p>
<p>MIT OCW helped me get an A (94) in AP Physics C(high school) this last semester, it does a great job teaching the concepts!</p>
<p>I have yet to get an A in physics. I've gotten an A/B in Physics I and II. Exams in physics are always tough for me to get A's on.</p>
<p>Thanks. I'm going to take advantage of the resources available online and tutoring of course. Tutoring and working out problems helped me out in HS but gosh, I've heard awful things about college physics :/</p>
<p>I'm not trying to be negative, but if you are struggling to get an A in general physics you might want to rethink your major because physics forms a very big part of the foundation that you will need for engineering. Also, general physics is usually a walk in the park compared to some of the other material you will encounter.</p>
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I'm not trying to be negative, but if you are struggling to get an A in general physics you might want to rethink your major because physics forms a very big part of the foundation that you will need for engineering. Also, general physics is usually a walk in the park compared to some of the other material you will encounter.
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<p>I don't know what world you live in, but not getting an A in freshman physics does not mean you shouldn't be an engineer... especially at Big StateU where Physics 1 and 2 are weed-out classes. Plenty of successful engineers "struggle to get an A" in those classes and go on to do fine.</p>
<p>Actually what I meant was if you are stuggling and have to put a huge amount of effort in now you might struggle with classes later on.</p>
<p>If you had been through an engineering curriculium you would know that it gets harder as you move along.</p>
<p>I didn't say I was struggling. I didn't even take General Physics, yet. I want to prepare for it before I take the class because A LOT of people at my school are struggling at it. (Heard from upper classman) even my sister who's a ChemE. Btw, She's doing GREAT at her engineering classes and chemistry classes without the physics, thank you very much :/</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm not trying to be negative, but if you are struggling to get an A in general physics you might want to rethink your major because physics forms a very big part of the foundation that you will need for engineering. Also, general physics is usually a walk in the park compared to some of the other material you will encounter.
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<p>I don't know of any engineer who didn't struggle in general physics. I definitely struggled but ended up doing quite well.</p>
<p>My son got As in Physics I and II in BigStateU weeder courses. One of his professors told him that he would have had to get a negative score on the final to not get an A (due to scaling, bonus points and extra credit). His background going in:</p>
<ul>
<li>Calc I, Calc II, Calc III, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra. He took Probability and Statistics and Discrete Structures II with Physics I.</li>
<li>I gave him Physics for Scientists and Engineers (Serway) when he was 13 and he worked through the problems in the book over a two-year period.</li>
<li>MIT OCW with Walter Lewin.</li>
<li>Electricity and Magnetism, Vol. II by Purcell.</li>
</ul>
<p>He used the tutoring center when he needed to. He felt that the lecture and recitation professors weren't that helpful (not surprising given the number of students and that they spent a lot of time doing research).</p>
<p>Points:</p>
<p>1) The more math you know, the better.
2) Watch the Lewin videos.
3) Read the text and work the problems, ahead of time if possible.
4) Use the tutoring center when you need it.
5) Use a study group (our son did everything on his own though I suggested using a study group)
6) Do not get behind!
7) Have a second textbook available. Textbooks vary in their coverage of material and seeing a second explanation can help to make things clear. Use the library if you can't afford a second text.
8) There's an online physics forum where you can get help with problems. They won't do the problem for you but help you to solve the problem yourself.
9) Try to do all extra credit problems.
10) His professors offered bonus points to those that could answer in-class (recitation) questions. Sometimes reading ahead in the text or just keeping up with science in the news could win a few easy points.</p>
<p>"I gave him Physics for Scientists and Engineers (Serway) when he was 13 and he worked through the problems in the book over a two-year period."</p>
<p>@____@</p>
<p>I was running around the streets with skateboards and scooters when I was 13. I got an A in physics 1 and 2.</p>
<p>Make sure you have a clear understanding of the concepts, do the homework and try to conceptualize each problem, and do the practice tests if your teachers provide them</p>
<p>Wow BCE..91--I do not think your S needed all that math to get an A in Physics I. Don't scare everyone.</p>
<p>All of that math isn't needed and probability and statistics and discrete structures aren't really useful for Physics I and II but the rest make it easier as it implys good facility with the math used in those classes. Learning the math at the same time means absorbing a lot of material at the same time and a lot of students have trouble doing that. Adding one or two additional science courses with lab can be very demanding.</p>
<p>What second textbook do you recommend for physics I besides the Physics for scientists and engineers by Serway?</p>
<p>I think that physics is the subject which is the most dependant on how you think, to some physics is al but impossible and to others it is not hard at all, even more so than maths.</p>
<p>It often surprise me how hard most have it with physics.</p>
<p>I am soooo late to this thread, but here is my advice for getting an A in physics:</p>
<p>Follow and understand the arguments. Get a good feel for the equations. Hone your geometrical intuition (this is important!!! physics is hella geometry). Don't just do the calculations. Plugging and chugging through physics is no fun and makes things difficult.</p>
<p>There are books by Halliday & Resnick, and Tipler too. I looked at them a long time ago. I'm sure that the books have changed since then.</p>
<p>Go to class
Read your textbook and do the problems.
Any well-written textbook will just be fine since the material itself is way too old.</p>