I’m starting college next fall and I’m wondering how hard is Introductory Calculus based physics. I’m taking honors Physics right now in High School and I was wondering if I can read a physics book over the summer to prepare for it. The text I will be using to read over the summer is Giancoli 6th edition. Please give me insight on how hard physics is and how to solve problems thanks
The content of calculus-based mechanics at my college wasn’t all that different from the algebra-based physics I took in high school, but the class was faster-paced and with trickier test/homework questions, if I recall correctly.
Always draw a picture first. Know your trig. Do lots of problems before an exam – I’ve heard “not until you can do them right, but until you can’t do them wrong.” Go to office hours if you need help. Don’t fall behind.
I found it terribly hard, but I made the mistake of taking honors physics in college. Wouldn’t recommend that, ha.
I just felt that it didn’t matter how hard I studied, the problems on the tests came out of left field. I studied lots and even got a tutor, but still struggled. I eked out a B one semester and a C the other. Quite humbling for someone with a 98 unweighted GPA in high school! I tell you only so you’ll know not to panic if it’s hard for you. I ended up graduating with high honors.
I also would like to follow up with an additional question: I’m beginning to reconsider my major choice(mechanical engineering) if calculus based physics is hell.
It’s a challenging class, but many people interested in the field find the challenge the most beautiful part of it. As you learn more, you’re constantly reminded of how little you actually know- a humbling and intellectually enticing experience really.
Master free-body diagrams, try to incorporate the six-step method of solving any Physics problem if you haven’t already(solve questions algebraically first, for example). A lot of the challenge from Physics comes from the knowledge that isn’t exactly explicit.
Get into the habit of finding “boundaries”(i.e. limits) to the common formulas we take for granted. How does that result change if that radius approaches 0 or infinity? etc.
Good luck on your course and study hard!
It can depend on the teaching. My local 4 yr’s reputation for this class is so horrific that we are looking at physics 1 (eng) at the CC (transferable and well taught) as rising freshman for kid2018. The reputation has been repeated for years, why that isn’t addressed I have no idea. Looking as rising freshman for eng kid as it comes up on semester 2 with pre and co reqs that make it difficult to put off until summer semester of 19.
^Good point. My son took physics at Austin Community College rather than face UT’s version, which has a similar reputation.
How would you recommend studying physics over the summer?
I was just going to type what @Sybylla did in the first sentence nearly verbatim. This hold true for other classes too. The way you perform on test may, but may not reflect your command of the subject. Something that is very different than HS is learning HOW college professors will test. Test taking is an art. The best way to prepare for their style is to study old exam if they are available. It’s absolutely legit IF they return exams after tests. If they don’t, it’s probably because they don’t write new ones. Getting one of those would be tantamount to cheating and I would not do that. Otherwise it’s fair game. You will be at a significant disadvantage in fact if you don’t study old exams. Certainly your classmates will.
As for review, my son took Calculus based Physics in HS. His AP credit allowed him to skip Calc I. In order to determine if that was a smart decision or not, he looked up old exams and syllabi online and used Kahn Academy to brush up on anything that didn’t come right to him when he took the tests.
You can do the same, it will just be a bit more new material.
Good luck!
Hard is relative. How hard is it as compared to what? As compared to high school classes, pretty much all engineering classes are hard. The bottom line is that, if you want to be an engineer, you should try to stop psyching yourself out over physics and just buckle down, do the work, and earn the degree.
“I’m wondering how hard is Introductory Calculus based physics”
This might depend upon how good you are at math and how much you like and understand calculus. Personally I loved it. My older daughter took both non-calculus and calculus-based physics, and liked the calculus-based physics a lot better.
To me physics got harder when it got into relativity, and a lot harder still when it got into quantum physics. The latter is what convinced me to major in something other than physics.
If you have had algebra-based physics and understand the concepts, you have a good foundation for calculus-based physics. The more you can develop a deep understanding of the material and apply it across different problems, the better. That sometimes comes with a lot of practice. The calculus can actually give you more insight into the physics. (And the physics can give you more insight into calculus). So, do lots of problems, think about what you are doing and why, and get help if you don’t understand something.
Calculus based physics at most universities should not be that hard if you did well in a good high school physics course and calculus. Indeed, it may be easier to understand the physics with calculus. However, like other college courses, you will need more self motivation and time management than in high school.
If you attend a school with competitive admission to engineering majors after enrolling, you may find a more competitive environment than you may want.
If you want to study the summer ahead as you suggested, try to get the actual textbook you will use in the fall.
@VMT I currently am taking honors physics in high school and AP Calculus A/B. I love calculus and it is my favorite subject this year and most of the problems that deal with derivatives have velocity and acceleration in them. Why does Calculus make physics easier to understand?
Without calculus, physics amounts to just memorizing formula and applying them to problems. With calculus, you can actually see where those formulae come from, why they work, and how they connect with other formulae and concepts.
Consider how you would try to understand velocity and acceleration without calculus.
Calculus gives you more insight. You will see that the equation of motion is a differential equation that gets integrated over time. Other equations are integrated over space. As others said, instead of memorizing equations, you can understand the derivation. I hope this helps.