<p>So I'm taking 8A with Deweese and I am utterly confused. I have taken AP Physics B in high school, but I didn't learn much. I just feel like there is no way I can understand this stuff. Deweese fails at lecturing and my GSI just makes me more confused. I got an A in Calc so I'm not math dumb it's just that I don't connect the ideas and on mastering physics I get a lot of help from my friend. Anybody have tips on how to understand physics and prepare for the midterm?? Does the book help much?? =)</p>
<p>The book is only good for being introduced to the concepts. I think what works best in physics is to do tons of practice problems and familiarize yourself with the various types of problems. Generally the problems don’t differ that much within one concept. I’d say go to office hours and have a GSI help you out on a problem that you don’t understand, and then try to do a similar problem by yourself to see if you understand how to do it.</p>
<p>Office hours is the best option for this class IMO. Second would be a study group.</p>
<p>You should derive all of the formulas by yourself, that helps a lot with understanding.</p>
<p>The only way to learn physics is to do lots and lots of practice problems. The 8A book sucks, to put it bluntly. Also, being good at math (calculus specifically) does not in any way correlate with being good at physics, since they teach completely opposite ways of problem solving. (Well, knowing your calculus certainly doesn’t hurt for physics to speed up getting to the solution, but 8A doesn’t use calculus anyway.) I learned this the hard way last year when I took physics for the first time. What helped me was frequently taking my MasteringPhysics questions to the ASC tutors and having them watch me try and work through problems. They can correct your faulty reasoning, which is the most helpful thing possible - better to hone your problem-solving skills under a physics person’s supervision than to apply the same faulty reasoning over and over again to problems.
Also, this is obvious, but attempt MasteringPhysics on your own before asking for help. Understanding the way somebody else obtained a solution and working out the same solution all by yourself are two completely different beasts…</p>
<p>Okay, both jb and AppleJuice say practice problems, which is an okay way to study but the BEST thing you can do is understand the derivations for all of the formulas and understand the sample problems your Prof does in class. This is KEY!!!</p>
<p>The way I studied Physics in high school was I would just go through the book and independently derive all of the formulas by myself. And then I’d try to solve all the Sample problems by myself. If I couldn’t, then I’d look at the answer, understand it, and then try again. </p>
<p>Then, when I started doing the problems in the back of the Chapter, I literally would get every single one of them correct the first time doing them (even the hard ones at the end) because my understanding was very strong already.</p>
<p>This is why when I took Physics 8A at Berkeley (I had Fajans), I didn’t even have to study much because I derived everything already back in high school, so I understood everything. Of course, I had forgotten a few things but when I read it I just immediately understood it. </p>
<p>Derivations is KEYYYYY in physics. </p>
<p>However, you really can’t do this with the 8A book. It’s horrible. If I were you, I would go buy an actual Physics book lol. I recommend one by the author Halliday, that’s the one I was used in high school and it was really good.</p>
<p>Anyone wanting extra prep for the 8A final should check out vegaphysics.com.</p>
<p>Sorry $49-50 is too much for a physics review =/</p>
<p>i got an A on the midterm and i got a B in AP calc, didn’t take AP physics, and skip about 30% of the lectures. I think the reason I did well on the midterm is that I do masteringphysics by myself. maybe?</p>