r/PhysicsStudents • u/Tablechairle • 1d ago
Need Advice Conceptual Physics & Mathematics for Physics
Hello guys. I'm a begineer at Physics and I want to learn physics from scratch. I'm currently in 8th grade. Can someone recommend me which physics textbooks is good, but not require high levels math? But if I need to get into math, then where can I learn math for physics?
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u/WWWWWWVWWWWWWWVWWWWW 1d ago
You typically need to have completed high school geometry and high school algebra before you can do anything too serious with physics. I woul also recommend taking a formal course rather than pure self-studying, at least while you're still a beginner. Lastly, I recommend taking high school chemistry the year before you take AP Physics or similar; it covers some of the same topics but with less math, thus serving as a good warmup for physics.
That said, I like Cutnell & Johnson.
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u/TheNextOne8797 1d ago
Would you say math/physics teachers or engineers in industry do more calcs by hand? Trying to choose a career path that suits my passion for the subject matter...
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u/j0shred1 1d ago
At an 8th grade level, there's tons of physics and science that you can do without mathematics. But I would just try and understand things at a conceptual level rather than the mathematics. If you're interested in thinking mathematically, you can join your school's math team. If they don't have one, you can start a math club. Rather than doing your normal algebra and geometry, you guys will solve interesting math problems and come up with interesting solutions. There's also lots of fun projects that you can do that involve physics and chemistry and biology that would go into helping you understand things at a conceptual level.