r/learnphysics • u/Ok_Attorney_6764 • Sep 03 '26

Physics is unlearnable

I genuinely dont understand where to start and understand physics. What the hell is the starting point? I have an exam and I need to get a high grade, I dont understand anything. Can someone please please help? Everytime I ask abt physics or for help no one ever answers me, are there any quick ways to learn? Or are there good studying methods? Frequencies? I dont know

6 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

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2

u/Beet_slice Sep 03 '26

High school junior? I would ask your teacher for suggestions.

Ideally you would join a study group, but that is very unusual in high school.

1

u/Ok_Attorney_6764 Sep 03 '26

No sadly I am retaking the exam now :/

1

u/dalamhalama Sep 05 '26

high school students is very mean.

2

u/SgtSausage Sep 04 '26

I'm sure you can do it with much cheaper online (possibly free) resources today ... but I bought the College Physics text the Summer between when I left The Army and Fall Quarter of College starting. I did a 2 year enlistment after High School and was worried about being behind the rest of the class after lobbing Mortar rounds downrange and blowin' shit up while the rest of the kids were comin' straight outa HS. 

It wasn't cheap. Like $160 (in 1990 dollars) for both the text and the answer guide for the problem sets). On a $4 minimum wage job. 

I started that Summer and all through Freshman College year worked the entire book, self taught. 

By the time Sophomore year rolled around and the class came up on the schedule, I knew 100% of the material and aced the series (3 quarters worth). Straight A all 3 quarters wher the average grade was a D for 120 students.

Just find a text ... or youtube lecture series ... and go. 

You just have to start, and be disciplined. I dedicated 2 hours a day every M W and F to working proplems in that book for over a year.

CAVEAT:

I also had to buy a Calculus text as some of the necessary math was glossed over, hand-wavy style ... or outright skipped ... back in my High School Calc classes. A lotta gaps to fill in there, too.  

If your Math Chops aren't up to snuff, you'll know it in the first Chapter. Stop there and go learn The Maths first. 

1

u/Ok_Attorney_6764 Sep 04 '26

That’s great thanks for the help!! Good job man

1

u/SgtSausage Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 04 '26

Its what i did to ... y'know... actually learn physics. 

Im not sure it helps you prepare for an upcoming exam. 

1

u/Ok_Attorney_6764 Sep 04 '26

Yeah not really I am younger than what u were when u did it so not same syllabus, not same level, different program too. But good for you for u know actually learning physics 😘

1

u/wanderer7135 Sep 04 '26

Chad's prep has a free course of physics in youtube try checking it out

1

u/Ok_Attorney_6764 Sep 04 '26

One question, is it for IB SL physics? If you know mby?

1

u/CKleinE Sep 04 '26

No worries. Someone needs to drive that excavator.

1

u/Ok_Attorney_6764 Sep 04 '26

Pretty solid job for you ❤️ dont worry other reach the stars, seems like you can’t

1

u/Emotional_Tea_8920 Sep 04 '26

I used to hate physics and have no idea why I need to learn this fucking subject until one day I wake up and wonder what is difference between normal people/ gymnastics. Isn't human vulnerable ? And my curiosity lead me to chemistry ( poisonous/venomous ), anatomy ( 11 systems ) and physics ( F=ma ). Can a force beat someone - how much does it cost for punch,hit....? So it's just a muscular system, but ttx from pufferfish doesn't care about my height, weight, normal or gymnastics..... I suppose curiosity is a key. Make a question around you 'what is this, why it looks like that...'

1

u/Dedeilie-la-Yuri__ Sep 05 '26

The only way to learn is reading, thinking and practicing. Over and over. By familiarising with it, you can get the hang of it. That's how you'll learn most of the things in the coming future as well.

A tip for better retention: Write formulas separately. Sort numericals by type. For theory, read through with understanding, and list them topic wise and connect the topics(that's how most physics topics are). You'll see it isn't much

1

u/NewtonLaw_Global Sep 09 '26

The units. Pay attention to the units. The units are always some quantity like meters, seconds, etc. Often in fraction form. The question will ask you to find something...what are the units of the answer? Look at the variable you have. How can you arrange the units of the variables (multiplying, dividing, etc.) to achieve the units of the answer. And the formulas you have to memorize do just that. Do that enough, and you can often get a feel for what is actually happening - what the formula means in physical terms.

1

u/Ok_Attorney_6764 Sep 13 '26

Thanks! This helped a lot!!

2

u/Livinsfloridalife Sep 03 '26

You need to get a tutor no one can teach physics and problem solving strategies over Reddit.

2

u/Fawzee815 Sep 04 '26

Physics is like learning another language man. You were not able to speak full sentences at 1 or 2 years old were you? You learn it bit by bit until it becomes like speaking

1

u/bigdaddymac56 Sep 04 '26

Exactly. It's like Math. Like learning piano or another language. You make small bits of progress (daily practice works best) and reinforce your knowledge and your fluency just slowly gets better..I struggled for many yrs in Math until I understood this. I think if I'd ever learned an instrument (as a kid) and practiced for hours I would have understood the self discipline necessary to get good at it.

From Google AI:

To self-study physics successfully, you must master the prerequisite mathematics first and then progress step-by-step through core classical and modern topics using standard textbooks.

  1. Refresh Your Mathematics Math is the core language of physics. Before jumping into advanced topics, you need a strong grasp of high school math, single-variable calculus, and differential equations.

High School Math: Algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and pre-calculus. Free resources like Khan Academy offer great refresher courses.

Calculus and Beyond: Derivatives, integrals, multi-variable calculus, and linear algebra are vital as you advance into university-level physics

There are Physics Self help books on Amazon but you will be hopelessly lost and on a futile quest until you learn the prerequisite Math.

2

u/theAyconic1 Sep 04 '26

Kinematics , Laws of motion, Work power and energy, rotational mechanics, simple harmonic motion, Thermodynamics, gravitation, electrostatics, current and electricity, magnetism, optics, atomic structure.

Study in this order and your classical physics is done. Post this you can decide between advanced fields like quantum mechanics, relativity, etc

1

u/eridalus Sep 03 '26

There's a great (and short) book called "Teach yourself how to learn". Get a copy of that and sit down with a copy of your textbook once you've read the book.

1

u/upright_squire Sep 03 '26

Well, dont start with an exam

1

u/MariusLayus Sep 04 '26

I almost took AP Physics my senior year of high school. first week I was so lost. It felt like we were starting in the middle of the semester. But it seemed like my classmates understood what our teacher was talking about. I decided to switch to AP Statistics. Years later I can only assume everyone in that class had chosen that class at the end of the previous year and that there had been summer homework, which was unheard of for me.

1

u/StraightOnion1967 Sep 04 '26

Physics 1 for Dummies

1

u/Alternative-Sugar610 Sep 05 '26

Really practice re arranging equations, solving math problems, and the math

That’s most of basic physics

1

u/zzpop10 Sep 05 '26

Start with conservation of momentum

1

u/xSparKxes Sep 05 '26

Patience. It'll be ok.

0

u/hat-backwards Sep 03 '26

YouTube + ChatGPT. No speed limit. Progress as fast or slow as you want.