Major assistance required!

[Janus]

Hi, comrades. I'm sorry that this thread has no pertinence to the leftist movement but I really need help in AP Physics. I would greatly appreciate help from anyone who has already taken and mastered physics. Thank you.

[eyedrop]

What is AP physics? Why not post what you need help on here so we can see?

[which doctor]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2005, 08:05 PM
What is AP physics?
Advanced Placement Physics. It's for all those smart high school kids, the AP part is supposed to give you college credit or something like that. It's pretty tough stuff.

[polemi-super-cised]

Well, I'm no "master", but I'll help if I can! :P
Physics is a great subject to study.
As 'eyedrop' said though, you'll need to mention what exactly it is that you want assistance with! Otherwise, no-one can contribute in a meaningful way...

Just out of interest, what are the chances of conducting sort-of "online classes" through RevolutionaryLeft? That way, everyone can "teach" what they're good at, and learn things they may not know through the expertise of others! Sharing the knowledge, and all that. :)

[ComradeRed]

I know physics, what are you on? Lagrangians, Hamiltonians, quantum mechanics?

Something more fun like Quantum Chromodynamics?

What do you need help with?

[Janus]

[QUOTE]
Lagrangians, Hamiltonians, quantum mechanics?
Something more fun like Quantum Chromodynamics?

Wow! I've never even heard of any of those subjects except quantum physics. Right now my class just finished up Mechanics and I have to take the semester exam tomorrow. The main problem that I have with physics is that I don't have a good strategy for tackling the problems and my book doesn't really help me at all. Whenever, I encounter a problem I feel lost and overwhelmed by the all the values and forces, and I don't really know where to begin since so much of it deals with application. This is the main problem and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Vallegrande]

Originally posted by polemi-super-[email protected] 16 2005, 02:24 AM

Just out of interest, what are the chances of conducting sort-of "online classes" through RevolutionaryLeft? That way, everyone can "teach" what they're good at, and learn things they may not know through the expertise of others! Sharing the knowledge, and all that. :)
That's an interesting idea, I had thought of that too.

Comrade Qiu, I have trouble just like you, except in chemistry. The way you read the book, and take in all of these subjects to connect together is quite overwhelming. Keep struggling to understand, and nevertheless you will have something you gained from it. One way my brother always told me was to sing songs to yourself about what you are reading (I have yet to do this). Other than that it is up to you to make the best of it.

[polemi-super-cised]

Right now my class just finished up Mechanics and I have to take the semester exam tomorrow. The main problem that I have with physics is that I don't have a good strategy for tackling the problems and my book doesn't really help me at all. Whenever, I encounter a problem I feel lost and overwhelmed by the all the values and forces, and I don't really know where to begin since so much of it deals with application.


You're studying mechanics, right? If your course is anything like mine, most of the work involving "forces" is set in the 'Newtonian' perfect universe. So the questions are likely to be based around that all-important equation: Resultant Force = Mass x acceleration, or F = Ma. Start from there.

You can then introduce all the geometry you'll need - resolving components of forces in different planes, etc. Sort out all the cos / sin equations in your head, and you can deal with them separately. I mean, you can think of F = Ma as distinct from the geometrical analysis you'll need; just remember to combine them all at the end!

Problems that look particularly complex can be broken up, too - often, you'll just have six to eight "F = Ma" equations to deal with; you can work each one out individually (horizontal and vertical components), then add them up to give your answer.

The same principles apply with trajectory and motion: a few equations can solve every problem. And if you're "up to speed" with the theory, you can work out the relationships between the variables in your head! Also, with the 'suvat' equations, drawing graphs (s / t, v / t etc.) can really help: analysing the areas and startpoints / endpoints etc. gives you all manner of useful information. :)

I don't know if I've got the level you're at quite right... This'll all sound awfully simple if you've done it before, and I'm sorry if you have! I remember good-old Newtonian mechanics...

[1984]

As an electrical engineering student, in my first (and only!) course on Mechanics I had, most of the time, to start off Newton's equation and develop then a second-order differential equation (one for each dimension) and then solve it. Fortunally, most had constant coefficients. But others involved bad-ass integration. Is that your case?

[Xvall]

I payed no attention in Physics whatsoever. Quite frankly, I don't know how I passed because I do not remember a single thing I learned in that class.

[bruno718]

I'm in AP Physics too. It is tough stuff.

What you (and I as well) really need is a list of all the equations. That way, if you understand what concepts are in the problem, you'll have every equation available to you. Not that I have one of those lists, I was wondering if anyone else did; that'd be extremely helpful.

The book sucks. For mechanics, one thing that helps is to draw the force diagram, if you know what to do. Obviously, gravity is always going to be straight down . . . the perpindicular force will be perpindicular to the x axis . . . all the triangles and shit in between is easier if you know trig with your sin, cos, tan, etc.

[ComradeRed]

What are you focusing on in physics? I may be able to make a "cheat-sheet" of everything you'd need to know.

For example, in electromagnetism there are only 4 equations you need to know (Maxwell's equations).

If you tell me what math you're in, I could also make a cheat sheet for that too.