Physics is hard!! please help me?

Working on problems alone has its merits, but if you're spending hours getting stuck then it will end up wasting more time than it's worth. Like other people are saying, you need to get into a study group, or at least find a partner to work problems with. I recently graduated with a Bachelor's in Physics, so I understand how tough it is to work problems on your own when you don't understand the material. You have to connect with your professor, your TA, and another student in the class to work on problems together. I have found that meeting up with a partner in a classroom with a whiteboard is particularly helpful when working problems. You can bounce ideas off of each other, and you both feel more confident when there's someone else there, so ideas flow more easily. In addition, having a whiteboard in front of you helps you to see the big picture when you're doing a problem. You're more inclined to write your ideas out, to draw a large diagram, or to try a method that may or may not work, than you are when you're by yourself with a pencil and notebook. Having an abandoned classroom with lots of open space to work and think, a whiteboard to write out everything (even putting relevant formulas off on the side), and having room to pace back and forth while thinking (this will promote bloodflow to your brain) all contribute to a better work environment. Also when you find a partner, try to make sure they are on par or better than you in physics. This way, it will bring out the best in you and you will find yourself learning faster and having your questions answered by the other person. Once you start getting more comfortable with the material, then it will also benefit you to have a partner that is weaker than you in physics, because when you help them to learn the material it causes you to solidify your own grasp of the concepts. They say the best way to learn something is to teach it, and this is absolutely true in physics. You will find that when you have to start explaining a concept to someone else and help them through a problem, you are forced to critically analyze it and answer any questions they may have, which deepens your own understanding. Also when you are working on problems by yourself, if you need to look at the answer don't just move on to the next one and try it that way, work through the same problem that you just saw the answer for. It seriously helps to write everything out for yourself, it will help your brain to analyze the answer more deeply and to remember how the problem works if you work it out. So scan the answer so you know what to do, and then close the answer and work it out again for yourself. Do this every time you have to look at the answer to a problem to help yourself get acclimated to solving problems in general. Then you are more likely to remember the different ways of solving similar problems in the future. So essentially make sure that you go to your professors and TA's for help with concepts and problems you're stuck on, find a partner or study group to work with on a regular basis (or at least who you can call and collaborate with), and find a good location to study like an empty classroom with a whiteboard. Make sure that when you check the solution to a problem that you work it out for yourself before moving on to something else. If you are unable to find people to work with, then you can still do your best to work problems at home, but you have to actively go to your professor and TA for help. Do not be afraid to talk to them, email them, show up during office hours, etc. Make appointments if you have to, and at the very least they will see that you are dedicated and trying your best. Good luck!

if you cant figure something out on your own you obviously need help. ask the teacher when you dont understand something and dont let him continue until you do. definitely join a study group. that way you can ask questions and youre more likely to have someone that is able to explain stuff to you while you are studying. studying alone sucks. and isnt easier.

Get with a group of students and form a study group. My fellow physicists and I used to do that many years back. We would work problem after problem. We damn near worked ever problem in "Fundamentals of Physics," by Halliday and Resnick. Each of us would pick a problem and then a chalkboard, and we would work the problems. If one of us was stuck the others would chime in and finish working the problem. The more probelms you work, the more proficient you will become. Study as well. Attend lectures as well and ask questions if you don't understand. You're paying for that class so ask questions. The professors are being paid to answer them! Good luck.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=schaulms+outline&ih=5_5_1_2_0_0_1_0_0_3.249_264&fsc=-1&x=14&y=23 I bought one of these for every engineering and science course I took. The key is to work as many problems as possible. There are a finite number of problem types. Work one and you have worked them all. The trick is to work so you know the path to solution of every problem type you will face. That is worth a full letter grade on a test. You don't waste your time figuring out how to work the problem, you have seen it before and know how.

Get with a group of students and form a study group. My fellow physicists and I used to do that many years back. We would work problem after problem. We damn near worked ever problem in "Fundamentals of Physics," by Halliday and Resnick. Each of us would pick a problem and then a chalkboard, and we would work the problems. If one of us was stuck the others would chime in and finish working the problem. The more probelms you work, the more proficient you will become. Study as well. Attend lectures as well and ask questions if you don't understand. You're paying for that class so ask questions. The professors are being paid to answer them! Good luck.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=schaulms+outline&ih=5_5_1_2_0_0_1_0_0_3.249_264&fsc=-1&x=14&y=23 I bought one of these for every engineering and science course I took. The key is to work as many problems as possible. There are a finite number of problem types. Work one and you have worked them all. The trick is to work so you know the path to solution of every problem type you will face. That is worth a full letter grade on a test. You don't waste your time figuring out how to work the problem, you have seen it before and know how.

if you cant figure something out on your own you obviously need help. ask the teacher when you dont understand something and dont let him continue until you do. definitely join a study group. that way you can ask questions and youre more likely to have someone that is able to explain stuff to you while you are studying. studying alone sucks. and isnt easier.