Studying difficulties with physics

[Deleted]

I have some severe problems with learning physics I've noticed.

I keep getting sleepy when studying, and even if I do study hard I perform mediocre, even having problems with the most basic questions. I know formulas pretty well, but when it comes to less mathy questions my brain goes blank.

I sleep about 7 hours per night, so I feel that I should be doing better than the guys that sleep like 4 hours per day. I'm fairly underweight though, I'm 18 and I weigh about 50 kg, and I'm a bit hungry all the time, but I don't know how much of an impact that has.

I have the same difficulties with math, but at least then I know the basics, don't get as sleepy and understand what I'm reading, though I still perform mediocre in comparison to the guys that barely do school work at all.

[Zogarth]

Well being underweight and hungry all the time heavily drains your energy. I myself is also 18 and is also currently studying physics. Try to eat some more, and get a big healthy breakfast every morning before going to study.

[Holofernes]

learning means to me loads of coffees and cigarettes and fruits, and macadamia nuts. what works for me, is reading in bed, holding the book above me so if i fall asleep, the book will hit my face and im gonna like"shit i need to get some more coffe", and carry on.

[Cusco]

I agree with Zogarth: the human brain is not designed for abstract thoughts, it has to learn abstract thinking so whichever technique you use to learn, you will need to be able to concentrate. Concentration requires energy and that energy comes from food.

[zoefschildpad]

There are also numerous medical problems that can cause a lack in concentration. See a doctor, get some blood tests. I have a vitamin b12 deficiency that caused, among other things, an inability to concentrate and a lack of energy. It went undiagnosed for roughly 5 years and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Better safe than sorry.

[Anakso]

Not eating enough will cause you to become drained faster, you'll just have less energy overall. 7hours sleep is normal but eat more and you'll find you have more energy.

Try healthy foods though, unhealthy is okay sometimes but don't start going to Mcdonalds every day

I mean I'm not sure if this will actually help you study. It will surely stop you from getting tired so fast when studying but some people just find it difficult to study so you may find you will need to try something else (In addition to this, definitely eat more. The fact you don't eat much AND are hungry all the time is quite surprising actually.)

I can't help you with the something else, though I'm sure there are many study guides around or other people on these forums that went through university that could help you.

[Priestiality]

Most of the information you "study" doesn't actually become knowledge until you sleep. If you're tired and hungry all the time, you lack energy and a proper diet, which severely effects the brains ability to absorb information.

[Aran]

when i was studying game programing and design, I was:

1) Sleeping 6 hours
2) Smoking 15-20 rolled smokes a day
3) Had atleast 1L coffee, washed down with red bulls
4) Ate a shitton of chocolate for sugar

Dont do this though. I burned the fuck out, and I am now medicated :P The above combo makes you feel like superman, having your thoughts processing shit 10x faster (feels like speed of light). I was placed in a shitty group for my final half-year exam, so I basically did work for three. The crash however is horrible.

RECOMMENDATION: Fruit. If you go for chocolate, have a SMALL portion of 75% or higher cocoa chocolate. Wash it down with coffee and most importantly plain WATER(!!!). Also, eat food that is rich in protein, as protein rich food "lasts" longer, resulting in you being hungry far less frequently.

If you wanna be super healthy: just fresh fruit and plain water, and protein rich food.

From personal experience, carbohydrate rich food helped me more. Also: Vitamines and minerals. I wish i was smart enough to take vitamine+minerals supplements when I went to college, magnesium, iron and chrome are "good shit" for your brain, so make sure you "cap" your daily recommended dosage of those (I just take 1 pill in the morning and it contains 100% of daily recommended dosage of more or less everything).

And, omg omg physics. I'd give my left nut to study physics full time right now.

Edit: Also! Do some research on food that stimulates production of serotonin. Mineral supplements, increased serotonin levels, staying hydrated, protein rich food and quality sleep = winning.

[Deleted]

I have always had trouble learning abstract things. I always have to put things to use to actually understand it.

What I would personally try if I were you is to make up problems where you have to use the physics to solve it, preferably more int-requite ones. Partly it's more fun (you have to do actual trouble solving instead of just reading boring stuff), and it also makes sure that you understand what you read.

[Kurioxan]

Eat more yes.
The hunger during studying comes from the brain demanding more energy.
People only think of muscles as energy users, but the brain actually uses a fckton.
Eat before studying so you arent distracted by the munchies.

50kg, depends on your your body type, im 61kg and is fine.
Sleep sleep.. .study before sleep is best, what you study in the morning and mid day you wont remember crap.

Take supplements if you think you might have a nutritional problem, and eat more yes.
Gourge on those carbs, eat chocolate while studying.
Dopamine helps memory solidification.

Take breaks, dont study more than 30m at a time, take a break to have fun for 20 or 30m, go back to it.
Exercise during breaks, go for a short run whatever, but dont get too tired or it will mess it up
7h sleep... hmmm i will guess you use an alarm clock and stay up late, try to avoid that for a week or two before exams.

get off the pc when the sky is dark, go to bed after 2 hours, dont set up an alarm but let the windows be open, so light comes in when the sun rises.
I found that alarm clocks are awful for you, naturally awaking you feel refresh and perfectly fine, the light wakes up your body and the body slowly gets ready for it, instead of being a zombie for the next hour and the stress release due to the alarm clock.

There are alarm clocks that work with light btw, consider those :P

Anyway... you might be burning out as well.

[Cybran]

First a few questions: How old are you? Do you study in a University or High school? If you do what what is your Field?

Now the advise: As a person who loves math and physics and never had a B in high school in them, I find it hard to relate. The only time i had problems with physics was in the University when studying thermodynamics and Black-body radiation. The best way to not get "sleepy" is to stock pile energy drinks, coffee (if you drink, i dont) and chocolate for dat energy boost. The brain consumes around 20% of the body energy in rest which means it needs fuel when you stress it out.

I love physics, because you don't need to memorize countless pages of what other people have regurgitated on certain topics. More about implementing laws and formulas to solve problems.

[Afrospinach]

Tomat you may just not be getting quality sleep, maybe google the topic for some suggestions on improving that.

[Deleted]

First a few questions: How old are you? Do you study in a University or High school? If you do what what is your Field?

18, high school, math/technology.

get off the pc when the sky is dark, go to bed after 2 hours, dont set up an alarm but let the windows be open, so light comes in when the sun rises.
I found that alarm clocks are awful for you, naturally awaking you feel refresh and perfectly fine, the light wakes up your body and the body slowly gets ready for it, instead of being a zombie for the next hour and the stress release due to the alarm clock.

I wish I could do it this way. Unfortunately it's dark at 16 here, and the sun starts to rise one hour after I start school.

I have always had trouble learning abstract things. I always have to put things to use to actually understand it.

What I would personally try if I were you is to make up problems where you have to use the physics to solve it, preferably more int-requite ones. Partly it's more fun (you have to do actual trouble solving instead of just reading boring stuff), and it also makes sure that you understand what you read.

Yeah, I try to do this too, unfortunately I'm still at loss how to make magnetic fields interesting.

RECOMMENDATION: Fruit. If you go for chocolate, have a SMALL portion of 75% or higher cocoa chocolate. Wash it down with coffee and most importantly plain WATER(!!!). Also, eat food that is rich in protein, as protein rich food "lasts" longer, resulting in you being hungry far less frequently.

If you wanna be super healthy: just fresh fruit and plain water, and protein rich food.

For some reason I keep being extremely dry even when I drink like 8 glasses per day. Do I have to drink water every 10 minutes or what?

[Kurioxan]

1
For some reason I keep being extremely dry even when I drink like 8 glasses per day. Do I have to drink water every 10 minutes or what?

Thats what the Light clocks are for silly goose :P
But ok, then go to sleep at a decent hour, but really drop the pc a couple of hours before and read/study/do something that doesnt require much light, our bodies are regulated by light and artificial light screws it quite a bit, specially engaging interactive things such as a computer, you need your body to start relaxing and getting ready to sleep.

About the water, 8 glasses... so 2l? might be too much already.
Dont forget food has water in it, and the more fluids you drink in quick succession the more your body goes "oh shit" and starts flushing them out, with it, minerals.
(that is why you pee so much due to beer, aside from slight diuretic effect from alcohol, but main reason is that you drink a LOT in a short time)

1l a day with food should be enough.
Specially since its winter, hardly any sweat really.

[Deleted]

Also, does anyone know of any protein-rich diet that ISN'T about gaining muscles and losing weight? Losing weight is the last thing I want to do, besides gaining too much weight.

[Aran]

Also, does anyone know of any protein-rich diet that ISN'T about gaining muscles and losing weight? Losing weight is the last thing I want to do, besides gaining too much weight.

Anything with:

- Chicken
- Beef/Pork
- Salmon/Fish
- Eggs
- Shrooms
- Avocado, or any nuts really. Ditch the salty ones, salt binds fat to your body (salty nuts...this just sounded so wong on so many levels)
- Milk

Dont ditch salt entirely, your brain and body in general needs salt. Swap natrium salt for a healthy variant: sea salt.

Have one 3rd of veggies, one 3rd protein (meat/nuts/milk/fish/eggs), and one 3rd carbs in form of potatoes, or rice (pref. wild rice). Ditch bread and pasta.

This is a standard guideline to body building / weight lifting. Do not worry about gaining/loosing weight. Gaining/Loosing weight is dependant on calories, not exactly WHAT you eat, but HOW MUCH you eat. What you eat is responsible for stability of your blood sugar levels (hunger, mood).

Blood sugar = protein and carbs
Prolonged energy = slow metabolized carbs (potatoes and rice)

Fruit containes fructose which is fast metabolized. More or less on the same level as chocolate, except that chocolate is some shitty, processed and refined sugar. Fruit is a natural variant of sugar.

Not sure if i made any sence, i just braindumped everything here.

[Deleted]

Anything with:

- Chicken
- Beef/Pork
- Salmon/Fish
- Eggs
- Shrooms
- Avocado, or any nuts really. Ditch the salty ones, salt binds fat to your body (salty nuts...this just sounded so wong on so many levels)
- Milk

Dont ditch salt entirely, your brain and body in general needs salt. Swap natrium salt for a healthy variant: sea salt.

Have one 3rd of veggies, one 3rd protein (meat/nuts/milk/fish/eggs), and one 3rd carbs in form of potatoes, or rice (pref. wild rice). Ditch bread and pasta.

This is a standard guideline to body building / weight lifting. Do not worry about gaining/loosing weight. Gaining/Loosing weight is dependant on calories, not exactly WHAT you eat, but HOW MUCH you eat. What you eat is responsible for stability of your blood sugar levels (hunger, mood).

Blood sugar = protein and carbs
Prolonged energy = slow metabolized carbs (potatoes and rice)

Fruit containes fructose which is fast metabolized. More or less on the same level as chocolate, except that chocolate is some shitty, processed and refined sugar. Fruit is a natural variant of sugar.

Not sure if i made any sence, i just braindumped everything here.

So uh, a cheap protein-rich diet would consist of eggs, mushrooms, milk, potatoes and rice? I can't come up with any meat that's cheap for a student like me.

[Aran]

So uh, a cheap protein-rich diet would consist of eggs, mushrooms, milk, potatoes and rice? I can't come up with any meat that's cheap for a student like me.

Ok. What do you normally eat during one full day?

[Deleted]

Ok. What do you normally eat during one full day?

Roasted bread with ham with water for breakfast.
Most of the time nothing during school lunch because it's quality is top-notch horrible.
Get home and might take a roasted bread and a glass of water again.
For dinner it's usually something simple like meatballs or meat sauce along with either spaghetti or macaroni.

[Komati]

Depending on your height: 50kgs is either dangerously underweight, or slightly underweight.
I'm 2m and was slightly underweight when I weight 65kg, increasing my weight slightly have done nothing in terms of health benefits. But putting a bit more meat on the bones made me look more healthy.

Make sure you study in a room with good air filtration, if you sit in a tight room and use most of the oxygen, you will get sleepy. I don't mean you'll sufficate, you'll live just fine. Your brain will probably be the only organ in your body that'll be slightly affected.
Try opening a window, even if it gets cold.

You could try spark an interest in physics, watch Sci-fi sience or something. In my opinion physics is the most interesting subject you can study. I suck at it, but it's still fascinating.