Any physics students here?

[Wikiy]

Hey all.

I'm starting uni in about 2 weeks, an integrated undergraduate+graduate research physics course. The thing that's bugging me most of all is how much I'm going to have to study. Now, obviously, this varies from country to country, uni to uni and course to course, but there should be, I'm guessing, some sort of a rough figure. It also varies from person to person, obviously, so I'll just say that I pretty much always got A's in maths and physics in high school without ever having to study or do homework.

The subjects that I'll be having during the first semester are the first half of mathematical analysis (I think that's calculus in English), the first half of linear algebra (haven't the faintest idea what that is lol), the first quarter of general physics (mechanics [not as in classical mechanics, we get that later as a subject, "mechanics" here refers to kinematics and dynamics], hydrostatics and hydrodynamics) and some programming using C, on Linux.

Taking all of that into account, do you peeps think 20 hours a week during the non-test periods and double that during the test period is going to be enough? And please, don't reply with something like "just work hard" or "study as long as you need to to understand everything properly", I get it, I've come across billions upon billions of such non-specific advice. Or should I say non-numerical. I'm a physics student, I need an actual number. :P

[mobanoob]

Where I'm from first year physics and maths is pretty easy, I just did the cram 12 hours of study in the night before an exam and managed to get decent grades on my papers.

[Blueobelisk]

Omg omg pick me. I'm the smartest man at math and physics on these forums. I was also a physics major/math minor. Graduate is way different though, not even gonna mention that now.

(I'm gonna try and keep this short so I don't ramble on like I usually do.)

Undergrad is a joke to get through. Spent more time doing philosophy papers and reading sparknotes for English class than I did studying for physics. The basic classes were "less and fewer homeworks but they're harder quality." It was basic formula plugging in.

Quantum Mechanics was fucking hard. I'd say if you really wanna grasp it you gotta put like 10-20 hours in a week in the beginning (depending on how much you know before you take it), then lower down to like 2-5 a week.

Electricity classes (including E&M) were also hard material-wise. It took like 4-6 hours whenever there was homework, but I also had a gangster math background compared to the other kids who just didn't get it. Weekly study was just reviewing the previous classes notes before class started.

Nothing else memorable comes to mind.

As for research, I did undergraduate research. It depends on what you do. I worked in a lab and the stuff I was researching they don't teach you in class. (I would spend like....15 hours a week in the lab on average. Unpaid intern. :/) Had a friend who worked at home because they did theoretical stuff, but that n-gga read so much to prepare for it lol. I literally walked into my lab, started mixing chemicals, and read like 20 research papers to get what was up.

I think I'm rambling now so...

[Wikiy]

Omg omg pick me. I'm the smartest man at math and physics on these forums. I was also a physics major/math minor. Graduate is way different though, not even gonna mention that now.

(I'm gonna try and keep this short so I don't ramble on like I usually do.)

Undergrad is a joke to get through. Spent more time doing philosophy papers and reading sparknotes for English class than I did studying for physics. The basic classes were "less and fewer homeworks but they're harder quality." It was basic formula plugging in.

Quantum Mechanics was fucking hard. I'd say if you really wanna grasp it you gotta put like 10-20 hours in a week in the beginning (depending on how much you know before you take it), then lower down to like 2-5 a week.

Electricity classes (including E&M) were also hard material-wise. It took like 4-6 hours whenever there was homework, but I also had a gangster math background compared to the other kids who just didn't get it. Weekly study was just reviewing the previous classes notes before class started.

Nothing else memorable comes to mind.

As for research, I did undergraduate research. It depends on what you do. I worked in a lab and the stuff I was researching they don't teach you in class. (I would spend like....15 hours a week in the lab on average. Unpaid intern. :/) Had a friend who worked at home because they did theoretical stuff, but that n-gga read so much to prepare for it lol. I literally walked into my lab, started mixing chemicals, and read like 20 research papers to get what was up.

I think I'm rambling now so...

Feel free to ramble on in a PM message aimed at me. :P With whatever else that might cross your mind.

FYI, nice to know the 20 hr per week figure seems to be the max. ^^

[tacosarecool]

i have a theoretical degree in physics.

[Blueobelisk]

Well that's 20 hours per week in that one class. It all depends on what classes you take.

*notices your schedule*

Calculus 1 was easy for me because I learned it in high school. It's a "you either get it or you don't" thing. Practicing problems is nice but unnecessary for studying. That shouldn't take a lot of time.

Linear Algebra...my teacher...good god. The concepts get hard really quickly. It's about matrices and systems. My teacher was mad theoretical so...that's a "study the night you had class to make sure you got it" thing.

Basic physics is a joke.

Programming lol. I learned programming on my own online + with some help from my programming master (not an official class) so I can't tell you that. It's like saying "how long am I gonna have to study for italian class?" Idk, but you could walk in knowing the basics and breeze through.

I never took a hydrostatics class. Seems a little advanced to be honest.

but again. Studying is...just do what you have to do on a teacher by teacher, class by class based thing. You think your teacher teaches the same as mine? You think there's a standard curriculum in college? No.

[Slaskra]

I'm an applied math grad student, but I finished all of my undergrad math pre-requisites only a few months ago (had to take extra classes since my background is finance).

I took 3 semesters of calculus, plus linear algebra and mechanics. First semester calculus I only spent 3 hours a week max outside of class studying, and that's even though it was my first math class in almost 10 years. Everything else was about 5 hours a week. I also had a very bad habit of rushing through basic algebra problems and having to re-do everything in my personal reviews when I noticed my answer didn't match the textbook's. If that's not an issue you can probably knock off an hour a week.

[-Skye]

i have a theoretical degree in physics.

Thanks for the great advice!

Said it for the OP.

[Garnier Fructis]

Omg omg pick me. I'm the smartest man at math and physics on these forums. I was also a physics major/math minor. Graduate is way different though, not even gonna mention that now.

I'm not sure if this is sarcasm or arrogance, but I'll just point out that you've given totally off the wall answers before.

That aside, I largely agree with what you wrote. EM and QM were hard, but it was even harder for my classmates who still needed to L2math 3 years in. OP, if you know your basic integrals then I guarantee you that you already have an advantage over the many clueless people who missed the memo that maybe, just maybe, math might be important for physics.

It was basic formula plugging in.

I do have to take issue with this, though. Whether or not this is true depends on the institution. My third and fourth year physics classes so far have had almost none of this. Maybe 1 or 2 problems a week are easy like this, but the majority of the homework and tests were a mix of deriving things, testing how well you could set up a problem, seeing if you could give estimates or qualitative answers based on principles, etc. If your whole 4 years is just plugging into formulas then I think you need to demand your money back.

[Blueobelisk]

I'm not sure if this is sarcasm or arrogance, but I'll just point out that you've given totally off the wall answers before.

Name 6 times.

[Deleted]

I see you're from Croatia. This means there is probably a simple way to calculate how much time a subject will take you, since the subjects will probably be worth a certain amount of ECTS (European Credit Points): 1 ECTS = 25-30 hours. So for example, a 3 ECTS course completed in 3 months (10 weeks) will take 7.5-9 hours of work per week total.

If I had to guess the amount of ECTS the subjects you've mentioned are worth, my guess is 6 (analysis) + 3 (linear algebra) + 3 (mechanics) + 3 (programming) = 15. This means 20 hours/week is a pretty good guess.

Though I gotta ask... how long do you think your study will take? If it's a regular BSc+MSc (undergrad + grad), that's a total of 300 ECTS. At this rate, that will take you 10 years.

Edit: for clarification, I'm a 2nd year Applied Phyics (prob similar to research physics) student in the Netherlands. Here, you are not really free to choose your course load, and you are pretty much expected (both by the university and the government(who'll cut your scholarship/free public transport if you take too long)), to spend ~40 hours/week on your studies. This means, if you don't fail any classes, a BSc or BA will take you 3 years.

Edit2: Please ignore Blueobelisk. Physics is no joke. It can be a real bitch, especially past your 1st year.

[Garnier Fructis]

Name 6 times.

I thought it was -1,1.

Do the ratio test and check the endpoints, sorry I have to go to school.

Wrong interval of convergence.

Rofl at this show off. It's not just the gradient, if you change coordinate systems you have to change your equations and variables. What's so hard to understand about that?

Unless you're stating a tautology (of course your equations "change" if you rename the variables), then the Lagrange-Euler Equation and Maxwell's equations disprove this, i.e., they have the same form under any coordinate change.

this is physics.

Potential energy = mgh for gravitational potentional. M being mass, g being the gravity acceleration constant, which is a force. h is depending on the height, which is the distance.

and as you said work = force*distance

then again you could always integrate a work chart but that seems hard. I don't really know how else to help you.[COLOR="red"]

This is not a solution because 1) you gave two definitions, but didn't show that a change in gravitational potential energy is work and 2) you only addressed one potential.

Next thing you know you're gonna tell me "did you guys know lim 1/0 -> infinity?"

Lim 1/0 is meaningless.

Lucky for you, you're in the presence of the smartest man on these forums.

Unfortunately the only way I could solve that problem is by using some...crazy methods LOL. Sorry I don't know the relationship between the base and the height.

What I did was:

1. I took the partial derivative of the V = 1/3 basesquared x height formula
2. Plugged that into the general dV/dt = dV/dh*dh/dt formula
3. Integrated

And I found the total time it took. Then I realized that I'd have to do some even crazier stuff to model how quickly the water rises @ h = 10 so...This isn't the solution for you lol.

So vague that I'm not even sure if it's wrong, but it's definitely over-complicating it greatly, so it fits the criteria of "off the wall". I mean, the solution could be written in like 4 lines with basic calculus and geometry. Before someone says it, yes, my remark on partial differentiation in that thread was wrong.

So 5/6 (or 4/6 if you contest the Lagrange-Euler counterexample). It's not like I'm trying to single you out or anything, but seeing "smartest man on forums" preface every math/physics post you make gets old.

[Blueobelisk]

Hmmmm. I see...

[Wikiy]

If I had to guess the amount of ECTS the subjects you've mentioned are worth, my guess is 6 (analysis) + 3 (linear algebra) + 3 (mechanics) + 3 (programming) = 15. This means 20 hours/week is a pretty good guess.

It's 8 for analysis, 7 for linear algebra, 10 for mechanics and 5 for programming.

Though I gotta ask... how long do you think your study will take? If it's a regular BSc+MSc (undergrad + grad), that's a total of 300 ECTS.

It is. And I'm aiming for not repeating any years. So 5 of them.

- - - Updated - - -

OP, if you know your basic integrals then I guarantee you that you already have an advantage over the many clueless people who missed the memo that maybe, just maybe, math might be important for physics.

Only got to derivatives in high school maths when it comes to calculus. I've heard they assume you don't know any calculus by the time you get there so I shouldn't have issues getting a grasp over integrals.

[Annoying]

the first half of linear algebra (haven't the faintest idea what that is lol)

Vectors, matrices, spaces, subspaces, and mapping between spaces.

Lots of transformation calculation. Great if you want to do computer graphics.

[Garnier Fructis]

Only got to derivatives in high school maths when it comes to calculus. I've heard they assume you don't know any calculus by the time you get there so I shouldn't have issues getting a grasp over integrals.

Sorry, I wasn't very specific but the clueless people are the ones who still don't know this 3 or 4 years in, after they've taken the calculus courses like you're taking now. Just make sure to remember what you're taught in your calculus courses this year and you should be fine.

[Wikiy]

Here, you are not really free to choose your course load, and you are pretty much expected (both by the university and the government(who'll cut your scholarship/free public transport if you take too long)), to spend ~40 hours/week on your studies.

Yeah, you can't really choose your subjects here either, though beginning with year 3 a bit of differentiation starts to happen. From there on, you get more and more choice between subjects associated with different branches of physics. Meaning, given the fact I want to be an astrophysicist, I'm gonna start differentiating for that beginning with year 3 (I know, a bit awkward time for that, year 4 would make sense). And here, basically, the way the government punishes you for failing a year is that your first go at a year is the only free one.

[Deleted]

From your list of courses I would say it should be no problem for you to learn enough in 20 hours each week. Linear algebra varies a bit between "Oh, that's neat" and "Oh god, what does n dimensions even mean?". Much of it is about using formulas, but you really want to understand what is going on, or you risk getting lost later on.

Physics and math: Shouldn't be much of a problem, you probably won't be a master in the beginning, but you usually apply it in many different things pretty often, and in time it becomes second nature for you to understand it.

The programming should be a walk in the park, depending on the teacher and what they expect you to do. It usually starts off being pretty easy, and unless you have to do embedded programming I would not worry too much. Google is your friend in this one (More so than the others).

I've had all the courses you had (In some form), perhaps except for all of the physics you will have. Still, it is relatively intuitive to understand most of the time, until you get to the very abstract and very difficult parts of it.

I'm sure you will do just fine

[Wikiy]

Sorry, I wasn't very specific but the clueless people are the ones who still don't know this 3 or 4 years in, after they've taken the calculus courses like you're taking now. Just make sure to remember what you're taught in your calculus courses this year and you should be fine.

Yeah, I'm aware that calculus is, pardon the pun, absolutely integral to physics so I plan to study real hard in the beginning. ^^

[Giscoicus]

Hey all.

I'm starting uni in about 2 weeks, an integrated undergraduate+graduate research physics course. The thing that's bugging me most of all is how much I'm going to have to study. Now, obviously, this varies from country to country, uni to uni and course to course, but there should be, I'm guessing, some sort of a rough figure. It also varies from person to person, obviously, so I'll just say that I pretty much always got A's in maths and physics in high school without ever having to study or do homework.

The subjects that I'll be having during the first semester are the first half of mathematical analysis (I think that's calculus in English), the first half of linear algebra (haven't the faintest idea what that is lol), the first quarter of general physics (mechanics [not as in classical mechanics, we get that later as a subject, "mechanics" here refers to kinematics and dynamics], hydrostatics and hydrodynamics) and some programming using C, on Linux.

Taking all of that into account, do you peeps think 20 hours a week during the non-test periods and double that during the test period is going to be enough? And please, don't reply with something like "just work hard" or "study as long as you need to to understand everything properly", I get it, I've come across billions upon billions of such non-specific advice. Or should I say non-numerical. I'm a physics student, I need an actual number. :P

Calculus is legitimately the easiest math I ever did for the first year or so. Math analysis was, for me, different and a pain in the ass.