Concepts

A concept is the framework that ties things together. Without it, information doesn't make sense and you won't remember it, and even if you did, it would probably be of little use.

Below is an example, a list of what seem to be nonsense symbols, and let's say we want them to stand for the digits 1 through 9, and we need to know them without referring to the picture. (And we don't want to go to the trouble of memorizing them.)

 


These nine symbols are found in the tic-tac-toe game. Draw the grid and number the spaces in the order

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

and look at the environment that each number is in.

You could memorize that list of symbols, but that would be stupid. Similarly in physics there may be times when you are tempted to memorize, but don't do it. Work on the concepts: the basic principles, meanings and the relationships.

If you memorize much in physics, this is a serious learning disability that you need to eradicate. Memorize some units and not much else.

An example: you could memorize a formula to get the maximum height of a projectile, based on the initial v and the initial angle above horizontal: h = (vosinq )2/(2g). The main problem with this is the attitude that the correct answer is the important thing. No, the important thing is to be able to figure out things like the above formula from basic principles. Your instructor might let you get by with some memorized shortcuts in some cases, but this is going to catch up with you. Do not use a specialized formula like that unless you can derive it from the fundamentals. Knowing the fundamentals of projectile motion and how to apply them enables you to figure out anything about a projectile except whether that pass is going to result in a touchdown.

You probably want to hit your browser's back button, but not too hard because there will be an equal and opposite force on you.

My main pages:
Mechanics
Fluids, heat, electricity and magnetism
Vibrations and waves
Quantum
Quickies in my index.

Comments, questions: fredrick.gram at tri-c.edu (but remove “at” and spaces and insert @)