- #1
Pkiani
Hi everyone!
I'm a sophomore in college, currently taking electromagnetism as the second class of my mandatory physics circuit prior to transfer. I am majoring in electrical engineering (and potentially CS depending on where I transfer) and my hope is to someday build wonderful and innovative things for the world.
As of now I'm trying my best to uncover and establish first principles, or the fundamental truths, of any subjects that pertain to engineering and design. Lots of people seem to get away with memorizing all the formulas and steps necessary to solve physics/math problems (including me pre-college) rather than trying to uncover why the processes we learn in class are what they are and why they work. Frankly, it's easier to memorize steps through rote, but I've found that when I struggle to really understand the first principles of any subject (like what is electric force, what does the quantity of charge represent, how do I relate that with calculus to understand electric field and Gauss's law, etc.) then learning subsequent material, such Gauss's, why circuits work, and so come much faster and are easier to retain. I know plenty of students who have gotten As by memorizing steps, but it's almost impossible to make connections from one field to another when those fundamental steps aren't mastered. This is partly why I hate the education system in California, but I had to make it my onus to figure out how to connect what we learn in school to the real world on my own than picking up those skills in a class.
What I hope to gain from my physics and math courses along with this forum is mental models I can use for myself to aid me in building applications in the future. I'm still just a baby in the world of engineering and I'm going to need lots of assistance to even make a little sense of the universe. I'm excited to see how much this forum will supplement and aid my understanding of physics so that one day I could possible contribute something here too.
Thanks so much for spending the time reading this!
I'm a sophomore in college, currently taking electromagnetism as the second class of my mandatory physics circuit prior to transfer. I am majoring in electrical engineering (and potentially CS depending on where I transfer) and my hope is to someday build wonderful and innovative things for the world.
As of now I'm trying my best to uncover and establish first principles, or the fundamental truths, of any subjects that pertain to engineering and design. Lots of people seem to get away with memorizing all the formulas and steps necessary to solve physics/math problems (including me pre-college) rather than trying to uncover why the processes we learn in class are what they are and why they work. Frankly, it's easier to memorize steps through rote, but I've found that when I struggle to really understand the first principles of any subject (like what is electric force, what does the quantity of charge represent, how do I relate that with calculus to understand electric field and Gauss's law, etc.) then learning subsequent material, such Gauss's, why circuits work, and so come much faster and are easier to retain. I know plenty of students who have gotten As by memorizing steps, but it's almost impossible to make connections from one field to another when those fundamental steps aren't mastered. This is partly why I hate the education system in California, but I had to make it my onus to figure out how to connect what we learn in school to the real world on my own than picking up those skills in a class.
What I hope to gain from my physics and math courses along with this forum is mental models I can use for myself to aid me in building applications in the future. I'm still just a baby in the world of engineering and I'm going to need lots of assistance to even make a little sense of the universe. I'm excited to see how much this forum will supplement and aid my understanding of physics so that one day I could possible contribute something here too.
Thanks so much for spending the time reading this!