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How important is physics?

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Walkawalka
Posts: 314 - Karma: 43
I am taking physics this year this year to keep my options open and overall i'm a good student (80-90 in all my other classes, including pre-cal, chem, bio and english) but i am simply not enjoying physics, maybe its just this one unit though. I am often uninterested in class and find myself daydreaming about skiing or struggling to keep my eyes open. As a result, I retain little information and I'm not doing so great. I'm certain i will pass the course but I have a test tomorrow which i will be surprised if i get a 70 on.

What professions is this course important for? I know engineering is an obvious one but i am not interested in that. I am however, interested in medicine, pharmacy physiotherapy, for which i think physics is recommended if not necessary. Am i just being a pussy or can i afford to drop this class?

Sep 29 2010 10:36PM
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MADDECENT
Posts: 5579 - Karma: 951
It is literally used for nothing
Sep 29 2010 10:39PM
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B.Pol
Posts: 1750 - Karma: 59
I am pretty sure it's a Gen ed class in college so you will have to end up taking it in the long run anyways. So you mine as well take it now!
Sep 29 2010 10:41PM
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H8CH
Posts: 2709 - Karma: 218
Physics is the basis of life as we know, the fundamental basics of life.....

Just think about it this way - if you have a hidden talent for physics, that you discover as you move forward from this point - you never know, but it could be you that unravels the answers to the meaning of life and the birth of the universe.....

Your name could be up there with the greatest thinkers of all time....




Or you could fail..... but, i'd say go for it.... worst thing to happen is you'll get a job that pays you a fuck load....
Sep 29 2010 10:42PM
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neutralzombie
Posts: 8629 - Karma: 606
hmm i think it's worth trying out. see if you like it. i had no choice but to take it in hs, because of the school i went to was a math and sciences alternative, but i really sucked at it. maths and such aren't my forte at all, and it blows donkeys that i failed that course with a 57.
Sep 29 2010 11:16PM
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Anathema
Posts: 21048 - Karma: 5,061

we do not need to know how the world around us works.

we just need to know that it does.

Sep 29 2010 11:17PM
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Bar_Down
Posts: 5896 - Karma: 395
just fuckin do it.
Sep 29 2010 11:19PM
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Bukkakeskitrip
Posts: 5677 - Karma: 95
its pretty useless, but its fun to learn it
Sep 29 2010 11:21PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
Really its useless for anything except engineering, or other non biological sciences.

however, i hated it in high school, but in college i took the calc based physics class and needed a 95% or better on the final to get an A.  so i addy'd out for a few days, and learned the inside and out of the whole damn class, and you know what, i was so interested that i even volutarily read on in the book to learn more.  Now, anything that  models natural movement/ phenomenon( ie. fluid mechanics and related subjects) through tweaking equations is my absolute favorite classes, outside of history.  but only bitches are history majors.  i mean really wtf are you gonna do with a degree in history that someone with a different, useful degree couldn't do better.
Sep 30 2010 1:09AM
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rev3rb12
Posts: 66 - Karma: 10
i'm taking it right now for pharmacy, you know just in case i ever have to calculate the exact speed of a pill when it falls from a counter.
Sep 30 2010 1:14AM
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TROLLED.HARD
Posts: 1032 - Karma: -9
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Sep 30 2010 1:16AM
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FerrisBueller
Posts: 8280 - Karma: 5,173
it is the most important. it is everything. pick something, i promise you can relate it to physics.
Sep 30 2010 1:19AM
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TROLLED.HARD
Posts: 1032 - Karma: -9
banking.
Sep 30 2010 1:20AM
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BootySpunk.
Posts: 8148 - Karma: 84
I enjoy physics...all this free body diagram shit is super boring but most of the other stuff is fun to try and figure out...Also I destroy at physics labs.
Sep 30 2010 1:22AM
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B-Wald
Posts: 8113 - Karma: 96
yes, you're being a pussy. understanding physics will help you in almost anything you do that involves things that move. if you think about it, skiing functions completely on physics principles. you'll have to take it for medicine, i'd imagine you would for physiotherapy, and you'll probably have to take physics and physical chemistry for pharmacy.

for full disclosure, i majored in mechanical engineering, but i can't imagine looking at the world without my understanding of physics. it really does apply to everything around you, unlike some of the people in this thread seem to think. some ridiculous statements in here.
Sep 30 2010 1:24AM
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jason...
Posts: 9006 - Karma: 780
It's important if you need it as a pre-requisite for university. Other than that completely useless.
Sep 30 2010 1:25AM
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Style+eeze
Posts: 6901 - Karma: 551
My calculus based physics teacher has a phd in advanced experimental nuclear physics. He teaches the class to the one person he gets every few years who will actually go into physics. For the rest of us, we're just taking the hardest high school course in washington state... calc based physics is essentially useless for me or you, but I think it's important to understand practical physics
Sep 30 2010 1:30AM
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1337
Posts: 31038 - Karma: 29,003
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Sep 30 2010 1:33AM
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Testicles
Posts: 1432 - Karma: 13
Physics is awesome until you get into circuits and all that shit. I often find myself calculating shit out for fun like how fast I'd need to go to hit this booter and what not. And high school physics definitely helps you prepare for post secondary level courses by actually forcing you to figure problems out on your own and not always have just one set way to approach something
Sep 30 2010 1:37AM
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ski93
Posts: 1279 - Karma: 83
It's all a lie, none of it is even true it's a pointless course with no real life applications whatsoever. The education system makes it all up to test your ability to solve problems and so that college's and university's can asses your skill level.So pretty much just a huge waste of time. I'd say to definitely drop it and focus on real sciences like chem and bio.
Sep 30 2010 1:43AM
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1337
Posts: 31038 - Karma: 29,003
refer to hurr durr herp derp post
Sep 30 2010 1:46AM
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Bukkakeskitrip
Posts: 5677 - Karma: 95
prostitution
Sep 30 2010 1:57AM
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killa_cam
Posts: 13143 - Karma: 15
chemistry is just applied physics and biology is just applied chemistry
Sep 30 2010 2:13AM
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TOUCHE
Posts: 1183 - Karma: 162
i really hope my meter is broken.
Sep 30 2010 2:30AM
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rudager
Posts: 11332 - Karma: 4,597
what grade are you in?

I took physics in Grade 11, but not grade 12. It's worth it. Medicine can have it's uses. I remember when I was looking into Radiology. I needed Physics. For X-Rays.

But I'm taking Broadcast Engineering now, I'm happy I took that physics 11.

Take the beginning class at least. Know your math too
Sep 30 2010 2:30AM
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Sugarloaf1906
Posts: 102 - Karma: 26
If Tanner Hall took physics he wouldn't have broken his ankles over chads gap.
Sep 30 2010 10:30AM
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Bar_Down
Posts: 5896 - Karma: 395
+K for being an idiot
Sep 30 2010 12:09PM
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Black.Bird
Posts: 2566 - Karma: 684
Ture story
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Sep 30 2010 12:18PM
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Bar_Down
Posts: 5896 - Karma: 395
well ya, but it wouldve been impossible to avoid. lets say they clocked him right as he's leaving the lip to find V0, he would've already been in the air when the reading on the radar shows that he's going too slow
Sep 30 2010 12:22PM
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bootleg_BEN
Posts: 2499 - Karma: 44
I love physics, but im also a mech engineer major.
Sep 30 2010 12:33PM
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applejuice.
Posts: 5506 - Karma: 1,512
Hi.

I didn't take physics in high school, instead I took AP Bio. I figured because I was going to be a Bio major I should take something more similar to my Bio 1 course at Pitt. I do have to take Physics next semester but I'm not too worried about it, Gen Chem 2 is really the only science course I've struggled with so far.

I think you'll be fine.
Sep 30 2010 12:40PM
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chapz
Posts: 10182 - Karma: 66
ive taken many physics classes so far, probably around 5 or 6 classes. my first class was amazing. i had a great teacher and he made me love physics. then the more advanced i got in physics, i find it becomes more and more interesting. electricity wasnt my thing but when we started learning about relativity and stuff like that, i was impressed.


try really hard to apply yourself and think outside the box. dont just do problems, but try to think about what is actually happening and make it interesting.
Sep 30 2010 12:47PM
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freestyler540
Posts: 13045 - Karma: 18,291
he's right Physics is awesome. Although the world becomes less magical, everything you see touch and use principals of physics. Its amazing never to rely on someone to understand and fix something. Dude, I am a marine mechanical engineer, my job revolves around physics. I can do just about everything from plumbing to overhauling an engine. Without my knowledge of physics, I would be a fucking paper pusher, to 9-5 for the rest of my life.

Physics is rough in the beginning, but once you get a hang of it, its really not so hard. You just have to relate everything to your experience to know if it makes sense or not. Plus reading science magazine becomes easier to understand and you may discover a new passion.
Sep 30 2010 6:34PM
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yuck
Posts: 8384 - Karma: 2,090
you would be surprised at how many university / college programs demand or recommend physics.

eg. biomedical engineering usually recommends chemistry and physics. not biology.
Sep 30 2010 7:03PM
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wesley.
Posts: 6483 - Karma: 1,049
important enough to have an amazing time playing these games
www.physicsgames.com
my personal favorites are cargo bridge and civballs
Sep 30 2010 7:04PM
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norm.storm
Posts: 97 - Karma: 35
If I slap a bitch with a horizontal force of 52 Newtons.  How long will it take her body to reach the floor?
Sep 30 2010 7:10PM
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Peter.
Posts: 23796 - Karma: 13,012
i'm a bio major and it is still one of my required courses in college, so you'll most likely end up taking it at some point
Sep 30 2010 7:11PM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9210 - Karma: 5,357
haha. i've always wondered whether physics was crucial to me as a bio major. or english or math for that matter.And obviously i'll know basic english and math, but how many biologists/doctors have you seen doing calculus. Machines can do it for them if they need to.
Sep 30 2010 7:12PM
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pussymoneyweed
Posts: 2055 - Karma: 60
im surprised you even made it out of high school
Sep 30 2010 7:17PM
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Skinsummer
Posts: 186 - Karma: 13
Physics sucks. Glad I dropped it.
Sep 30 2010 7:21PM
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Sugarloaf1906
Posts: 102 - Karma: 26
You wouldn't need to clock him. All you need is his mass, coefficient of friction between his skis and the snow, a function that models the inrun, his body's cross sectional area, drag coefficient of his outerwear, wind speed and direction, angle of the lip, and the horizontal and vertical distance to the landing.

With all of the above he could have found out how far up the inrun he would have had to start to make it to the sweet spot.
Sep 30 2010 7:32PM
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Bukkakeskitrip
Posts: 5677 - Karma: 95
you win this time norm.storm
Sep 30 2010 7:33PM
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Bukkakeskitrip
Posts: 5677 - Karma: 95
it is
Sep 30 2010 7:33PM
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FerrisBueller
Posts: 8280 - Karma: 5,173
you would also need to discount air resistance and account for her initial velocity and i could do it.
Sep 30 2010 7:37PM
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ski@jaypeak2
Posts: 2800 - Karma: 394
and head height, i mean if hes sitting down he will be closer to the ground, and i dont know how many people stand in front of their computer
Sep 30 2010 7:40PM
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steezenskis
Posts: 1044 - Karma: 31

haha. nice

you dont need physics unless your gonna be an engineer. and never take ap physics. the hardest class ive ever taken.

Sep 30 2010 7:40PM
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Dsnov832
Posts: 102 - Karma: 12
he could have used energy equations  to find out how far up the in run he would have had to start at in order to get the proper initial velocity
Sep 30 2010 7:41PM
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FerrisBueller
Posts: 8280 - Karma: 5,173
you go up to a banking counter (the counter and your/ the mans hands are 2.5 meters above the ground) and ask for 4 quarters, the man hands you them and you hear one drop, you assume he dropped the coin, but the time it took from him giving the coins to when you heard the coin drop was .02 seconds, much faster than it should have dropped. you assume he dropped the coin and meant to only give you 3 coins. but really he only ever had 3 coins and someone else dropped the coin you heard. when did the coin that was dropped leave the person's hand if it took .02 seconds to hear it from the inital point when you heard it after you were handed the 3 coins, and before hand it took 3.44 seconds for the man to hand them to you. Disregard air resistance and trajectory paths, and use 9.8ms-2 for G.


bitch.

Sep 30 2010 7:44PM
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airic
Posts: 720 - Karma: 16
Actually, it is not that uncommon for someone with a theoretical physics degree to get recruited by a bank, since they are usually very good with constructing models to predict phenomena. This particular example supports the general idea that, even if you don't use your physics education directly, the critical thinking skills you develop in problem solving are applicable in so many areas.

Also, if you are interested in medical school, it is important to note that university-level Physics is often required, and even if it isn't, you will still need to learn it for the MCAT.

But even usefulness aside, Physics becomes incredibly interesting, particularly at the higher levels; I mean, how can you not be excited by the fact that your feet are younger than your head due to gravitational time dilation, or by the fact that an electron can "be" at two different locations at the same time, or by the idea that we may be living in beyond four dimensions!?  *pushed glasses back on to nose*
Sep 30 2010 8:08PM
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Phantom
Posts: 908 - Karma: 180
bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla

bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla

bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla

i like to think my three paragraph responses to your personal question about physics is going to be read.
Sep 30 2010 8:38PM
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Walkawalka
Posts: 314 - Karma: 43
 i read it actually, and i am going to stay in physics. After reading this and thinking about it some more i've realized that theres no way in hell that im going to fail and theres really no downside to taking it , other than having to put in a little more work. Overall that extra work is nothing and i'm sure i'm never going to look back and think "wow, i really wish i had dropped physics!". thanks everyone
Sep 30 2010 8:51PM
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