Physics textbooks or exam prep books usually present you together with all the facts you might want to recognize, in a fast-fire overwhelming way. In Head First Physics, the pace is deliberately slower to provide you space to explore and do your own discoveries. For example, you'll use a chapter solving clues in a treasure hunt competition--as you go along you'll locate out for yourself how vectors work, and how they help you to win! The interactivity and self-teaching style is a huge contrast to the usual textbook method of listing each possible "fact" concerning vectors as shortly as possible.

In Head First Physics, it's the exploration this makes things stick—and makes the physics easier to study. You're immersing yourself in the scenario and taking part rather than "reading along and nodding" from the "outside" like you would for much books.

One region in particular where exploration is key is in the "crossover" between math and physics. Many students say this they can "use" equations or mathematical relationships in neat problems where it's possible to alternative values from the question into equations given on a sheet. But extra complicated problems can be a real struggle, together with students not knowing where to begin, not knowing which values or equations to use, and feeling stuck in an "I don't get it" rut.

Overcome Past Learning Struggles...

In Head First Physics, you use a lot of time building solid foundations and working out the "neat" equations for yourself. For example, you use a chapter working out how to defend a castle--and by the end, you really comprehend how trigonometry works. And afterwards implementing a training schedule for a thoroughbred hamster, radians and circular motion are no longer a mystery. The relationships between the math and the physics are clear when you go on to apply what you've learned to other areas, such as forces or orbits.

Spending time on the foundations provides you a new depth of understanding, far beyond "locate an equation, plug in some values." Faced together with a extra complicated problem, you'll be effective to spot the places where you can break it down into simpler problems this you already recognize how to do.

In Head First Physics, you locate yourself in many different scenarios--designing a music player, fixing a pizza delivery website, helping the dingo catch the emu, going to Pluto - and so on! So instead of a problem set at the end of every chapter, you solve scenario-related problems as you go along so this there's always a direct application for what you're doing. Many of the problems have hints, and each time you flip the page, there are fully worked answers and explanations this you can evaluate together with your own. No extra wondering "where they got this answer from!"

Another element this hones your problem solving skills are the Question Clinics. Every Question Clinic provides an outline of a typical "type" of physics question, showing you the buzzwords this help you to work out what you're supposed to do, and giving you hints concerning how you should proceed.

Do Connections and See the Big Image

Force... mass... weight... momentum... impulse... potential energy... kinetic energy...The typical textbook approach to these topics is to say: "Here are Newton's three laws, in order. Here are some other equations for momentum conservation and impulse. Here are a couple extra equations for potential and kinetic energy." This makes it natural for students to treat every topic fully separately, together with a list of unrelated equations this are difficult to memorise and even harder to apply.

In Head First Physics, it's the connections this are emphasized. You locate out concerning momentum conservation while helping some pirates deal together with a ghost ship, which you use to discover Newton's 2nd & 3rd laws and impulse. Your next assignment is for "Fakebusters" investigating a phoney "instantaneous weight loss" machine, where you use what you already learned concerning forces to work out the difference between weight and mass and master the normal force. Being the physics consultant on a computer strategy helps you to consolidate what you recognize concerning forces, then you discover energy conservation while working out a way to lift the sword in the stone utilizing physics.

Head First Problem Solving Tips

Don't try to memorize!
This's got to be the much important thing. Physics is like a sport — you study excellent by doing rather than by memorizing. So the whole book's geared towards learning by doing, throughout solving problems as you go along.

Begin together with a sketch, and put in writing down all the values you already recognize on it.
This gets the visual parts of your brain working and provides you a single reference on your page where you've collected mutually everything you recognize so far.

Ask: "What's it LIKE"?
Physics is concerning the world all-around you, and you already have plenty of experience there. Your sketch may remind you of a scenario you've seen before, or a similar problem you've previously solved, even if the "story" is different.

Don't be afraid to have a go.
The excellent way to solve a problem is to begin it. You won't always see in advance how you're going to work your way throughout the problem, but as you sketch and put in writing things down you'll often get ideas popping into your head this you can run together with.