2-D Kinematics
Critical thinking
The latest unit in my high school physics class is 2-D Kinematics, which is essentially plotting motion over a 2-D plane. Each and every question needs all of the vectors to be split into its X and Y components (sideways and up). After that I need to find at least three of the five variables: initial velocity, time, final velocity, acceleration, and displacement for the X and Y components. After that I need to find whatever variable the question is asking me to find for each of the X and Y components,. Then use the Pythagorean theorem to convert the X and Y components into the magnitude of whatever vector I'm trying to find. Finally, I often have to use the inverse tangent along with the X and Y components of the new vector that I'm solving for to get the angle of the vector.
Much like most math related projects or assignments 2-D kinematics highlights critical thinking. But in my mind 2-D kinematics as well as most physics work requires much more critical thinking than any other math class I've endured. This is because of two big reasons: the problems are always word problems and the math is pretty complex. Everything being word problems essentially means that I have to find variables from subtle clues in the word problem. For example, a problem might say that an object starts at a rest instead of saying that the initial velocity is 0 m/s. Math already requires a lot of critical thinking, but math as complex as physics is on a different level in terms of headache inducing critical thinking.
The one thing that I'm most proud of about this assignment is just how much I was able to learn despite not knowing very much on the placement exam and only having video lessons to learn from.
The only thing that I can think of that I improved upon at least as much as my knowledge of physics is Critical Thinking. This assignment essentially threw me into the deep end of complex and long word problems to improve my critical thinking skills, and it worked. Right now I think I'm better at critical thinking than I ever was before.
Of course throwing myself in the deep end came with some challenges. The worst challenge that I had to face early on was the fact that I wasn't being taught by an actual teacher. This essentially meant that instead of being able to ask a physics teacher questions I had to figure out whatever problem I was having all by myself. Luckily, I decided to take detailed notes so I can g back through my note book and refresh my memory on anything I'm having trouble with.
If I could start over and change one thing about this assignment I would make sure that instead of doing a lot of work on one week and take another week off I would work a manageable amount every week so I wouldn't have to jog my memory every time I start working on physics again.
Of all the things that I had to remember from past years I had to use knowledge from the trigonometry unit in geometry class the most. This is because if you map out the vector and the X and Y components on a graph it always forms a right triangle; that means to do math with vectors I have to use things like sin and cos.
I doubt that this will be the last physics class that I'm going to see. And even if it is critical thinking skills and understanding word problems will be invaluable for dealing with the onslaught of assignments in college.
Much like most math related projects or assignments 2-D kinematics highlights critical thinking. But in my mind 2-D kinematics as well as most physics work requires much more critical thinking than any other math class I've endured. This is because of two big reasons: the problems are always word problems and the math is pretty complex. Everything being word problems essentially means that I have to find variables from subtle clues in the word problem. For example, a problem might say that an object starts at a rest instead of saying that the initial velocity is 0 m/s. Math already requires a lot of critical thinking, but math as complex as physics is on a different level in terms of headache inducing critical thinking.
The one thing that I'm most proud of about this assignment is just how much I was able to learn despite not knowing very much on the placement exam and only having video lessons to learn from.
The only thing that I can think of that I improved upon at least as much as my knowledge of physics is Critical Thinking. This assignment essentially threw me into the deep end of complex and long word problems to improve my critical thinking skills, and it worked. Right now I think I'm better at critical thinking than I ever was before.
Of course throwing myself in the deep end came with some challenges. The worst challenge that I had to face early on was the fact that I wasn't being taught by an actual teacher. This essentially meant that instead of being able to ask a physics teacher questions I had to figure out whatever problem I was having all by myself. Luckily, I decided to take detailed notes so I can g back through my note book and refresh my memory on anything I'm having trouble with.
If I could start over and change one thing about this assignment I would make sure that instead of doing a lot of work on one week and take another week off I would work a manageable amount every week so I wouldn't have to jog my memory every time I start working on physics again.
Of all the things that I had to remember from past years I had to use knowledge from the trigonometry unit in geometry class the most. This is because if you map out the vector and the X and Y components on a graph it always forms a right triangle; that means to do math with vectors I have to use things like sin and cos.
I doubt that this will be the last physics class that I'm going to see. And even if it is critical thinking skills and understanding word problems will be invaluable for dealing with the onslaught of assignments in college.