This summer I’ve been doing tutoring for physics (SPH4U) and it’s been great. Until we got to the third unit, appropriately named Gravitational, Electric, and Magnetic Fields. This is the first unit that has served as an actual roadblock.
The previous units, Dynamics and Energy & Momentum, honestly weren’t a problem at all. These units focus on the physics you can see in everyday life. Like how a moving car has momentum (p = mv) or how you get thrown the opposite direction when that car turns (centrifugal force). However, once you get to the fields unit, you start to realize that you’re about to leave the realm of everyday life. You can’t visualize an electric field the same way you can visualize a block sliding on an incline due to the force of mgsinθ.
Part of the reason why I believe physics is so much harder to study for compared to math is because there are two components to it: the math, and the physical concepts. There is no science behind learning how radians work, or graphing the vertical asymptotes of a rational function. You simply learn how the math works, and you apply that knowledge to specific problems that your teacher may give you.
For physics, you need to understand the physical concepts before you’re ever able to apply the mathematics. For example, before you’re ever able to touch a problem regarding a two block pulley system, you need to understand Newton’s third law of action-reaction forces. I feel that this is especially true for the fields unit, as not only do you need to know a lot of new concepts, they are completely unfamiliar to your everyday intuition.
This doesn’t mean I don’t find the unit interesting, it’s cool to learn about the physics you can’t see. It’s just much harder. And I’m sure I’ll have this experience over and over again when the physics gets more complicated in university.