27/02/2017 thinking as a physicist

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Whatdoesthinkingasaphysicistmean?

ByValentinVoroshilov

Ihaveheardmanytimes(asthousandsofotherphysicsteachers)astudentsaying
thatheorsheunderstandsphysicsbutjustcannotsolveproblems.Ialwayssayin
return,thatphysicsisoneoftheclearest(andIwouldaddeasiest)subjects,sinceit
hasaverystraightforwardlogicwhichunderlinesthethoughtprocess.Howeverin
ordertoteachhowtosolvephysicsproblemsateachershouldnotbefocusingon
demonstratinghowtosolvespecificphysicsproblems(!),butinsteadshould
demonstratethethinkingprocesshappeninginthemindofanexpertproblemsolver
whenthatexpertisconstructingasolutionforagivenproblem(thisapproach,
however,requiresmuchmoretimethanaregularcoursecanprovide).Whena
studentdoesnotknowhowtosolveaproblem,heorsheshouldnotaskaquestion
howtosolvethisproblem?,orhowdidyousolvethisproblem?,butinstead
shouldaskaquestionhowdidyoucomeupwiththissolution?Andateacher
shouldbeabletodemonstratethethinkingprocessbehindthecreatingofthat
solution.InthispaperIwanttoofferashortdescriptionofageneralthinking
processofanexpertphysicsproblemsolver(FYI:thisapproachshouldbe
mandatoryforprofessionalpreparationordevelopmentofschoolteachers:ateacher
learningphysicsoranyotherSTEMsubjectmustlearnsomephysics,butthenmust
reflectonhowheorshelearnedittobeabletoapprehendthementalprocesses
neededtobehappenedinordertoacquirethatspecificphysicsknowledgeorskill).

Noteverythinginphysicsrequiresunderstandingthisisacommon
misunderstanding.Studentsoftensay:Idonotunderstand,butinactualityit
usuallymeans:Idonotknowthebasics.Therearemanyimportantphysical
concepts,whichdonotrequireunderstanding,butrequirerotememorizingina
standardphysicstextbookallthoseconceptsarelaidoutinparagraphsfactsto
learn(orsimilar).Well,ofcourse,someunderstandingisrequiredatthislevel,for
example,understandingofthemeaningofthewordsandsentences(thatiswhyIdo
notwritethispaperinRussian).Thesetofthefactstobememorizedcomprisesthat
knowledge,whichmostpeoplemeanwhensaying:Iknowphysics.

Thenextlevelofunderstandingcomeswhenstudentsaremakingconnections
betweenthejustlearned(usuallyabstract)conceptsandtheirknowledgeof
everydaylife,whichcamefromtheireverydayexperience.Theexistenceofthese
connectionsmakesstudentstosay:Iunderstandphysics.Thislevelof
understandingmighthelpstudentstoexplainsomephenomenatheyobservearound
them,butusuallyisnotenoughformakingthembeingabletosolvephysics
problems.

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Thetrue(actual,complete)understandingunderlinestheabilitytoapplypreviously
accumulatedknowledgeforanalyzingnewspecificphysicalsituationsandcomes
withtheexperienceofsolvingspecificphysicalproblems,andthenreflectingonthe
processofthecreatingthesolution.Thislevelofunderstandingistestedbythe
abilitytosolvephysicsproblemsnotcongruenttopreviouslysolvedproblems
(congruentsimplemeansidenticalplease,visithttp://teachology.xyz/mocc.htm
forthedifferencebetweencongruent,analogous,similar,andlikeproblems).This
levelofunderstandingdemonstratestheexistenceofstrongconnectionsbetween
knowledge((a)acquiredusingrotememorization,b)developedineverydaylife,c)
developedduringpreviousproblemssolvingactivities),andactions,whichhaveto
beperformedinordertosolveaproblem.

Thebest(andonly!)wayforachievingthiskindofunderstandingissolvingphysics
problems.Learningsolvingphysicsproblemsislikelearninghowtodriveacar,or
howtoswimnoonecandoitjustbywatchinghowotherpeopledothatitrequires
alotofpersonalpractice,preferablyguidedbyanexperiencedinstructor.

Ifyoureadatextofaproblemandyouknowwhattodo,itisnotreallyaproblem
itisratherjustatrainingexercise,atask.Arealproblemhappenswhenyoudonot
knowwhattodoandhavetoconstructthesolutiononaspot.

AsIoftenliketosay,studyphysicswithoutsolvingproblemsisthesameas
learninghowtoswimwithneverenteringinwater.Tolearnhowtoswimis
necessarytoswim,i.e.toliedownonwater,startmovinghandsandlegs,andsee
whathappens.Attheveryfirsttime,certainly,youwillfailyouwilldrinksome
waterandwillnotmakeanyprogressinmovingahead,butgradually,atryaftera
tryyouwillbedoingbetterandbetter.Andthetimewillcomewhenthefirstactual
swimisaccomplished!Youcanswimnow!

Preciselythesamesituationhappenswhenyouneedtofindasolutiontoaphysics
problem(and,actually,toanyotherprobleminlife).Tolearnhowtosolve
problemsitisnecessarytosolveproblems,i.e.:toreadatextofaproblem,to
imagineascleareraspossibleadescribedsituation,todrawapicture,towritedown
formulas,andtotrytomakesenseofthem.Andofcourse,atsomepointin
constructingyoursolutionyoumightgetconfusedormakeamistake.Getting
confusedandmakingmistakesisanaturalthingwhensolvingproblems(any
problems).Imakeanevenstrongerstatement:makingmistakesisanecessary
elementoflearninghowtosolveproblems.Truelearningactuallygetstriggered
onlywhenamistakehadbeenmadeandwestartthinkingabouthowtocorrectit
(peoplesaylearnfromyourmistakes,butinrealitythereisnootherwayto
learn!).Ofcourse,whenwemakeamistake,weusuallyfeelsomediscomfort(one
ofthelegaciesofapoorschooling,Ibelieve).Weneedtobeabletoovercomethat

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discomfort.Infact,weneedtoembraceit,becausethisisthesignofatruelearning
happeninginus.Thefellingwillpassandbereplacedwiththejoyofhavinga
problemsolved(the#1goalofanyteacheristoleadastudentthroughthese
emotionalstagesmakephysicsfunisawrongandmisleadingapproachbecause
itwillnotleavestudentswithknowledgeandskills,therightapproachismake
physicsjoyable).

Thefolkwisdomtells:Ifyoudidntsucceedfirsttime,tryandtryagain.Thisrule
ispartiallycorrect.Ifyoukeepdoingthesamethingyoukeeprepeatingthesame
mistake(Einsteinsinsanity).Everynewtrialhastobeinsomewaydifferent
fromthepreviousones.Thatmeansthatwhenyoumakeamistakeyoushould
figureoutwhatwentwrong(oratleasttomakeaguesswhatmighthavegone
wrong),soyouwouldnotrepeatthesamemistakeagain,i.e.youshouldreflecton
thethinkingyouhaveusedtogettothispointinyoursolution.

Theveryfirstdifficultymanystudentsrunintowhentheyhavetosolveaproblem
ishowtobegin?UsuallyIanswer:Trysomething,anything,oraskaquestion:
Whatcanyoudo?

Thereissetofspecificlearningaidswhichcouldbeofferedtoastudenttohelphim
orhertobegintheproblemsolvingprocess(seebelow).Itisusuallyverymuch
helpfultogivestudentssomegeneraldescriptionoftheworkourminddoeswhena
problemispresentedtoit.

Let'simaginethatyouareinvitedtoaparty.Youcome,andtherearesomany
unfamiliarpeopleoverthere.Whatdoyouusuallydointhiskindofasituation?
Youusuallyaretryingtofindsomebodyfamiliarandapproachhimorher.

Theexactlysamethingishappeningwhenwestartsolvingaproblem.Ourbrainis
apowerfulpatternrecognitioncomputer,andthefirstthingitdoesinaproblematic
situationisstartinglookingforfamiliarpatterns.Anditfindsthem,evenifwedo
notfeelthatway.So,ifyoudonotknowwhattodo,yourbrainknows,sojusttrust
itanddothefirstthingwhichcomestomind,butDOIT!

Ofcourse,youcanhelpyourbraintofindtheappropriatepatternfasterandwith
moreconfidencebyusingvariouslearningaids(thegeneralalgorithmfor
developingasolution,apicture,aMOCC,adictionary,aclassificationtable
please,visitteachilogy.xyzforexamples).

Whenyouarelookingforafamiliarperson,yourbrainautomaticallyanalyzesaset
ofindicators,likeafaceexpression,voice,talkingmanners,posture,gestures,etc.

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Everyphysicsproblemhassomeindicators/parameters,too,whichdifferone
problemfromanother,butalsowhichcombinesimilarproblemsintoacertain
clusterofproblems.Whenyourecognizetowhichclusterthisproblembelongs,you
canimmediatelyemploythemethodyouusedinthepastforsolvingsimilar
problems,oratleastyoucantryusingsimilarstrategy,reflectonit,andcorrectit,if
needed.

Physicsstudiesspecificphenomena,i.e.specificprocesseshappeningtovarious
objects.
Phenomenaarethefirstthingsweallobservefromourbirth.Wefeelalotofthings:
wecansee,wecansmell,wecantouchobjectsandhearsounds.Andwehave
developedmanywordsweusetodescribethesephenomenatoeachother.Butin
sciencewehavetouseaspecificlanguage,whichrepresentsa
purified/simplified/specifiedversionofaneverydaylanguage(themainreasonfor
usingaspecificlanguageistominimizemisunderstandingbetweenscientists).

Hence,whenwereadatextofaproblemwemustmakeatranslationfroman
everydaylanguagetoitsscientificversion.Thisisaskillwhicheveryexpert
problemsolverhas,whichusuallyhasbeendevelopedwithoutconsciousefforts,
however,whichcanbetrained,too.

Anotherimportantthingtorememberwhensolvingphysicsproblemsisthatin
physicsweNEVERcansolveanyrealworldproblem,becauseallrealworld
problemsaresimplytoocomplicated(becauseintherealworldeverythingis
connectedtoeverythingandthenumberofconnectionsishuge)!Wealwaysmust
makesomesimplifications,someassumptions,whichmakethesituationdescribed
inaproblembeingmanageable.Insteadofactualobjectsweuseidealizations,i.e.
abstractobjects,whichdonotexistinnaturebuthavethesameimportantproperties
astherealobjectsinaproblem.Forexample,wedonotdrawtheEarthtoscale
keepingitsexactshapewithalltheoceansandcontinents,wejustdrawacircle.
Whensolvingaproblem,itisimportanttomakeaclearstatementandkeeptrackof
theassumptionswhichhavebeenmade,because(a)oursolutionislimitedbythese
assumptions,and(b)ifsomethinggoeswrong,maybeitisbecauseoneofour
assumptionswasincorrectandwehavetorethinkthem.

Sincewedonotdealwiththeactualworld,butratherwithanimaginaryworld
which,inaway,isareflectionoftheactualworld,havingagoodimaginationisas
usefulasbeinggoodatmath.

Physicsstudieswhathappenstotheobjectsaroundusandwhy.Someobjectsare
huge,sometiny,someveryfast,somenotmovingatall.Weuseaspecificlanguage
tonamephysicalobjects(usingnouns),todescribetheirproperties(using

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adjectives),tonameprocesseshappeningtotheobjects(usingverbs)andto
describethepropertiesoftheprocesses(usingadverbs).Anytextbookgivesa
sufficientdescriptionofthatlanguageandhowtoapplyiffordescribingthe
physicalworld.Ifyouneedtosolveaproblemandnotsurehowtostart,atleastyou
canstartlookingfornouns(atleastsomeofthemdescribeimportantobjects),and
verbs(atleastsomeofthemdescribeimportantprocesses),andthendrawapicture
whichwouldshowthoseobjectsandillustratethoseprocessesitisalwaysagood
startingpoint.
Almosteverywordwehavetousetoanalyzethesituationdescribedinaproblem
hasaveryspecificmeaningandeveryonemustknowthatmeaningexactly/literally
usuallywecallsuchspecialwords/termsasphysicalquantitiesanduseletters(a.c.a.
variables)forashortrepresentationofthosequantities.Asentencewhichdescribe
thatmeaningisadefinitionofaquantitywehavetoknowallimportant
definitions.Laterweusethesesquantitiesinequationswewrite.Eachequation
representsaspecificconnectionbetweenquantities/variables.

Physicists,asallscientists,arealwayslookingforpatterns(lookingforpatternsisa
jobdescriptionofascientist).Apatternisaprocesswhichrepeatsitself(aslongas
wedonotdrasticallychangetheconditionsofthehappeningphenomenon).When
wefindapattern(mighttakeawhiletoprovethatitisactuallyaregularpatternof
nature),wecallitalaw.Weuselawstopredictwhatmighthappenundercertain
circumstancesandtobuilddevises,whichwewanttouseforourpurposes.Ideally,
alawshouldbewritteninamathematicalform,i.e.asanequation,sowecoulduse
mathtoderiveourpredictions.Inphysicsthereareonlytwofundamentalkindsof
equations:everyimportantequationinphysicsisetheradefinitionoralaw.A
definitionisbasicallyanagreementbetweenallthephysicistsintheworldonthe
meaningofaquantity/variable.Definitionscomemostlyfromobservationsofthe
phenomenahappeningtoobjects.Inphysics,alawisawellestablished
mathematicalconnectionbetweenquantities/variables(previouslydefined)laws
comefromexperimentsspecificallydesignedtotestthoselawswhentheyhavenot
beencalledalawyet,butjustahypothesis.

Ofcourse,therearealsomanyadditionalrelationshipswhicharederivedfromlaws
anddefinitionsbyalgebraicmanipulations,whichalsomightbeveryusefulwhen
solvingproblems(memorizingthoserelationshipmightsavevaluablesecondsonan
exam).

So,wereadatextofaproblem,translatethetextintoscientificlanguage,usea
visualrepresentationofwhatishappeningtotheobjects,listimportantquantities
neededtodescribepropertiesofobjectsandprocesses,recognizepatterns,and
basedonallthoseindicatorsconcludeontowhichclassoftheproblemsthis
particularproblembelongs(i.e.namingthemodel).Assoonaswenamedthemodel
wecanstartwritingequationsrelatedtothatmodel(becausethesameequations

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helpedinthepasttosolveasimilarproblem).Thenandonlythenwecanstart
manipulatingwiththelawsanddefinitionstryingtocreateasolutiontoaproblem,
andwecanreflectonourwayofthinkingandmakeacorrection(ifneeded),and
afterpracticingindoingallthisforasignificantperiodoftimewebecomeexperts
insolvingphysicsproblem.Simple!

Letsprovideashortexampleofthinkingasaphysicists.Letssay,weneedtofind
thespeedofameteorologicalsatellitewhichisorbitingtheEarth.Atfirstwe
recognizeinthisproblemthefollowingsituation:therearetwoobjects(theEarth
andasatellite),weassumethatthereisonlyoneimportantinteractioninthesystem,
i.e.theobjectsinteractwitheachotheronlyviagravitationalattraction,theEarthis
notmoving(anotherassumption),thesatellitemakesacircularmotionwiththe
Earthatthecenterofthecircle(anotherassumption).
Keyconceptsforrecognizingthephysicalsituationdescribedintheproblemare
gravitationalattractionandcircularmotion.Weknow,thatattractionisakind
ofinteractionsandinteractionsgiverisetoforces,andforcesarerelatedtomotion
ofobjectsviatheNewtonssecondlaw.Wealsoknowthatforanobjectmakinga
circularmotiontherearespecificrelationshipsbetweenitskinematicalvariables
(forexample,speed,acceleration,radius).Thisinformationisalreadyenoughto
startconstructingthesolution.Wecandrawapicture,wecanwritetheequations
wehavementioned,andstartmanipulatingwiththeequationsuntilwegeta
relationshipbetweenthespeedofthesatelliteandotherimportantparametersofthe
problem.Ifwegotit,wearedone,ifnot,westartlookingforamissinglinkorfora
mistakeinourpreviousreasoning.

Goodluck!

ValentinVoroshilov

P.S.
Inshort,wecanlistsevenstepsofascientificwayofthinking(developedin
physicsusedineveryscience!)
1.Seeing(orimagining)things=objects.Namingimportantobjects.
2.Listingimportantpropertiesofimportantobjects.
3.Seeingchanges=processes.Namingimportantprocesses.
4.Listingimportantpropertiesofimportantprocesses.
5.Describingvariouspropertiesusingvariousparameters.Describing
variousstatesandchangesusingvaluesvariousparameters.
6.Statingimportantpatterns(i.e.wellestablishedconnectionsbetween

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importantentitiesa.k.a.laws).
7.Usingimportantpatternstoestablishthecorrectsequenceofevents(an
algorithm,asolution).
Also,followthislinkto:AGeneralAlgorithmforCreatingaSolutiontoa
PhysicsProblem
http://teachology.xyz/general_algorithm.htm
P.P.S.

Manyofstudentstakingmycoursesarepremedstudents.

Forthosestudentstheimportanceoftakingaphysicscourseisfarbeyondgetting
preparedforaMCAT(infact,aMCATisamorecomplicatedexamthananyofthe
elementaryphysicsexams).Fornotphysicsmajorstudentsthemostimportant
outcomefromstudyphysicsisassessingtheirownpersonalabilitiestoguidetheir
ownthinkingprocesswhensolvingaproblem(anyproblem,forexample,
diagnosingapatient).

Takingaphysicscourse Becomingaphysician
Whenstudyphysicsstudentshaveto Tobecomeadoctorstudentshavetomemoriz
memorizesomedefinitionsandlaws. stuff(waymorethanwhentakingphysicscou
examplenamesofallmussels,bones,diseases
treatments.
Whensolvingphysicsproblemstudentshave Adoctorhastorecognizeadisease,i.e.make
torecognizetheunderlingmodel.
Forsolvingphysicsproblemstudentshaveto Adoctorhastoformulatethecourse
formulatethesequenceofstepsleadingtothe treatingadisease.
solution.
Iftheproposedsolutionofaproblemdidnot Ifthetreatmentdidnotworkadoctorhastore
work,astudenthastoreflectontheownwork possiblereasonsforthatandtoofferacorrecti
andtomakeacorrection,andtotryanew
approach.

Iamabsolutelysureoftheexistenceofadirectcorrelationbetweenanabilityofa
persontolearnelementaryphysicsandtheabilityofthatpersontotreatpeople(or,
forthatmatter,todoanyhighlyintelligentworkIwouldlovetoteachaone
semesterphysicscourseforbusinessmajorsorpoliticians).Iwouldnotlikevery
muchifmyphysician(aswellasmyfinancialadviser,orarepresentative)hadless
thanAforthetakenelementaryphysicscourse.

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P.S.AwhileagoIsentapolishedandextendedversionofthisarticletoThe
PhysicsTeachermagazine.Themagazineinformedme(a)thatthismanuscript
doesnotdrawuponthevastliteratureonthissubject(whichmeans,therearenot
enoughcitationsprobably,becauseitmainlydrawsuponreflectionofmy
professionalexperience),and(b)itisnotdirectedatteachersofintroductory
physics(Istillcannotunderstand,ifteachersofintroductoryphysicsdonotneedto
mullonWhatdoesthinkingasaphysicistmean?,whowouldfromthe
pointofviewofthereviewerbeinterestedinthistopic?),butthegoodthingisI
didnothaveanycritiqueofthecontent.

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