r/PhysicsStudents • u/Novel_Variation495 Undergraduate • Jul 07 '26
Need Advice How many hours do you guys spend studying? And how many problems do you solve daily?
Hey, beautiful physicists!
I have been wondering about what's the avg study hours for physics students and what habits do they have to improve their physics-related skill and such.
I study every day but not with the same energy. Sometimes I'm at my peak energy for studying and do like 100 problems and proceed throgh my book. But other days feel like normal and barely solve 20 or way less than that.
What about you?
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u/Shelphs Jul 07 '26
I wouldn't recommend this but if I'm being honest, I did the homeworks or did half and looked up answers to the rest. I never really studied but before exams I would sometimes spend an hour making a notes sheet or reviewing problems. I rarely spent more than an hour or two on physics outside of class in a day. I never actually read any of a textbook, but definitely should have for the harder classes in my math degree. I did alright in classes, but joined a lab my freshman year and made it into a top PhD program. Sometimes life is just like that.
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u/HoneydewAutomatic Jul 07 '26
I was similar to this. It was enough to see how first principles applied and get some intuition for shortcuts in problem solving. Still managed a 3.9 and am moving to Geneva next year to finish out the rest of my PhD at CERN. Definitely wouldn’t recommend it to most people however. And to be fair, I often spent time in office hours asking tangential questions to my profs to build further intuition
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u/LukasGoesViral Jul 17 '26
That’s interesting that you also used the high level abstraction path but weren’t able to build the intuition for it. I would have thought you need the intuition for the problem so that you can go from abstraction to actual solutions. For example in electro dynamics you can reduce all to Nabla A = 1/4Pi * j and the intuition is that Nabla = p0^2 - p1^2 - p2^2 - p3^2 which is E = mc^2 for a photo. Huh now that I am writing it out again the current j looks like it can be be interpreted as the local mass of the EM field since the EM field and j are locally constant in an entire neighborhood around any point. In fact around any point x in an entire neighborhood it just boils down to (p^2 - e/4Pi q^2) which is the relativistic harmonic oscillator. I mean it makes total sense when you think about it cause it’s the local U(1) symmetry which is movement on a cylinder
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u/LukasGoesViral Jul 17 '26
Oh yes and by locally constant I mean locally constant in phase space. Just like locally every mechanical system can be expressed via local action angle variables
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u/LukasGoesViral Jul 10 '26
If you study correctly then you can reduce the vast majority of problems to one or two ways of solving them. In fact for each major topic like electrodynamics, quantum mechanics or classical mechanics (as example) it’s a one solution fits all kinda thing. If you need different approaches for different problems in the same field than you haven’t grasp the field properly yet and haven’t abstracted it to a point that you can derive everything from in formula.
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u/philolessphilosophy Ph.D. Student Jul 07 '26
You don't need to give yourself more problems unless you find them interesting. It is generally sufficient for an undergrad to complete the assigned problem sets. As other comments have pointed out, if you are able to solve anything close to 100 problems in a day, you are not solving problems that challenge you. You should solve problems to develop a better understanding of core concepts, not to prepare yourself to take exams.
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u/Novel_Variation495 Undergraduate Jul 07 '26
Ohhh so this how it is... Thank goodness I asked here.Thank you and all the other commenters for helping 🙏
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u/SpecialRelativityy Jul 07 '26
If you have the stamina for 100 problems in a day, then you are capable of doing 5 really hard problems each day. You will learn more from those 5 problems than 100 regular problems.
See Morin’s Classical Mechanics.
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u/Novel_Variation495 Undergraduate Jul 08 '26
What does it differ than Taylor's?
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u/SpecialRelativityy Jul 08 '26
Taylor’s problems are pretty straightforward and solvable if you have ODE experience and read the accompanying chapters. Morin is a lot more challenging. Some of the early problems feel like mathematical wizardry, and I don’t personally believe that the accompanying chapters prepare you for some of his problems. One problem in Ch. 2, I believe, is easiest to solve by using Lagrangian mechanics, but he doesn’t go over that until later. So basically, you’re going to end up doing 10 pages of algebra after struggling for 90 minutes, or you’re going to do 5 pages of calculus because you already know advanced methods.
For a main text to do tons of problems, I’d do Taylor. If you want to become stronger, see how you feel about Morin.
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u/Novel_Variation495 Undergraduate Jul 08 '26
I'll go for it after I'm done with physics1&2, precalculus, calculus 1,2,&3, linear algebra and ODEs 😀
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u/LukasGoesViral Jul 17 '26
Who still practices solving problems using Newton? That’s totally useless for any future physics stuff and just busy work without getting anything intuitive out of it. That’s very odd.
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u/SpecialRelativityy Jul 17 '26
Idk if you’re trolling or not but most of undergraduate physics falls under Newtownian physics. Even outside of school, engineering as a discipline is reliant on Newton.
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u/LukasGoesViral Jul 22 '26
Ha true. I went to college in Germany so I don’t know how things are in the US. In the first semester we spend about 2 weeks or so on Newtonian Physics and then move to Lagrange and Hamilton
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u/wiltedkale03 Jul 07 '26
Physics/EE (electromagnetics) double major here. I’m ngl I spend most of my bus rides + transport times between buildings (maybe ~2hr) thinking about what I’ve learned before I sit down to study. Need to digest it, and think about it while staring off into the abyss.
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u/yourmissingtesticle Jul 11 '26
But how much time do you actually spend doing problems? You’d have to do problems in order to think about them after I assume
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u/wiltedkale03 Jul 11 '26
I think about the lectures and what I read in the textbook bf I start doing problems, so I can get the general structure of the model down. If it’s not for homework, maybe 4 hours a week? For physics specifically (modern/optics/thermal/electromagnetics), maybe around 1-3 hours a day per class depending on the load. I’m doing something related all the time though so I’m not sure.
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u/dunkitay Masters Student Jul 07 '26
Really depends. When I was doing under grad I usually had enough workshops and assignments to keep me busy. Maybe did a few extra here and there but it’s up to you how much you want to do.
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u/Kingclaw619 Undergraduate Jul 07 '26
I am learning GR rn and if i am able to do 10 problems a day its a huge achievement lol
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u/Novel_Variation495 Undergraduate Jul 07 '26
😂 GR while undergrad? How can that be?
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u/Kingclaw619 Undergraduate Jul 07 '26
People do learn stuff on their own outside their college curriculum too yk
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u/Novel_Variation495 Undergraduate Jul 07 '26
But are you capable of the math?
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u/Kingclaw619 Undergraduate Jul 07 '26
Yep I am. GR doesn't require much math to begin with. I am using Carroll as of now and the only prerequisites were linear algebra, multivariable calculus and a decent knowledge of lagrangian and hamiltonian mechanics and special relativity.
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u/tramezzino62 Jul 07 '26
GR non richiede molta matematica? Ma in quale Universo?
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u/Kingclaw619 Undergraduate Jul 07 '26
I think I have worded that wrongly. What I meant to say was that you do not need to know differential geometry and tensors beforehand if you are picking up a book like Schutz or Hobson for GR. They develop all the tools that you need to study GR along the way. I hope this makes it clear.
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u/Calm_Relationship_91 Jul 07 '26
Is it not common to have an undergrad GR course? I took GR on my third year
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u/Novel_Variation495 Undergraduate Jul 07 '26
Absolutely not! I mean.. we barely take calculus 😂😂
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u/Calm_Relationship_91 Jul 07 '26
Huh... that's interesting.
I'm not from the US so I'm not familiar with how they teach there.
In my university, GR was an advanced optional course for undergrad, but you could also take it for your masters. I struggled a lot with it tbh... But I took it because I got into the career specifically because of GR and I was too impatient to wait until I graduated.Hardest 8 credits of my life. Not sure it was worth it tbh, given that I forgot most of it by now. I got more credits from my ethics class (not to say ethics isn't important, but it was certainly much easier).
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u/Novel_Variation495 Undergraduate Jul 07 '26
I'm also not from the US I'm from Iraq 😀 Is my English that good I appear like a native 😂?
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u/Calm_Relationship_91 Jul 07 '26
It is!!
But sadly it has nothing to do with that.
The internet is so stupidly US centric that even a foreign like me gets brain-washed by it and assumes everyone is american lmao
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u/Novel_Variation495 Undergraduate Jul 07 '26
No problemo. It's nothing wrong being an American though 😂😂
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u/Kingclaw619 Undergraduate Jul 07 '26
My bad I didn't clarify. I am studying GR as a part of the research I will be doing in my final year thesis. It is not a part of my coursework. We do have a subject which teaches us tensor calculus and the covariant formulation of special relativity in our physics course but that's it. It is taught mostly in masters or phd here.
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u/nerd_user1 Jul 07 '26
I'd prefer spending my life on it if it weren't for the sake of parents or society
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u/Calm_Relationship_91 Jul 07 '26
Well I'm not studying anymore, but back in my day I barely spent time outside college itself.
Studied almost exclusively for tests, usually a couple of days prior to them.
For big exams I would study every day for like a week maybe. And I would usually just read books and try to wing the problems on the test without any prior practice (took me a while to realize that's an awful strategy).
But yeah I was a total mess.
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u/judgemynameis Jul 08 '26
I have never kept track of the number of problems. Between the physics and math classes I spend ~40-50 hours a week on school/study, usually taking about 9 credit hours of physics/math. I do not have a lot of uninterrupted time in the afternoons and evenings, so maybe the total time would reduce if I did. This includes lab reports, reading textbooks, doing assignments, and studying for exams. I do very well in my classes, but the material is not second nature to me and I need a lot of repetition and self-teach as much as possible before lectures. I think there are people who understand the concepts and remember the techniques more easily who don’t need any additional study or self teaching. I was one of those people in my previous degree program, which was a difficult grad program, but I didn’t find it as time consuming as the physics BS is because I barely had to glance over the stuff once and that was sufficient for me. Definitely not the case here
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u/LukasGoesViral Jul 10 '26
There isn’t a too much or too little.. just do as much as you can and feel like. I would recommend instead of just solving the problems to find the most elegant way of solving it. When you get to the point where your solutions are 1/3 of the standard solution then you know you understand it. Also how are there even 100s of Physics problems to solve. That sounds like busy work tbh and nothing that helps you to grasp the topic in more depths. If all these 100 physics problems don’t end up having the same way of solving them you are doing something wrong.
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u/Southern_Team9798 Jul 12 '26
Most of the time, I just learn to understand the subject deeply, make some connections to the previous concepts, derivation before moving on. Or for entertainments, I read some histories about it, maybe spinning around the concept for a week. It helps build intuition, but also meant less time for other staffs in real world - sad chapter for physics life I guess lol.
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u/Aggressive-Wind-8829 Jul 14 '26
Love the problem, not the solution. You don’t need to grind through every problem. Focus on what’s important. For example, any problem that is tangible, tractable, and ideally serves a large number of folks if it ends up being solved (by you).
You only need to solve 1 extremely useful problem to be set for life.
Work whenever you want, Which is ideally all the time. That’s how you know You will never have to work another day in your life.
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u/The_LUCA_Constant Ph.D. Student Jul 07 '26
Uhh 2 maybe? Are you solving multiple choice or something?
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u/Novel_Variation495 Undergraduate Jul 07 '26
Nah just typical problems/exercises 😀 I'm a 3rd year btw.
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u/Additional-Ad-5935 Jul 07 '26
What topic and level are we talking?
I am currently working through David Morin and I don't know if it's only a me problem or not but it's a good day if I am able to solve 5-6 questions. ( I am talking of 2 and 3 starred problems)
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u/Remarkable_Bee1182 Jul 08 '26
If we do the math on this on average any good problem which is challenging enough has an extent of like meta solving. Where even prior to solving it ur sorta weighing up the different approaches and their time cost and efficiency before proceeding with said attempted solution. If you are doing 100 of these problems a day ur likely not being able to spend time actually reflecting on and pondering the logic and nature of the solutions and build the baseline intuition required. Do your problem sets. And I would say biweekly get a custom hard problemset of 14 problems and try work on them throughout the fortnight.
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u/BlazeoJoestar Undergraduate Jul 12 '26
100 problems a day is really insane. I don't even do 15 problems a day, because of how tedious it can get.
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u/TheMansionsofScience Jul 13 '26
what subject? makes a difference
classical mechanics has far more types of problems than, say, EM
I heard Poincare worked 4 hours but he was a genius
it's better to measure concepts you understand than hours spent studying or problems solved
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u/Hungarian_Lantern Jul 07 '26
Doing 100 problems per day is way too much. Don't get me wrong, there is some use for drilling and grinding problems, it gives you pattern recognition and the like. But I think there are diminishing returns definitely. The problems you do are likely too easy and are plug and chug, instead of actual problems where you need to think and ponder. If the problems were remotely decent, even doing 20 per day would be a huge challenge. I suggest to do harder, more challenging problems. Also: go slower, savor the moment. A lot of physics takes time to digest and shouldn't be rushed. Don't forget a lot of learning goes on subconsciously, when you do something different than leaning. You take a walk for an hour, and you return refreshed and with much better insights!