1

I am a 15-year-old high-school student. I love physics and I have studied some academical physics books such as the book by David Halliday. I was looking to continue self-studying physics on my own and I was looking to get a complete path on how to self-study undergrad physics. Including what subjects should I study, what books should I read, etc. Please keep in mind that I am self-studying. I appreciate if suggestions are based more on books and lecture notes than videos. Thanks.

Haris
  • 702
MMD
  • 11
  • 4
    I’m voting to close this question because it is about study advice, not physics as a natural science. For resource recommendations for specific topics, you might be interested in the questions tagged [tag:resource-recommendation]. – ACuriousMind Jan 26 '23 at 12:25
  • Tipler is one book that gives an easy overview about just about everything – rfl Jan 26 '23 at 12:56

1 Answers1

5

It's great to have a future physicist demonstrating his passion to start a rewarding learning endeavor here

  1. To start, you must have a solid foundation in calculus. You will need to be comfortable with concepts such as derivatives, integrals, and multivariable calculus in order to understand many of the concepts in physics. the resource you'll need is https://math24.net/topics-precalculus.html As we know that you must practice the maths to fully understand it. Math24 offers good quantity and quality problems and examples to practice.

  2. Then you can start to learn about classical mechanics. A good textbook for this is "University Physics" by Francis Sears and Mark Zemansky. This book covers all the fundamental concepts of mechanics, including Newton's laws of motion, conservation of energy and momentum, and rotational motion. https://physica.cloud/ajab/uploads/2018/10/Hugh-D.-Young-Roger-A.-Freedman-A.-Lewis-Ford-University-Physics-with-Modern-Physics-with-MasteringPhysics%C2%AE-13th-Edition-Addison-Wesley-2011.pdf

  3. Then you're all set to move on to electromagnetism. A good textbook for this is "Introduction to Electrodynamics" by David Griffiths. This book covers topics such as electric and magnetic fields, potentials, and Maxwell's equations. A very good website for brief visual introduction to essential branches of physics is https://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/mechanics/chapter1_constantacceleration.html Scroll through mechanics, waves, and light.

  4. After electromagnetism, move on to quantum mechanics. The book "Principles of Quantum Mechanics" by R. Shankar covers wave-particle duality, the Schrodinger equation, and quantum states.

  5. Finally, study thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. The book "Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics" by Herbert B. Callen. covers the laws of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and their applications in physics.

Want to get deep understanding of concepts but can't do experiments? Colorado university has provided simulations of wide range of topics in science here. Play with different parameters and components here

https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/browse

enter image description here

Self-studying physics can be a challenging task, feel free to reach out to PSE for help when you need it. And good luck on your journey!

Haris
  • 702
  • 1
    +1. Only I knew that how happy I am after seeing that experiment simulation site. I was looking for such a site for past 3 months ! – An_Elephant Jan 26 '23 at 17:32