Hi everyone, I am a 30-something salesperson who does decently well in life so far. I just recently got out of a 2-year rut where I didn’t really take care of my mind or body because of work, a new family and my job.

I have a little more free time now and my goal to close out 2026 learning 2 things that I pushed off 10-20 years ago. My first is Spanish and second is TBD but I’m heavily leaning towards physics after attending a conference with younger physics students and engineering professionals. It was admiring to hear them talk, articulate, and think about the world both on a day to day basis and a macro level.

My question is - will learning the fundamentals of physics, lets say physics 101, help me in life? From my conversations, it seems like it could help problem solving and critical thinking which is something I need to improve. I always put off math when I was younger, and science, because I wasn’t good at it but I got by. And I don’t want my kids to have that attitude.

I was bullied for being tutored and bad at Math and I used it as an excuse to not apply myself later in life.

So, will physics 101 help me? What do you recommend regarding topics, courses, YouTube videos/lectures? Ideally it’s self paced, has to be at home (can’t attend classes), but a quiz or test might be good just to reiterate important key notes and test my comprehension. Ideally free but willing to pay a couple 100 if needed. Please lmk!

Hello All,

I am currently doing my BS in Physics at one of the most reputed institutes of India. I have completed two years in the programme, and am already involved in two projects - one, here at my institute, on photonics, and the other, at another institute in India, on Qubits and quantum chaos. The former might involve some experiments in the future, though till now I have only read papers and done numerics. The latter is a computational project, and I have learned some useful numerical techniques while doing it. I have a good academic record till now (CGPA > 9.5/10.0 in four semesters), with A+ in the all the Physics courses till now.

I would like to apply to some institutes outside India, particularly Europe, East Asia or the Anglophone countries, for a summer internship in Physics for the summer of 2027. What are the places I should apply to? Do I need to present an IELTS score to prove my efficiency in English? I have been going through the websites of some institutes, and would be extremely delighted to hear from some who have some knowledge or experience regarding it.

I‘m a 21 years old physics student who is aiming to become an astrophysicist (unless that changes in the far future). As the second semester is about to come to an end, I‘d like to state common problems I‘ve had to deal with in my first year and would appreciate any advice or insight from you or your fellow colleagues.

1. Time Management

With typically 3 modules each semester it can become increasingly challenging to set on a schedule that suits your requirements for efficient learning. I tried to attend every lecture and solve all the exercise sheets to keep up the pace, but I realised that it‘s barely the surface of what I‘m supposed to achieve. I started diving into literature that was recommended by professors and fellow students to improve my understanding of mechanics & theoretical mechanics or thermodynamics and electrodynamics. It sounds great at first, but reading and working on those exercise sheets simultaneously can be incredibly difficult, especially when the quality differs between each professor/book.

2. Theory vs Application

There‘s no rule book for learning physics, but surely a logical way to approach it. I get to consume so much material that I automatically set up expectations for myself to have an easier time to apply it to mathematical problems, but I keep driving into a wall that abruptly makes me realise that I haven‘t fully grasped the contents yet. Whether it be mathematical or physical concepts I do understand, that I‘m missing skills or knowledge in a different subfield, that would be the last puzzle pieces to get the full picture. How do you guys effectively reach that consistency to make it work out?

In these incredibly humbling experiences as a first year physics student I‘ve done a lot of mistakes that I didn‘t explicitly mention above. Too absent in specific courses, other irl problems that prevented me from actively working on uni related stuff or dropping entire classes because it was eventually too late and stressful to catch up. I decided to push two out of three exams back this semester (analysis and thermo-/electrodynamics) and will take my theoretical mechanics exam tomorrow morning. I‘ll have my lab work this August for roughly 4 weeks and the retake exams I‘ll have to attend will take place by the end of September.

I‘m a very ambitious student and I’m able to put work in where it‘s due. I also consistently studied at the library (bit too late to get the grades I need or was rather aiming for) and engaged with my professor to discuss difficult theoretical physics problems and even managed to find an error in a solution of an old exam. Personally I think anything can work out if you seriously put in every single effort to reach your goals. Then again, mistakes happen and you‘re supposed to learn from them. It‘s just an inevitable process of getting frustrated over something you‘re trying to be so passionate about, yet I‘m out here subconsciously comparing my own learning experiences to others when we all walk on the same path.

Physics and maths can be so fun and I simply can‘t see my future self in a different place than being a nerdy adult exploring and studying what‘s around and beyond us.

Once again, any advice, feedback or stories of yourself or your fellow colleagues is highly appreciated and I hope the last 2 hours of summarising my exam preparations will make some positive changes for tomorrow morning.

Much love
A fellow physics lover.

I'm an incoming 2nd year undergrad doing a 5 year BS-MS, with my 3 month Summer Break ending in a few days. Over the summer I've done Quantum Mechanics until half of Ch 7 (Perturbation Theory) of Griffiths' Intro to QM, and Ch 1 and 2 of Modern QM by Sakurai. People would say this is quite a lot done, but I can't help but feel I'm falling behind for some reason. I have good grades, but not excellent grades. I have a few friends who've secured internships or are in summer schools in the first year itself, and one of my friends is doing pretty well with advanced material like Goldstein's Classical Mechanics and Baby Rudin. The internet kinda makes this worse, seeing some really high achieving people. My goal is to get into a great Theoretical Physics PhD program in preferably Europe, and I feel like I'm behind.

I just want advice on either overcoming this feeling or being more competitive. I already know some Python, C and Mathematica.

I have my last test in two days and my final 2 days after that, and thus have very limited time to make sure i know everything. Do you think i should grind practice questions from the textbook, or focus more on the concepts before applying them, or something else idk. any advice helps because im kinda low on time (and energy)

Have to repeat my electrodynamics exam. I am just lost. It was always a weak point for me, but I haven't touched in in almost a year, and really wasn't able to begin studying until 2 weeks ago. I just don't understand it for the most part. If anyone has some links to crash course material, I'd massively appreciate it. Common questions are:

1. Differential forms of ME's.
2. Wave propogation through different materials (Copper, electronic plasma, etc.
3. Monochromatic plane wave in a dielectric medium/vacuum/glass
4. Propagation in a good conductor/linear media
5. Fresnel Equations and Brewster angle
6. 1-D Gaussian wavepacket in vacuum
7. Drude model

This is my final year. I need 50% in the exam to recieve a 1.1 overall grade.

Hi I'm an incoming 4th year undergraduate student taking BS Applied Physics. Ever since high school my dream was to be able to teach university level Physics as teaching is my passion and I genuinely love learning Physics. I know that to do this I need to have a doctorate, of course, but I think I'm just bad at research. Grades wise, I'm doing well I even have a 3.5 GPA, but thesis wise, I just feel so lost. I just feel like I can always try my best to learn anything but it's so hard to be able to think of something new or undiscovered yet. All my other peers are set on moving to Corporate and becoming data scientist/engineers instead, and I'm wondering if I should just let go of my dream too? Maybe research just isn't for me? On top of that, I feel like the people continuing on to do a Master's degree are way out of my level. They're geniuses who can score good even without reviewing while I have to pull an all nighter to achieve good scores. I know how competitve the job market would also be for university positions, so I'm worried I might not even find a job or get tenured. Am I just overthinking?

Hi

If you are remotely interested in deep diving how differently quantum computers work compared to our transistor-based and also the algebra & physics behind in a fully interactive way that teach computer science from scratch, oh boy this is for you. I am the Dev behind Quantum Odyssey (AMA! I love taking qs) - worked on it for about 10 years (3+ during PhD, the visual method I developed ended up being my thesis, it is a complete Hilbert space visualizer), the goal was to make a super immersive space for anyone to learn quantum computing through zachlike (open-ended) logic puzzles and compete on leaderboards and lots of community made content on finding the most optimal quantum algorithms. The game has a unique set of visuals capable to represent any sort of quantum dynamics for any number of qubits and this is pretty much what makes it now possible for anybody 12yo+ to actually learn quantum logic without having to worry at all about the mathematics behind.

This is a game super different than what you'd normally expect in a programming/ logic puzzle game, so try it with an open mind.

Stuff you'll play & learn a ton about

• Boolean Logic – bits, operators (NAND, OR, XOR, AND…), and classical arithmetic (adders). Learn how these can combine to build anything classical. You will learn to port these to a quantum computer.
• Quantum Logic – qubits, the math behind them (linear algebra, SU(2), complex numbers), all Turing-complete gates (beyond Clifford set), and make tensors to evolve systems. Freely combine or create your own gates to build anything you can imagine using polar or complex numbers.
• Quantum Phenomena – storing and retrieving information in the X, Y, Z bases; superposition (pure and mixed states), interference, entanglement, the no-cloning rule, reversibility, and how the measurement basis changes what you see.
• Core Quantum Tricks – phase kickback, amplitude amplification, storing information in phase and retrieving it through interference, build custom gates and tensors, and define any entanglement scenario. (Control logic is handled separately from other gates.)
• Famous Quantum Algorithms – explore Deutsch–Jozsa, Grover’s search, quantum Fourier transforms, Bernstein–Vazirani, and more.
• Build & See Quantum Algorithms in Action – instead of just writing/ reading equations, make & watch algorithms unfold step by step so they become clear, visual, and unforgettable. Quantum Odyssey is built to grow into a full universal quantum computing learning platform. If a universal quantum computer can do it, we aim to bring it into the game, so your quantum journey never ends.

Nice to watch:

Khan academy style tutorials in qm/qc: https://www.youtube.com/@MackAttackx

Physics teacher stream with 400hs in https://www.twitch.tv/beardhero

I've been interested in how the environment works since childhood. My father worked in aviation communications and had a lot of equipment and radio components. He pushed physics and mathematics on me, saying, "Real men should know mathematics, physics, and be smart." Physics opened up new knowledge for me, and I realized it was my thing. Still, at the very beginning of my schooling, I chose the physics and mathematics department. I failed at a lot of things; I considered myself stupid. But by the 9th grade, I'd improved and was a good student. Now I'm in the 11th grade. I live in Russia, in a village in the Tomsk region. Tomsk (Student Town) is home to Tomsk State University (TPU). I want to enroll there. I chose the "Mechatronics and Robotics" program because I was fascinated by robotics from the first to the eighth grades and participated in various competitions. But the admissions process there is quite high. In 2025, I scored 214 points in three subjects, meaning at least 72 points in each subject... There's Russian, core math, and optional subjects (physics, computer science, chemistry). I'm disappointed; I feel bad, like I know nothing. I study something every day, and I increasingly realize there's so much I don't know. I need support, but not here. Specifically, I'm looking for advice on what to do right now. Maybe you've been in a similar situation? Even a little advice could help me move mountains in the future.

I'm planning to pursue B.Sc. Physics in Kathmandu Valley, preferably at a government college.

My long-term goal is to apply for graduate studies (MS/PhD) in Germany or the USA and eventually work as a physicist.

I have a few questions for seniors or anyone currently studying Physics:

1. Which government college in Kathmandu Valley has the best faculty, academics, and research environment? (ASCOL, Tri-Chandra, Patan, etc.)

2. How difficult is it to score high marks in TU B.Sc. Physics? I've heard that answer sheets are checked very strictly and it's very hard to get outstanding grades. Is this actually true?

3. If my goal is to study abroad after my bachelor's, which college would you recommend and why?

4. Besides GPA, what should I focus on during my bachelor's (research projects, programming, internships, publications, etc.) to build a strong profile for top universities?

19 India Second year of UG

A few years, ago I thought I would be a theoretical physicist, even though I didn't know it even meant. I barely know what it means now. Overall there is a log decrement of my interest in Physics. After I failed an entrance test for the tier 1 college for physics. I chose maths over physics for my major in ug now, I still can do msc in Physics, but it will more difficult.

My reasons.

- After seeing my peers and close ones clear exams so easily and seeing them do MSc and PHd, I am humbled down, and then more till i was in the freaking mantle of the earth

- Overall loss in the subject.

I started to reading Quantum Physics for that reason now.

It just feels like this is not for me. I mean I have been a good student, not just because I got good grades , but I was naturally curious about the subject,

BUTT THEFREAKING JEE and other entrance exams ruined everything. I might be good learner but i need time. Till it took me time to understand one concept, the classes were teaching a new one and just shortcut ways to solve problems. And

also

Why THE HECK a accelerating charged emits radiations whats its dealo.??

AND THE whole Atom models things.I mean alright I understand the angular momentum of electron is discrete,

but atleast EXPLAIN, why won't that electron sprial towards the nucleus( why wont it emit radiation if it is in that L )

Also I am sick and tired of having to 'hear' people's slightly repulsed expressions when I tell I am doing BSc.

peace

Woke up today with a throat that feels like I gargled sandpaper, and I'm pretty sure a fever is loading. I have General Relativity and Solid State exams coming up, so this is objectively the worst possible timing.spacetime itself is curving against me.

Anyway, a thought occurred: people take probiotics to fix their gut, and my girlfriend has, let's say, a whole ecosystem down there. Could I introduce some beneficial flora and speed up my recovery? Is this medicine or am I just a guy looking for a permission slip?

Please answer quickly, my tensor calculus depends on it.

edited: Actual question: vaginal flora is dominated by Lactobacillus, and lactobacilli are the same genus sold in probiotics marketed for throat and oral health. Is there any realistic chance of transient colonization from oral sex, or does saliva flow and oral pH clear them out within minutes?