i want to become a physicist .. but i suck in math.. should i give up this goal?

Answer 1

Of course not. Learning math takes a lot of hard work and practice. Some people are naturally better at it than others but that doesn't mean that you are doomed to fail if you are not one of those people. Just keep working at it and practicing and you'll get better. If thats what you want to do, you should do it.

Answer 2

Do not give up your goal. If you REALLY want to become a physicist, you can, but it will be time-consuming.

Maybe you suck in math (your words...), because your teachers have poor teaching technique. I have a math degree and can say from experience that math is not difficult -- it can be fiendishly complex and tricky but not difficult.

That math is tricky and complex is the reason that reaching this goal will take alot of time. I don't know how old you are (and it doesn't matter) but to reach your goal you will need to:

1) work at your studies for 30 to 45 minutes everyday. Every day means every day of the year; as in during the summer vacation between grades until you graduate H.S., then every day until you begin college-level studies, etc. Maybe take major holidays off like Thanksgiving or Independence Day or Memorial Day but that's all.

2) major book stores have study guides for all areas of mathematics. take your work to a bookstore on the weekend and use the study guide first before buying it.
2a) city libraries have lots of similar resources, plus it's possible you'll meet someone else there with the same goal as you.

3) ask your teacher if s/he can spend extra time with you after school. if they say 'no', then they're teaching for the wrong reasons.

4) see if you can get together with classmates after school, on weekends, or whenever to see how they're getting through it.

The common thread with all these approaches is: it will take alot of time to do well in math. You will be the best at it if you are willing to spend the most amount of time perfecting it.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Einstein sucked at math. Keep going.

Physics is not necessarily a math, it is a fundamental. Knowing the worlds physical features and how they affect thing, how space affects things and it's physical features.

Einstein, for example... Figured out that the speed of light, c, is the fastest any particle could ever go. With this idea, it was easy to pronounce that the total energy, E, is equal to the substances total mass, times the speed of light squared (Because all time is squared.) The fundamental was not a math to Einstein. This principle is used today, and is only math if you go into physics engineering, where you must give values to the equations.

Short Answer - E = mc^2 didn't take a genius.... Don't give up! Understand your world.

Answer 4

Nope. You need a certain agility at math to be successful. I do share your pain, though. I am also not very good at math, so I can't be a theoretical physicists. I am doing OK with experiment design and the engineering that surrounds much of physics, though. I could also do data analysis, if I had the stamina to work through endless amounts of experimental data. This has less to do with math than with discipline, though. It's not something you want to do if you get bored easily. But the experimental part is great fun!

Answer 5

Math is not taught correctly for certain types of creative visual thinkers. If you have a science mind and can visualize well then try to come up with geometric ways of seeing. Playing Chess helps this ability. If you get to where you can see number relationships then patterns in nature become evident and this is where the physical forces of nature can begin to be seen as logical or concrete expressions of the more abstract science of math. No do not give up a dream for Physics . Math is only a tool help see or express abstract Ideas. So play with math to find hidden art in the patterns in numbers and you will see what I'm driving at . Math is fun If you use shapes to express what most people think is impossible.

Answer 6

You should knuckle down and learn your higher math. There is no way to be a physicist in this era of quantum mechanics unless you can do trigonometry and calculus.

Try reading Richard Feynman's book Six Easy Pieces. That can help you learn how to channel mathematical studies to learn what you need to know.

Answer 7

There is more to physics than math and you should not let that deter you.
You do need to discipline yourself to improve your math skills but that should not be the reason you give up your dream.
From some reading I did about a year ago, even Einstein did not do well in school. But, he had a concept of understanding the forces that make physics work.

Keep at it, keep moving forward, never give up....

Answer 8

You can work very hard in math and still become one. The more you get into physics, the more intense the math will get. Physics probably requires one of the highest understandings of math. However, if you really are passionate about it, just work hard on the math and you'll be fine.

Answer 9

Don't be such a quitter. Just worker harder to become better at math.

Answer 10

no, you shouldn't