"Have you guys seen partial differential equations yet?" Students: "No we're first years" "Ok perfect, I'm just going to embed this variable in a complex number so we easily arrive at the solution! Any questions?"
still remember partial derivatives was thrown around in my first and second year physics, and we didn't get proper introduction until second half (?) of multivariable calculus
@@puddleduck1405 nah, partials are for multivariable calculus when you have to explain that x, y and z exist, and that we are comparing the change in x with the change in y
The painful irony is that Andrew very well might become Larry one day. His students will think, naw Professor Dotson won't do us dirty like that, he made all those old meme sketches. And then they'll cry.
If we assume the learning process is asymmetric with time then when the students travel backwards in time to retake the exam their knowledge should be conserved.
Physics Professors - I want my exams to be significantly harder and more complex than the homeworks because they should see how to apply the physics from the homeworks onto the exam questions. Like if the homework is over solving unique electric potentials using the laplacian, they can definitely solve for Schrodinger's equation of the hydrogen atom.
I avoided a physics class for _precisely_ this reason. I looked up the professor on RMP and everyone complained that the homework didn't prepare you for the exams at all. I really wanted to take the course though, so I emailed the professor to ask about it, in case it was just a minority of students who thought that, but he confirmed that students always tell him that (and yet, he apparently hasn't found it necessary to modify either the homework or the exams), so I'm not taking that class, at least not with him as the professor. Fortunately, I'm an EE major and while the physics class wouldn't satisfied a general math/physics/chem/cs/engineering elective requirement, there are plenty of other courses I can take instead.
@@itisi2042 It is always like that, and (in some sense), it makes perfect sense... The prof assumes we all studied the basic material. Instead, we need to learn to use what we learned in an indirect and creative way. Just plugging numbers in equations is for engineering, not for real physics students.
My professor for I don't know the English term for that lesson he give us a littleral textbook as a formula sheet and if you don't know what are you looking for you are doomed. But the formula sheet is pretty good on other modules I am giving him that
Sadly lol this is the universal STEM professor for any class with a quantitative focus. Literally one of my chemistry professors "I don't understand why it took you all so long, I finished it in about 30 minutes."
Sadly, this is my first native language teacher in High School. We told her that the exam was too hard and she replied with: I was able to finish this 40 minute exam in 30 minutes so you have no reason to complain.
I had a math professor who made his exam three times as long as the homework which he knew took hours to complete and gave us less than 2 hours to complete it. He wouldn't even _tell_ me how long it took him to complete the exam.
@@theamazingone5217 This was my French 3 teacher in high school. Literally DURING the final, she was taking it with us, and went "c'est tres facile"(which means this is very easy in french) and all of us just looked at each other. It was a very hard test.
I'd rather have an easier time performing surgery on a grape than literally memorizing all laplacian derivations of any curviliner coordinates LMAOOOOOOOOOO
And that right there is one of the reasons the educational system keeps producing people that hate math with a passion. I'm sorry you had to experience that.
Professor Variance, you forgot: Reduce the number of questions to 4, but be sure to make each question multiple parts, and make sure that every part of those questions was another loosely related, translated question from the aforementioned German or Russian books 👌
and each consecutive partial question is dependent on arriving at the proper solution of the former. Didn't find a solution to part a) ? Hahaha, b) thru m) is fucked.
This stings even more in remote learning when physics professors are trying to “alleviate stress” by “not having midterms” Instead we just have 4 consecutive timed Canvas quizzes in the span of our 50 minutes class period that’s coincidentally worth 30% of our grade 🤔 But you know... it’s “better” cause it’s “not a midterm.”
I can already guess how that went... 1. It's 2019. 2. So our course legally needs to declare how evaluation goes beforehand. We use midterms worth 30% of the grade. 3. Damn, a pandemic. We barely taught under good conditions. We can't really do midterms, if failing students sue we'd lose that every day of the week. 4. Wait, we have a legally binding document that sais 30% of the score is earned in advance.. If we don't do that failing students could sue and we'd lose that every day of the week. 5. I have a cunning plan that cannot fail: have "not midterms". Pretend like that's actually doing anything. Don't mention the lawsuits. 6. So... Should we change those legal documents? Nah, too much work. That pandemic won't keep on going anyway!
Just received my graduate acceptance today from my university of choice!! Your videos inspired me not to give up on physics when i was near quitting after struggling with my first semester of upper level physics courses, love you Andrew!!
One day you will never forgive him. I know I will never forgive the professor that encouraged me to stick with it. I should have switched to engineering when I had the chance (though I eventually snuck into the engineering profession anyway.)
@Nicholas Parris Who has time to derive the Laplacian in spherical coordinates during an exam or quiz though? That would probably chop off 30-40 min. of your exam time. Just write it down on scratch paper and act like it's apart of the scratch paper you're using for the exam, I used to do that all the time. Yea, sure, technically it may be bending the rules a little but who remembers these equations? And who has time to derive them on an exam? Not me
you forgot that you have to put 1 question that is completely different from anything you have learned. I told my dad my prof would do that as a joke on my EM final and sure enough.
"Tack on 30 seconds to the exam so students have enough time to finish", hahahhahahah. That's so funny and true. I had a physics teacher tell my class he didn't understand why we didn't finish our exam in 60 minutes b/c it only took him 45 minutes to complete it 😹
I'm in AP high school physics and the stuff about people thinking the same problem with different numbers is definitely true, and lots of my friends that don't like physics use chegg so I can confirm the part about first years is accurate
My quantum 2 professor is extremely efficient at making exams. He just puts 2 questions on there, and we don't even have to show work since there's no partial credit. And if you get 1 wrong and fail the exam it just motivates you to do better on the next one. It's amazing.
Hey, I'm 24 and doing my first year of undergrad physics in England after initially dropping out of uni at 20. Just want to say thank you for your videos, they always help motivate me, whether its motivation to get that extra intuition and understanding on good days or grind through and get it done on the bad ones :)
I had two exams this semester where a question turned out to be too difficult so they just made it a bonus question. I mean I don't mind getting a higher grade but it was also pretty stressful
Hey Andrew, in one of your previous videos, you mentioned that you got String Theory for Dummies when you were a teenager - I got that book last week and I just wanna say thank you for that recommendation, it is exactly what I was looking for, not just because I'm a dummy, but also because it's such a good book! Edit: I was actually reading it when this video was posted - quantum foam sounds yummy.
Yeah it's just hard to communicate in a title/thumbnail if the video is serious or not when I also make videos that actually give advice. Less people will watch if they think it's a serious video.
I literally had this exact thing happen to me. I learned Schrodinger's equation in QM and the lecturer was talking about eigen this and eigen that... I didn't learn about eigenstuff in mathematics until the week after our midterm test.
Things may have changed but here is how we did undergraduate physics exams in 1992-1996. There would be 4 or 5 questions. The final question would feature a terrifying and demoralizing illustration. This question was nearly impossible for anyone to answer. But since a 65 would probably be an A, getting 4/20 points for that question was gold. A formula sheet was provided, but would not under any circumstances be useful (you were spot on with that one.) It would take 37 days to grade the exams, but it was implied that the grades would be posted at any point after ten days. That way the students can get exercise walking to the physics building every day for a month.
You forgot the: walking around while the students take the exam, looking at a student solving a problem incorrectly, then letting out a discomforting sigh.
My physics professor used IE Irodov Problems in General Physics Spanish translation for our online asigments.... in physics I at college those were tough problems i did solve most then i found some random vids in hindi about those problems that helped me out.
Andrew could you give some guidance on what to do if one doesn't get into PhD program? This cycle had been brutal for a lot of people (including me) and some guidance would be appreciated
Last video you mentioned that you do all your exercises in latex. Can you make a video showing some tricks as I usually spend have an hour on a single equation. Is it just practice or are there some better ways than plain writing it out.
Another way ( at least it really worked for me) was if possible get exams from previous years and solve them as if you were doing the real exam as a practice run. If I had not been doing that I would probably still studying the degree in Physics.
as a student who processes information best threw hearing stuff. i feel 2 ways about exams, on one hand, i love the format, on the other hand, i hate that i cant think outloud
My E&M professor actually gave us a question on an exam where we had to apply the laplacian in spherical coordinates with r, theta, and phi dependence and expected us to know it from memory without giving us a heads up before the exam
I really love when professor add only 6 questions but there’s 20 parts to each question which requires you to use the answer from the previous part that way if your first answer is wrong half of your exam is also wrong
Pls consider sharing if you enjoyed! Flammable maths said that's the only way he'll let me eat today.
#Freedomforandrew
Sed
Great video, well funny, now get back to the basement before you get caught.
Your videos used to be funny
Then I became a physics major, and now they’re sad
Sir, I want to become a physicist...
How can I make my self fall in love with physics...
And make mathematics as my soul...
You call us “normal”, but I prefer the more general term of “orthogonal” thank you very much
normal is actually orthogonal to that which is perpendicular to the transverse direction change my mind.
Lmao
Wouldn't "normal" just mean ||v||=1?
@@YaamFel that would be "normalised". Just don't question it.
I would go with orthonormal
"Lead each exam with a joke"
Is that why all my exams start out with me writing my name? 😭😭
No, jokes have a meaning
@@macewindu3492 uff...that's was a good roast
Noice! I am ur 1000th like!
Get a load of THIS guy
Jeez lay off fella.
Sure I'll get a load of this guy ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
@@yagnapatel3912 hold up
Moin Papa 69
@@AndrewDotsonvideos *jizz
"I suspect some of you are cheating and everyone dies eventually"
Larry
damnit Larry
5:18 "The tears of relief when they find out that isn't the case"
I know exactly what you're talking about brother
"Have you guys seen partial differential equations yet?"
Students: "No we're first years"
"Ok perfect, I'm just going to embed this variable in a complex number so we easily arrive at the solution! Any questions?"
My God, I can relate to this so much it *hurts.*
still remember partial derivatives was thrown around in my first and second year physics, and we didn't get proper introduction until second half (?) of multivariable calculus
First year physics does use partial differential equations - the wave equation. We don't solve it, but we derive and use it.
wait is that when u integrate by parts to solve it, or is that completely different haha? Just cos im in highschool and we did that a while ago
@@puddleduck1405 nah, partials are for multivariable calculus when you have to explain that x, y and z exist, and that we are comparing the change in x with the change in y
The painful irony is that Andrew very well might become Larry one day.
His students will think, naw Professor Dotson won't do us dirty like that, he made all those old meme sketches. And then they'll cry.
I think he prefers the term "tears of relief"
4:00 “that way they can put to the test what they’re about to learn” never has anyone described my current academic situation more accurately...
"put to test what they are about to learn" - ah, the perfectly logical and normal
Since entropy only increases with time, it makes perfect sense that the students would have an easier time sooner rather than later.
If we assume the learning process is asymmetric with time then when the students travel backwards in time to retake the exam their knowledge should be conserved.
@@popkornking and figuring out travelling back in time should be a trivial exercise for a physics student preparing to take a physics exam
Physics Professors - I want my exams to be significantly harder and more complex than the homeworks because they should see how to apply the physics from the homeworks onto the exam questions. Like if the homework is over solving unique electric potentials using the laplacian, they can definitely solve for Schrodinger's equation of the hydrogen atom.
I avoided a physics class for _precisely_ this reason. I looked up the professor on RMP and everyone complained that the homework didn't prepare you for the exams at all. I really wanted to take the course though, so I emailed the professor to ask about it, in case it was just a minority of students who thought that, but he confirmed that students always tell him that (and yet, he apparently hasn't found it necessary to modify either the homework or the exams), so I'm not taking that class, at least not with him as the professor. Fortunately, I'm an EE major and while the physics class wouldn't satisfied a general math/physics/chem/cs/engineering elective requirement, there are plenty of other courses I can take instead.
I don't know man, but this Lawrence guy looks like Andrew.
No thats impossible Andrew is stuck in Flammable Maths basement
@@colinfields2036 That is true
Nah, that's not true. This guy truly knows what he's talking about
Long live the Empire
LOL the jump from 50+ questions to 4 or less was way too true
Of course they're four or less. 1 a, b, ... h. 2 a, b, ... f. 3 ...
And that'll somehow still be too many questions to finish on time.
Just thinking of a 4 problems Physics exam raises my heartrate
If Andrew ever becomes a professor, he'll refer his students to this video on how to study for his exams and how he structures them.
OMG i have never realized how much teachers do the "check solution" thing, never falling for that again
My physics 2 professor would give us a study guide and say "if it's on the guide I won't put it on the exam"
That makes 0 sense
But now you know what’s not on your exam lol
@@itisi2042 It is always like that, and (in some sense), it makes perfect sense...
The prof assumes we all studied the basic material. Instead, we need to learn to use what we learned in an indirect and creative way.
Just plugging numbers in equations is for engineering, not for real physics students.
I just took a physics exam today and literally not a single formula on that formula sheet was useful...
most likely it was there so that you dont sue them later on for forcing you to memorize stuff lol
I knew a guy in undergrad that printed his formulas in 6 point font on the allowed index card, and read them with a pocket magnifier.
My professor for I don't know the English term for that lesson he give us a littleral textbook as a formula sheet and if you don't know what are you looking for you are doomed. But the formula sheet is pretty good on other modules I am giving him that
@@aviphysics Brilliant
yea they're literally useless
can confirm as visual learner that getting to view the exam paper helps loads
Sadly lol this is the universal STEM professor for any class with a quantitative focus. Literally one of my chemistry professors "I don't understand why it took you all so long, I finished it in about 30 minutes."
Sadly, this is my first native language teacher in High School. We told her that the exam was too hard and she replied with: I was able to finish this 40 minute exam in 30 minutes so you have no reason to complain.
I had a math professor who made his exam three times as long as the homework which he knew took hours to complete and gave us less than 2 hours to complete it. He wouldn't even _tell_ me how long it took him to complete the exam.
@@theamazingone5217 This was my French 3 teacher in high school. Literally DURING the final, she was taking it with us, and went "c'est tres facile"(which means this is very easy in french) and all of us just looked at each other. It was a very hard test.
“At this point, you should be expected to memorize Laplace’s equation in spherical coordinates.”
I think I died a little inside.
I'd rather have an easier time performing surgery on a grape than literally memorizing all laplacian derivations of any curviliner coordinates LMAOOOOOOOOOO
*A formula sheet where all the formulae are entirely irrelevant to the actual exam questions*
Satan: _Gotta say, I'm a big fan_
i'm an auditory learner and i can hear the voices in my head
I see Andrew Dotson: I click.
Exactly
Fun fact: His email is mail@andrew.son
The number of times I had to apply math I would only learn in math class a few weeks later haunts me
And that right there is one of the reasons the educational system keeps producing people that hate math with a passion. I'm sorry you had to experience that.
Stop being stupid
I feel like that’s actually a good thing for me though because you’re basically ahead in your math class
Haha, it’s so nice that this is just satire. Wait.
Tears of relief and tears of sadness are easily confused. Please review them for the upcoming exam on how to make physics exams
Professor Variance, you forgot:
Reduce the number of questions to 4, but be sure to make each question multiple parts, and make sure that every part of those questions was another loosely related, translated question from the aforementioned German or Russian books 👌
and each consecutive partial question is dependent on arriving at the proper solution of the former. Didn't find a solution to part a) ? Hahaha, b) thru m) is fucked.
I can’t get over how painfully accurate this is.
This actually helps reduce stress, from studying Physics.
U reducing a tensor?
I came here instead of doing my phys hw I see you
@@agrajyadav2951 😂
@@agrajyadav2951 lol
Who gets stressed doing physics?
This is excellent procrastination material for my impending quantum mechanics exam.
As a first year physics student, I know I have a lot to look forward to now.
This stings even more in remote learning when physics professors are trying to “alleviate stress” by “not having midterms”
Instead we just have 4 consecutive timed Canvas quizzes in the span of our 50 minutes class period that’s coincidentally worth 30% of our grade 🤔 But you know... it’s “better” cause it’s “not a midterm.”
I can already guess how that went...
1. It's 2019.
2. So our course legally needs to declare how evaluation goes beforehand. We use midterms worth 30% of the grade.
3. Damn, a pandemic. We barely taught under good conditions. We can't really do midterms, if failing students sue we'd lose that every day of the week.
4. Wait, we have a legally binding document that sais 30% of the score is earned in advance.. If we don't do that failing students could sue and we'd lose that every day of the week.
5. I have a cunning plan that cannot fail: have "not midterms". Pretend like that's actually doing anything. Don't mention the lawsuits.
6. So... Should we change those legal documents? Nah, too much work. That pandemic won't keep on going anyway!
Yikes, what the heck is that? Physics SAT?
Just received my graduate acceptance today from my university of choice!! Your videos inspired me not to give up on physics when i was near quitting after struggling with my first semester of upper level physics courses, love you Andrew!!
One day you will never forgive him. I know I will never forgive the professor that encouraged me to stick with it. I should have switched to engineering when I had the chance (though I eventually snuck into the engineering profession anyway.)
@@aviphysics That's funny, Andrew made me realize I didn't love physics enough and I now I'm enrolling in a PhD program in EE.
Who can actually remember Laplace in spherical coords?
Only the first term😅
nah after lots of e&m and Calc 3 it comes up often enough to be remembered
@Nicholas Parris Who has time to derive the Laplacian in spherical coordinates during an exam or quiz though? That would probably chop off 30-40 min. of your exam time. Just write it down on scratch paper and act like it's apart of the scratch paper you're using for the exam, I used to do that all the time. Yea, sure, technically it may be bending the rules a little but who remembers these equations? And who has time to derive them on an exam? Not me
@Nicholas Parris yeah just derive it and miss squared at some term nice!
@Nicholas Parris Well, if you can remember exactly how to derive the Laplacian then you should be able to memorize it as well.
"This is what my score would've been on rate my professor"
Or would it?
Hey, vSauce! Michael here.
you forgot that you have to put 1 question that is completely different from anything you have learned. I told my dad my prof would do that as a joke on my EM final and sure enough.
Chegg forces me to write my own problems and I am no doubt hated for it
Thank you so much for my gift basket Andrew! Love you 💕 ~Mom
Did nobody see the Lorentz invariance reference?
Holy crap I rewatched the whole video after the intro only to find it where it was. Welp, there's another view for u Andrew.
Where is it?
@@andreemery4964 u gotta find it yourself
is it the equations written on the graphic tablet behind? idk much, just takng the guess
@@AdityaKumar-ij5ok look at his name in the intro
I didn't know all physics professors were sadists.
I love Kelly in these skits (even if its just saying cut)! More more!
"Tack on 30 seconds to the exam so students have enough time to finish", hahahhahahah. That's so funny and true. I had a physics teacher tell my class he didn't understand why we didn't finish our exam in 60 minutes b/c it only took him 45 minutes to complete it 😹
1:12 this is so fucking accurate like honestly what is it with university students and being offended by absolutely anything
"You dont want to make the test TOO easy"
Why tho?
Me when I see new math:
It's some kind of elvish. I can't read it.
I'm in AP high school physics and the stuff about people thinking the same problem with different numbers is definitely true, and lots of my friends that don't like physics use chegg so I can confirm the part about first years is accurate
This was so good HAHAHA
Sponsor transition 10/10, made me download audible
oh my god man, every single joke hit so close to home. i absolutely love your humor. keep it up!
What's funny is, I am currently making a Physics exam. Thanks for the tips! 😂
Tips?
@@deathstroke8639 we should ask how that went... but Im too scared to. Good luck students. Good luck
"Take an old russian textbook and just translate the questions"
My russian Professor: Don't mind if I do
My quantum 2 professor is extremely efficient at making exams. He just puts 2 questions on there, and we don't even have to show work since there's no partial credit. And if you get 1 wrong and fail the exam it just motivates you to do better on the next one. It's amazing.
Hey, I'm 24 and doing my first year of undergrad physics in England after initially dropping out of uni at 20. Just want to say thank you for your videos, they always help motivate me, whether its motivation to get that extra intuition and understanding on good days or grind through and get it done on the bad ones :)
very well done! thumbs up!
Thanks Andy, you're absolutely hilarious!
It really put things in perspective. Like I have the opportunity to put my new found knowledge to the test. Knowledge prove yourself to me.
I had two exams this semester where a question turned out to be too difficult so they just made it a bonus question. I mean I don't mind getting a higher grade but it was also pretty stressful
yo i was just binge watching all of your videos today and u uploaded xD very epi c c
was watching u since grad school, now I'm enrolled in a phd program and teaching high school physics
I'm from Brazil and my physics professors followed all those suggestions, it seems like a worldwide standard...
I do love it when I can see the exam
Hey Andrew, in one of your previous videos, you mentioned that you got String Theory for Dummies when you were a teenager - I got that book last week and I just wanna say thank you for that recommendation, it is exactly what I was looking for, not just because I'm a dummy, but also because it's such a good book!
Edit: I was actually reading it when this video was posted - quantum foam sounds yummy.
Thanks a lot!
So happy to watch your video. It was really funny. Love it mate!
Thanks!
This gave me so many undergrad flashbacks
I like my humor extra dry (no intro music that gives away that it's a joke video and no hints in the title either).
Yeah it's just hard to communicate in a title/thumbnail if the video is serious or not when I also make videos that actually give advice. Less people will watch if they think it's a serious video.
I literally had this exact thing happen to me. I learned Schrodinger's equation in QM and the lecturer was talking about eigen this and eigen that... I didn't learn about eigenstuff in mathematics until the week after our midterm test.
Hey Andrew, please make a video where you compute one (or more) of the integrals you use in your research step by step
Things may have changed but here is how we did undergraduate physics exams in 1992-1996. There would be 4 or 5 questions. The final question would feature a terrifying and demoralizing illustration. This question was nearly impossible for anyone to answer. But since a 65 would probably be an A, getting 4/20 points for that question was gold. A formula sheet was provided, but would not under any circumstances be useful (you were spot on with that one.) It would take 37 days to grade the exams, but it was implied that the grades would be posted at any point after ten days. That way the students can get exercise walking to the physics building every day for a month.
I'm in love with this guy.
When he said 50 to 300 questions, I started screaming. On a quantum 1 exam wr had 75 questions on a 1 and a half hour exam! Etf is physics
Your skits are awesome man
>Name of the college is University College Collegiate
>Initials are YCC
You forgot the: walking around while the students take the exam, looking at a student solving a problem incorrectly, then letting out a discomforting sigh.
Actually scary how true this is.
Yeah I just finished my third year undergrad finals and this hit a little too close to home
My physics professor used IE Irodov Problems in General Physics Spanish translation for our online asigments.... in physics I at college those were tough problems i did solve most then i found some random vids in hindi about those problems that helped me out.
Andrew could you give some guidance on what to do if one doesn't get into PhD program? This cycle had been brutal for a lot of people (including me) and some guidance would be appreciated
Last video you mentioned that you do all your exercises in latex. Can you make a video showing some tricks as I usually spend have an hour on a single equation. Is it just practice or are there some better ways than plain writing it out.
Pure gold
Another way ( at least it really worked for me) was if possible get exams from previous years and solve them as if you were doing the real exam as a practice run.
If I had not been doing that I would probably still studying the degree in Physics.
That is the exam meta for sure
Andrew, your videos never disappoint
I do remember the Laplacian in spherical coordinates
I only remember it in tensor notation
At 4:41 holy crap... that brings back memories... I had to memorize the Laplacian in spherical coordinates.
totaly nailed it
as a student who processes information best threw hearing stuff. i feel 2 ways about exams, on one hand, i love the format, on the other hand, i hate that i cant think outloud
My E&M professor actually gave us a question on an exam where we had to apply the laplacian in spherical coordinates with r, theta, and phi dependence and expected us to know it from memory without giving us a heads up before the exam
Great video man
I'm finally far along enough in my degree that these kinds of videos are equal parts hilarious and soul crushingly true
3:56 that's pretty good advice, ngl
This is possibly the funniest video you've made. I laughed out loud (aka cried) more than once
Love this
you should do more videos on your research and phd stuff
I love you Andrew. You make gradschool bearable.
I'm here for the confusing entertainment and relatable school struggles since I'm not a physics major lol really good stuff! :)
I really love when professor add only 6 questions but there’s 20 parts to each question which requires you to use the answer from the previous part that way if your first answer is wrong half of your exam is also wrong
I seriously came to this video hoping for tips when taking physics exams.
Is that the QED Lagrangian density on the screen? I have the same thing (looks quite different though)!
3:45 I recommend the theoretical physics books by Torsten Fließbach.
"that way they can put to the test when they're going to learn" freaking died
4:40 "I may provide you with F=ma but I expect you to remember laplacian for spherical coordinates."