As a practicing biomedical engineer and martial artist, I belong to two communities that, at a glance, seem to conflict with one another; engineering requires rigorous thought and thorough validation of proposed innovations, while martial arts focuses on sensing subtle body motions and quickly reacting to one’s environment. When I first became interested in STEM and martial arts, I naively viewed my passions this way, as distinct pieces of my life. With time and careful reflection on my relationship to these groups, I learned to recognize their intersection and embrace the value that comes from bridging these worlds.

In elementary and middle school, we learn mathematic for the sake of mathematic, we are never told what mathematics can ultimately be used for or why mathematics is useful other than the fact that its can help us make change and do our taxes one day. What they should be telling you is that the laws of the universe are written in a language that people are capable of understanding and that this language is mathematics. 

This article is the third chapter in a series on how to understand and approach kinematics problems. The first chapter covered position, velocity, and acceleration. The second chapter covered solving kinematics in one dimension Now we are going to take a quick detour into vectorland so that we’re ready to approach kinematics in two (and even three) dimensions.

When I tutor my physics students, I want them to understand the fundamentals of the concept, not just how to plug in numbers into an equation. I wished when I was learning physics, my teachers drew upon real life applications more, things we already understand about the world to help us really get it.

This article is the second chapter in a series on how to understand and approach kinematics problems. The first chapter covered position, velocity, and acceleration. Now that we understand these quantities, we are going to use them to solve problems in one dimension. 

How to use this guide

This blog post is the first in a series on how to understand and approach kinematics problems. It is meant to supplement your class and textbook. I will focus on practical applications, how to solve problems, and common mistakes that students make. If you want to learn the basics of kinematics, I recommend a textbook, but if you want to gain a deeper understanding, avoid confusion and learn how to approach problems, take the red pill and join us! 

Physics can be intimidating, all those pulleys and protons and projectile motion. If you approach it with the right mindset, however, even the hardest problems are usually easier than you think. When you come up against a tough question, don’t panic. Instead, start with these short, easy tricks to help you work through the problem. 

This week we're spotlighting Yilma, a New York-based Columbia graduate who loves teaching physics, mathematics, and test prepatation! Yilma is currently a Business Associate at a tech consulting firm where she is able to learn about technology and its impact in financial markets. She also occasionally blogs about her experience as a ‘Millennial in Markets’ for the company website.  If you are interested in learning more about Yilma, check out her tutoring profile here.

Intro to Physics Blues   

As a high school student, I took physics my junior year and struggled to stay afloat in the class. While I was interested in understanding and applying the theories I learned, it was difficult to make sense of them in my head. As a result, I began my first collegiate physics course with a lot of excitement, yet some apprehension. 

Learning about logarithms is one of those times in math class where you wonder if this will ever be useful in any way. I see lots of students struggle with topics like logs, since they can seem abstract and they aren’t obviously useful. But I’m here to explain why they are actually incredibly important and describe so much of the world we live in! Let’s take a look at an example from chemistry and physics that shows just how powerful logs can be - the Arrhenius Equation.