2 answers
3
Questions
Asked
320 views
What are some tools that i should be familiar with before becoming a Physicist ?
Are they specific tools that are only used in the field of physics? If you have any answers/advice for me, anything is welcome and appreciated. Thank you for your time and have a good day.
Login to comment
2 answers
Updated
Andrew’s Answer
Mathematics is the language of science and technology. Hence, a physicist must be proficient and competent in mathematics.
If you are still in high school, you should take as many AP Math courses as you can, aside from the AP Physics course. It would be nice if you complete AP Calculus BC before graduation.
Yes, the critical tool of physics is mathematics.
If you are still in high school, you should take as many AP Math courses as you can, aside from the AP Physics course. It would be nice if you complete AP Calculus BC before graduation.
Yes, the critical tool of physics is mathematics.
Updated
Joseph’s Answer
There's lots of tools used in physics, although the exact tools you'll need depend on what sub-field of physics and what exact role you end up choosing.
Our most important tool and the one most widely and commonly used, as Andrew suggested, is mathematics - so I'd certainly agree it's important to have a good mathematical background. I will say that with spreadsheets and computer algebra systems, practicing physicists tend to no longer be (outside of the classroom, anyway) solving by hand complex integrals and stuff like we might have done years ago; but it's still important to be comfortably with many highly mathematical concepts and understand the principles and the limits of what's going on in our equations.
Beyond maths, computers and software are some of the modern physicist's biggest tools. Exactly what software really depends on field and role - there's a lot of software tools for simulating and modelling different types of physics and for data analysis - in my field (ionising radiation physics), it's things like Monte Carlo nuclear particle simulations and spectroscopic peak-fitting tools; other fields have their own tools, things like finite element analysis, CAD, computational fluid dynamics, etc. I wouldn't worry about learning these more subject-specific tools at your level though, as you study physics at higher levels you'll get a feel for different subfields you might want to specialise in and you can leave learning the specialist tools until later after you've started to find your preferred field. There are some more widely used software tools though - and they can be worth getting some early familiarity with if you can - spreadsheets; the Unix/Linux command line; and programming. Of course, not all physicists use all of these regularly, but a lot of physicists do use them quite a bit.
There's always lots of data to analyse and understand, and spreadsheets are usually my first port-of-call. Get comfortable with Excel and with nesting different functions together to get it doing all sorts of calculations for you. Many physicists get by with relatively basic/intermediate spreadsheet skills, but there's so much more you can do if you master some of the more advanced features - two of my favourite lesser-known techniques are conditionally referencing different cells with INDIRECT; and doing least squares fitting optimisation with Solver.
A lot of scientific computing and programming is done in a Unix/GNU/Linux command line environment, so getting familiar with a Unix-like terminal, how to find your way around, and gaining knowledge of the commands and features available would be a good step to take. There's lots of ways to get started; from dual-booting a Linux environment; installing the Windows Subsystem for Linux; or getting yourself a cheap Linux-based single-board computer to play with like a Raspberry Pi.
Many physicists find themselves programming at some point - there's a lot of things where the software you want doesn't exist yet or doesn't do what you want, so you need to write your own software or modify someone else's code to add functionality you need. It's certainly worth practicing your coding skills. The language you choose doesn't matter that much; once you've mastered the concepts in one language, it's usually fairly easy (although sometimes a little frustrating) to pick up a different language and syntax. However, if you are looking for a recommendation, I'd say historically, a lot of physics was done in languages like FORTRAN and C++, but Python has recently become very popular in the sciences with modules like NumPy, so starting with Python is probably a good choice.
Finally, thinking in terms of more practical hands-on tools; a lot of instruments in physics involve electronics so things like multimeters and oscilloscopes are commonly used tools. I think learning your way round an oscilloscope would be good experience - a lot of physics involves looking at signals from various instruments, and an oscilloscope is a great tool for understanding how signals vary, comparing timing, and things like that. It's also something that I don't think I was every really properly taught about; at least nothing beyond the very basics of signals and the axis scaling - features like triggering and signal summation/subtraction were just things I had to figure out myself over the years - so getting familiar with one early on would probably be helpful. They can be pretty expensive new, but older models can often by found more reasonably second-hand (eg on eBay) or just talk to the right person at your place of education and get some practice with one they have there.
There's plenty of other tools physicists use, but I think those I've mentioned are some of the most important and best starting points for getting early familiarity with.
Our most important tool and the one most widely and commonly used, as Andrew suggested, is mathematics - so I'd certainly agree it's important to have a good mathematical background. I will say that with spreadsheets and computer algebra systems, practicing physicists tend to no longer be (outside of the classroom, anyway) solving by hand complex integrals and stuff like we might have done years ago; but it's still important to be comfortably with many highly mathematical concepts and understand the principles and the limits of what's going on in our equations.
Beyond maths, computers and software are some of the modern physicist's biggest tools. Exactly what software really depends on field and role - there's a lot of software tools for simulating and modelling different types of physics and for data analysis - in my field (ionising radiation physics), it's things like Monte Carlo nuclear particle simulations and spectroscopic peak-fitting tools; other fields have their own tools, things like finite element analysis, CAD, computational fluid dynamics, etc. I wouldn't worry about learning these more subject-specific tools at your level though, as you study physics at higher levels you'll get a feel for different subfields you might want to specialise in and you can leave learning the specialist tools until later after you've started to find your preferred field. There are some more widely used software tools though - and they can be worth getting some early familiarity with if you can - spreadsheets; the Unix/Linux command line; and programming. Of course, not all physicists use all of these regularly, but a lot of physicists do use them quite a bit.
There's always lots of data to analyse and understand, and spreadsheets are usually my first port-of-call. Get comfortable with Excel and with nesting different functions together to get it doing all sorts of calculations for you. Many physicists get by with relatively basic/intermediate spreadsheet skills, but there's so much more you can do if you master some of the more advanced features - two of my favourite lesser-known techniques are conditionally referencing different cells with INDIRECT; and doing least squares fitting optimisation with Solver.
A lot of scientific computing and programming is done in a Unix/GNU/Linux command line environment, so getting familiar with a Unix-like terminal, how to find your way around, and gaining knowledge of the commands and features available would be a good step to take. There's lots of ways to get started; from dual-booting a Linux environment; installing the Windows Subsystem for Linux; or getting yourself a cheap Linux-based single-board computer to play with like a Raspberry Pi.
Many physicists find themselves programming at some point - there's a lot of things where the software you want doesn't exist yet or doesn't do what you want, so you need to write your own software or modify someone else's code to add functionality you need. It's certainly worth practicing your coding skills. The language you choose doesn't matter that much; once you've mastered the concepts in one language, it's usually fairly easy (although sometimes a little frustrating) to pick up a different language and syntax. However, if you are looking for a recommendation, I'd say historically, a lot of physics was done in languages like FORTRAN and C++, but Python has recently become very popular in the sciences with modules like NumPy, so starting with Python is probably a good choice.
Finally, thinking in terms of more practical hands-on tools; a lot of instruments in physics involve electronics so things like multimeters and oscilloscopes are commonly used tools. I think learning your way round an oscilloscope would be good experience - a lot of physics involves looking at signals from various instruments, and an oscilloscope is a great tool for understanding how signals vary, comparing timing, and things like that. It's also something that I don't think I was every really properly taught about; at least nothing beyond the very basics of signals and the axis scaling - features like triggering and signal summation/subtraction were just things I had to figure out myself over the years - so getting familiar with one early on would probably be helpful. They can be pretty expensive new, but older models can often by found more reasonably second-hand (eg on eBay) or just talk to the right person at your place of education and get some practice with one they have there.
There's plenty of other tools physicists use, but I think those I've mentioned are some of the most important and best starting points for getting early familiarity with.