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Physics….I need help. Physics 101 is ruining my life (self.Blind)
submitted by QuasarchShooby
I’m taking a physics class this term that’s destroying me. Ok. That’s probably a little dramatic, but it is causing me a lot of stress. The content is inherently visual, which just adds another layer of complicated on top of the fact I am the most mathematically moronic person you’ll ever meet. My college’s disability services has been behind on sending me tactile graphics for each chapter. Honestly, this wouldn’t be a big issue if some of our quiz and exam questions weren’t contingent on understanding and drawing vectors. I don’t want to fall behind, so I’ve begun having my aid fill in the blanks where DS is not. His descriptions are fairly helpful in the lab portion of this class. However, it’s not helping me understand vectors at all. I have tactile graphics for the first 3 chapters of the textbook and there are examples of vectors in those packets, but I guess I’m just stupid because I seriously don’t know how to interpret those damn things. I’ve tried accompanying my studying of the few vectors I do have with explanations of their components from the textbook, but to no avail. Maybe I’m just spoiled in the sense that my high school TBVI would explain what each part of the tactile graphic meant hand over hand? Are there any suggestions for how I can improve my ability to conceptualize these things?
Secondly, the math is a headache. It takes me so long to complete problem sets because I’m having to scroll all over the place to get the full context of the math problem. I don’t have access to a brailler, so I’m using a combination of my laptop and Braille Edge 40. I’m not one of those super human blind people that just can remember all the numbers they’re working with. I need to look at the work I’ve done thus far and the actual problem itself multiple times for me to solve it. While it is annoying, I’m dealing with it. However, I was wondering how you all like to study mathematical content? Typically, I do my own version of Cornell Notes, but I’ve found that doesn’t work very well for STEM courses. I can take the most robust notes and study them for hours. But when exam day comes, I’m staring at a word problem that makes absolutely no sense to me. There’s also the expectation that you combine your knowledge on theory and translate that into your decision of what mathematical rout to take. Yeah, that? No can do. So, I think the best way to solve this is instead of staring at my Cornell notes for hours, I should be doing practice problems online. What accessible platforms are there to do as such?
Third, I get nothing out of the lectures, even with the presence of my aid. I’ve spent the majority of this term self-teaching and annoying the hell out of my professor during his office hours. I don’t really have a question in this regard. I just want to say I’m freaking exhausted. I’m definitely going to have to get a tutor if I want to pass this class, especially since I failed the midterm.
Fourth, throw me all your math related software suggestions at me. Anything to make my life easier is greatly appreciated. My Braille Edge 40 isn’t able to display Math ML equations! Uh, honestly, I want to punch my old rehab counselor and tech specialist for thinking that outdated firmware would be appropriate…. But I digress. I’ve since moved away from that state and now have a different VR agency supporting me. They recently s\purchased me a Brailliant after I tested it to see if it could handle the equations in my online textbook and it did. Slight problem though, the global supply chain issues are causing a huge delay in me receiving the device. I’m glad this will be the last hard science I’ll have to take. Papers? Projects? Endless readings? Bring it on! But don’t you dare ask me to solve some math problems!
Lastly, I do my school work on a Dell Latitude 5510 with 24 Gigs of ram and an I5 with 4 cores. Dell, the tech specialist at VR, and reddit strangers alike have told me to not have so many tabs open. My dude, I not having my online textbook in a Chrome tab, my personal notes, a word doc with my solutions and a separate PDF where our homework questions are open at the same time for shits and giggles. They are open for a reason! For those of you wondering, the homework questions are in a separate PDF because our professor pulls questions from the textbook and I have two different editions. DS was only able to get the 13th edition in HTML format from Vital Source. The class uses the 12th edition. Really the only difference are the reading questions. So, I read the assigned content on Vital Source because of the way the PDF is formatted. there are blank spaces for where there should be numeric operators. However, because the questions are contingent on the edition you’re looking at, I open my PDF copy to see the questions. Sounds like a mess? It is. Anyways, my computer has crashed countless times. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I tell people that this will happen even when I’m being very intentional with the tabs I keep open. Some how it is my fault. Windows has been reinstalled 3 times. I’ve replaced the ram, motherboard and hard drive. I’ve uninstalled bloatware and disabled any unnecessary startup apps. I even got a ram upgrade because supposably 8 gigs isn’t enough. Are screen readers really that taxing? I don’t buy it. Hey, maybe I’m the idiot in this situation, but I’m not getting why 24 gigs of ram isn’t more than sufficient. I even cleaned the fan in this stupid thing! Any thoughts?
Sorry for the negativity. I’m not usually one to complain about obstacles. I like to keep my head down and take them as they come, but something about this physics course getting to me. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your suggestions.
Secondly, the math is a headache. It takes me so long to complete problem sets because I’m having to scroll all over the place to get the full context of the math problem. I don’t have access to a brailler, so I’m using a combination of my laptop and Braille Edge 40. I’m not one of those super human blind people that just can remember all the numbers they’re working with. I need to look at the work I’ve done thus far and the actual problem itself multiple times for me to solve it. While it is annoying, I’m dealing with it. However, I was wondering how you all like to study mathematical content? Typically, I do my own version of Cornell Notes, but I’ve found that doesn’t work very well for STEM courses. I can take the most robust notes and study them for hours. But when exam day comes, I’m staring at a word problem that makes absolutely no sense to me. There’s also the expectation that you combine your knowledge on theory and translate that into your decision of what mathematical rout to take. Yeah, that? No can do. So, I think the best way to solve this is instead of staring at my Cornell notes for hours, I should be doing practice problems online. What accessible platforms are there to do as such?
Third, I get nothing out of the lectures, even with the presence of my aid. I’ve spent the majority of this term self-teaching and annoying the hell out of my professor during his office hours. I don’t really have a question in this regard. I just want to say I’m freaking exhausted. I’m definitely going to have to get a tutor if I want to pass this class, especially since I failed the midterm.
Fourth, throw me all your math related software suggestions at me. Anything to make my life easier is greatly appreciated. My Braille Edge 40 isn’t able to display Math ML equations! Uh, honestly, I want to punch my old rehab counselor and tech specialist for thinking that outdated firmware would be appropriate…. But I digress. I’ve since moved away from that state and now have a different VR agency supporting me. They recently s\purchased me a Brailliant after I tested it to see if it could handle the equations in my online textbook and it did. Slight problem though, the global supply chain issues are causing a huge delay in me receiving the device. I’m glad this will be the last hard science I’ll have to take. Papers? Projects? Endless readings? Bring it on! But don’t you dare ask me to solve some math problems!
Lastly, I do my school work on a Dell Latitude 5510 with 24 Gigs of ram and an I5 with 4 cores. Dell, the tech specialist at VR, and reddit strangers alike have told me to not have so many tabs open. My dude, I not having my online textbook in a Chrome tab, my personal notes, a word doc with my solutions and a separate PDF where our homework questions are open at the same time for shits and giggles. They are open for a reason! For those of you wondering, the homework questions are in a separate PDF because our professor pulls questions from the textbook and I have two different editions. DS was only able to get the 13th edition in HTML format from Vital Source. The class uses the 12th edition. Really the only difference are the reading questions. So, I read the assigned content on Vital Source because of the way the PDF is formatted. there are blank spaces for where there should be numeric operators. However, because the questions are contingent on the edition you’re looking at, I open my PDF copy to see the questions. Sounds like a mess? It is. Anyways, my computer has crashed countless times. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I tell people that this will happen even when I’m being very intentional with the tabs I keep open. Some how it is my fault. Windows has been reinstalled 3 times. I’ve replaced the ram, motherboard and hard drive. I’ve uninstalled bloatware and disabled any unnecessary startup apps. I even got a ram upgrade because supposably 8 gigs isn’t enough. Are screen readers really that taxing? I don’t buy it. Hey, maybe I’m the idiot in this situation, but I’m not getting why 24 gigs of ram isn’t more than sufficient. I even cleaned the fan in this stupid thing! Any thoughts?
Sorry for the negativity. I’m not usually one to complain about obstacles. I like to keep my head down and take them as they come, but something about this physics course getting to me. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your suggestions.
34Emma 9 points 1y ago
Okay so I can't really help you with anything directly, but here are a couple of things that might at least get you somewhere:
Regarding your computer, I don't think screenreaders are that taxing . I'm using a laptop with I think 8gb of ram and I've often got dozens of browser tabs open, and there isn't any issue whatsoever. Depending on how tech savvy you are, you could either look through the processes in your task manager to see if there's anything specific using a lot of computing power, or ask someone else to have a look at that for you. For example, antivirus software can sometimes slow down your system.
For a quicker solution, you can also try and convert your pdf file(s) to txt because the normal text editor should use up way less capacity.
And concerning your physics course, the only really helpful thing I can think of would be to talk to other blind people who study or have studied physics, as they've gone through the same chaotic stuff. I hope you're lucky and get some answers from such people here!
Regarding your computer, I don't think screenreaders are that taxing . I'm using a laptop with I think 8gb of ram and I've often got dozens of browser tabs open, and there isn't any issue whatsoever. Depending on how tech savvy you are, you could either look through the processes in your task manager to see if there's anything specific using a lot of computing power, or ask someone else to have a look at that for you. For example, antivirus software can sometimes slow down your system.
For a quicker solution, you can also try and convert your pdf file(s) to txt because the normal text editor should use up way less capacity.
And concerning your physics course, the only really helpful thing I can think of would be to talk to other blind people who study or have studied physics, as they've gone through the same chaotic stuff. I hope you're lucky and get some answers from such people here!
QuasarchShooby [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Thank you. :)
LingonberryOk57 1 points 1y ago
Hey there, I tried to contact you through having a math tutor of mine contacting you. This is Taylor if I am replying to the correct post. I am blind and am taking physics 1 currently. I use 16 gb of ram on my windows computers. I use excel so I can go through each step so I can answer the questions. For the visual thing, if you can imagine a x y graph in your head then use that to help you navigate what is going on with the question. The biggest hurddles I have come accross is doing the algebra at the beginning to solve chapter 3 questions which is velocity in 2 dimentions. Many I have come across need the quadadric formula. first the one to reconize what is going on( ax\^(2)+bx+c the use the second quad equation -b+-sqrt(b\^(2) -4ac) all over 2a. I am now tackleing the forces chapter 4 which includes f=ma which is pretty easy to visualize what is going on once you realize that majority of equations and formulas are just plug in your value then solve but make sure you have the correct configuration of that equation worked with algebra. If you want some help just email me at taylor primm at sheridan edu. there isn't any spaces in this email but if you wanna get some help solving questions just hit me up. Also I am blind too :). Best of luck.
QuasarchShooby [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Thanks so much. Can you tell me more about your use of excel? Do you fill in the grid and write the appropriate formula in a designated result box? I did this for multiplying polynomials and matrices in high school. Can’t believe I didn’t think to do this for physics as well.
LingonberryOk57 1 points 1y ago
Yea. I use column 1 for the original information then move to the right and work the problem with algebra, calculus or trig and each inbetween step with the calculations to reduce the equation. If you email me I can send you an attachment of some of my work.
OldManOnFire 6 points 1y ago
Imagine a helicopter. It's flying north at 40 miles per hour. Figuring out where it is after an hour is pretty easy, right? It will be 40 miles north from where it began. That's a very simple vector because it has both magnitude (40 miles per hour) and direction (north).
What if there's another vector? Imagine there's a 30 mile per hour steady wind blowing from east to west blowing the helicopter while it flies. Where will the helicopter be after an hour now?
It flew 40 miles north but got blown 30 miles west, right? We can use the Pythagorean theorem, a^(2) \+ b^(2) = c^(2) to find out. A little bit of plugging and chugging and we know the helicopter is 50 miles away from where it started because 30^(2) \+ 40^(2) = 50^(2).
That's also a vector. A more complicated vector, but it's a good example to understand the basics.
Vectors are really simple to graph. I'm sure you can picture graphs of the vectors we just described with the example of the helicopter. The first graph is just a straight line going 40 units north from the point of origin. The second graph is simply a line going 40 units north and another line beginning where you left off and going 30 units west. The order of operations doesn't matter with vectors - it doesn't matter if you consider the 30 mile per hour wind first or the 40 mile per hour speed of the helicopter first, if you draw the 30 unit west line of the graph first and then the 40 unit north line or if you draw them the other way around, you're still going to end up in the same place, 50 miles northwest of where you started.
That's the basics. This next part is harder math but it's still easy to graph.
Let's assume the helicopter is still flying 40 miles per hour north, but this time the wind is blowing 30 miles per hour northwest instead of just west.
Our math just got harder because we can't use the Pythagorean theorem for the next step anymore - it only works for right angles. Northwest is not at a right angle to north, it's a 45 degree angle. But we can still graph it the same way. We start by drawing a line going 40 units north from our point of origin, then we make a 45 degree angle and continue drawing a line that goes 30 units northwest.
It's easy to make a rookie mistake here by assuming 30 miles per hour northwest means 30 miles north plus 30 miles west, but it's not quite that simple. We can pull the Pythagorean theorem out of our pocket again and realize a^(2) \+ b^(2) = 30^(2), and since northwest is equal parts north and west in this case a = b, giving us a^(2) \+ a^(2) = 900, or 2a^(2) = 900, or a^(2) = 900/2, so a = the square root of 450, which is a little over 21. With that in mind our graph now goes 40 units north, then 21 more units north, then 21 units west, and we end up with a total of 61 north and 21 west, which puts us back on a 90 degree turn so we can figure out where that damn Pythagorean theorem ran off to and find out our total vector, we want the square root of 61^(2) \+ 21^(2) which is about 65. That seems reasonable to us because it's more than the 50 we got for our first try when the wind was only blowing west, but it's less than 70 which we would get if the wind was blowing due north.
That's a really simple intro to vectors. If you have specific questions feel free to reply and I'll do my best.
What if there's another vector? Imagine there's a 30 mile per hour steady wind blowing from east to west blowing the helicopter while it flies. Where will the helicopter be after an hour now?
It flew 40 miles north but got blown 30 miles west, right? We can use the Pythagorean theorem, a^(2) \+ b^(2) = c^(2) to find out. A little bit of plugging and chugging and we know the helicopter is 50 miles away from where it started because 30^(2) \+ 40^(2) = 50^(2).
That's also a vector. A more complicated vector, but it's a good example to understand the basics.
Vectors are really simple to graph. I'm sure you can picture graphs of the vectors we just described with the example of the helicopter. The first graph is just a straight line going 40 units north from the point of origin. The second graph is simply a line going 40 units north and another line beginning where you left off and going 30 units west. The order of operations doesn't matter with vectors - it doesn't matter if you consider the 30 mile per hour wind first or the 40 mile per hour speed of the helicopter first, if you draw the 30 unit west line of the graph first and then the 40 unit north line or if you draw them the other way around, you're still going to end up in the same place, 50 miles northwest of where you started.
That's the basics. This next part is harder math but it's still easy to graph.
Let's assume the helicopter is still flying 40 miles per hour north, but this time the wind is blowing 30 miles per hour northwest instead of just west.
Our math just got harder because we can't use the Pythagorean theorem for the next step anymore - it only works for right angles. Northwest is not at a right angle to north, it's a 45 degree angle. But we can still graph it the same way. We start by drawing a line going 40 units north from our point of origin, then we make a 45 degree angle and continue drawing a line that goes 30 units northwest.
It's easy to make a rookie mistake here by assuming 30 miles per hour northwest means 30 miles north plus 30 miles west, but it's not quite that simple. We can pull the Pythagorean theorem out of our pocket again and realize a^(2) \+ b^(2) = 30^(2), and since northwest is equal parts north and west in this case a = b, giving us a^(2) \+ a^(2) = 900, or 2a^(2) = 900, or a^(2) = 900/2, so a = the square root of 450, which is a little over 21. With that in mind our graph now goes 40 units north, then 21 more units north, then 21 units west, and we end up with a total of 61 north and 21 west, which puts us back on a 90 degree turn so we can figure out where that damn Pythagorean theorem ran off to and find out our total vector, we want the square root of 61^(2) \+ 21^(2) which is about 65. That seems reasonable to us because it's more than the 50 we got for our first try when the wind was only blowing west, but it's less than 70 which we would get if the wind was blowing due north.
That's a really simple intro to vectors. If you have specific questions feel free to reply and I'll do my best.
TechnicalPragmatist 2 points 1y ago
Wow that’s actually a great way to explain it something clicked. And I am not even there yet hahaha! I will need physics in a bit but right now I am earning up to it. But interesting. Good explanation.
bradley22 2 points 1y ago
I upvoted you but I’m really bad at maths, I know you’re good at explaining things though :)
yoyo2718 4 points 1y ago
I don’t have specific advice since my vision challenges happened after college, but I will say that tutors are 100% worth it. Paying a grad student or upperclassman for a few hours per week is cheaper than retaking a class. Also, don’t worry about annoying professors, they are required to have office hours, you should absolutely use them for whatever you need without guilt. If they give you attitude just let it roll off you and keep bugging them until you get the help you need. Also see if you can find other students to do homework with. even for sighted students this really helps, plus maybe as students familiar with the material they will be better at describing the visual stuff than a random aid. Freshman physics is tough for everyone, don’t feel bad for using any and all resources available to you. Wish I had more specific advice, but hopefully others will chime in. (source: engineer who struggled with physics)
TechnicalPragmatist 2 points 1y ago
I do math with a brailler I think getting one is prudent or borrowing one.
As to the windows machine. There’s probably not that much you can do. The person that told you about the ram is right. But the ram can also do limited good. If the processor is slow or bad there’s no replacing it unless you replace the entire motherboard pretty much another laptop. The problem with getting computers through the state is having subpar computers. They always go with the dirtiest, cheapest and the most bargain basement. I was discussing with a few people on another website and they were grumbling about how they did this practice. The good computers I use have been always bought by me, with quite a bit better processors that matters too, unfortunately. If the processor is bad then yeah.
As to the windows machine. There’s probably not that much you can do. The person that told you about the ram is right. But the ram can also do limited good. If the processor is slow or bad there’s no replacing it unless you replace the entire motherboard pretty much another laptop. The problem with getting computers through the state is having subpar computers. They always go with the dirtiest, cheapest and the most bargain basement. I was discussing with a few people on another website and they were grumbling about how they did this practice. The good computers I use have been always bought by me, with quite a bit better processors that matters too, unfortunately. If the processor is bad then yeah.
MusicLover035 2 points 1y ago
Hey! I honestly struggle with Physics as well. Is it possible for you to switch to Chemistry, or is it too late in the game for that one? I think Chemistry is easier for me to learn personally. Also, $1 might help you out. Is there any tutoring done where you are taking physics for Science courses? If not, I would encourage looking for someone who does know Physics well and hire them if money is available.
Edit: Apparently I can't insert links lol
Edit: Apparently I can't insert links lol
Ol_Blind_Dog 1 points 1y ago
NOt sure I can be much help on the class portion, but as to the PC, you'll get better performance with matched sticks of RAM. Looking at the specs for your PC, you can max out at 32GB of DDR4 running at PC3200 though it'll only run at 2667 unless that i5 is an 11th gen which it probably isn't.
When you have unmatched sticks, the PC is going to default to the lowest speed stick. It also probably won't be running in dual channel mode, so it will then halve whatever speed you're running at. I have the Lattitude 5511 which is very similar and the upgrade from the stock single stick of 8GB to a set of matched 16GB sticks was a huge improvement. Not sure your area, but around here Best Buy has 16GB sticks of 2667mhz from PNY for around $55 each.
Also not sure on your HDD. I'm assuming you're using an SSD, but if not, that would also be a huge upgrade. I'm running a Samsung Evo which is my prefered brand and I don't have any issues with lag at all no matter what I'm doing.
Hope this helps.
When you have unmatched sticks, the PC is going to default to the lowest speed stick. It also probably won't be running in dual channel mode, so it will then halve whatever speed you're running at. I have the Lattitude 5511 which is very similar and the upgrade from the stock single stick of 8GB to a set of matched 16GB sticks was a huge improvement. Not sure your area, but around here Best Buy has 16GB sticks of 2667mhz from PNY for around $55 each.
Also not sure on your HDD. I'm assuming you're using an SSD, but if not, that would also be a huge upgrade. I'm running a Samsung Evo which is my prefered brand and I don't have any issues with lag at all no matter what I'm doing.
Hope this helps.
BaylisAscaris 1 points 1y ago
I'm not sure if any of these are good ideas but I'm just brainstorming.
Could your aide use a puff paint marker to draw on printed out diagrams for you to study later? They could use a photocopier to enlarge images enough for you to feel parts of the diagram.
You could also get some tactile graph paper and use string or puff paint to make your own graphs to practice. If your vectors are starting at the origin you can poke a hole through the origin, push a string through, tape it to the back, then you can pin or tape it different places to make different vectors to practice calculations.
Does anyone know of good resources like Khan Academy with very good verbal descriptions of physics? Or a website that explains Physics in a more accessible way? If there is a tutor center, definitely take advantage. Even a math tutor center can help with Physics since physics is mostly math word problems.
Could your aide use a puff paint marker to draw on printed out diagrams for you to study later? They could use a photocopier to enlarge images enough for you to feel parts of the diagram.
You could also get some tactile graph paper and use string or puff paint to make your own graphs to practice. If your vectors are starting at the origin you can poke a hole through the origin, push a string through, tape it to the back, then you can pin or tape it different places to make different vectors to practice calculations.
Does anyone know of good resources like Khan Academy with very good verbal descriptions of physics? Or a website that explains Physics in a more accessible way? If there is a tutor center, definitely take advantage. Even a math tutor center can help with Physics since physics is mostly math word problems.
[deleted] 1 points 1y ago
[deleted]
rumster 2 points 1y ago
Hey you never accepted the mod request!
WorldlyLingonberry40 1 points 1y ago
You don't have a Braille machine. This is your problem, you are not able to work out formulas.
It sucks that your teacher didn't teach you how to read graphics.
It sucks that your teacher didn't teach you how to read graphics.
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