I might be genuinely too dumb for physics and idk what to do

Physics has never come intuitively to me and now I have to study it at university level as a force-enrolled course. I just don't get it. I'm good at math and I can bear math, but physics makes me want to pull my brain out. How do I increase my tolerance for physics, especially if I'm like, really bad at understanding it?

I genuinely don't understand the why behind so many physics phenomenons and i dont know why. Maybe I wasn't taught the basics right, idk. I don't know why certain rules are the way they are in Physics and why they change depending on the situation. It always feels like a guessing game situation to me and I always have the wrong answer.

How do I survive physics at uni level :/

Maybe you should look for books that deal with the subject you’re studying from a first principles analysis. That way you can see how certain laws are found.

Dimensional analysis might also be a helpful way for you to look at things.

Yea a very useful tool to have. I not only use it to check answers, but if I can't solve a question using physics, I can sometimes use it to piece together an answer by looking at units required.

Speak to a few of the PhDs, you'll realise that there's no such thing as too dumb for physics

I often learned that experiments is a great way understand physics when everything is confusing, with the math being just a tool to observation. I know a couple of good engineers and experimenters that have this mindset and often outclass the theorists stuck in the math

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

I suggest watching The Organic Chemistry Tutor in YT by Julio Gonzales. This helps me to learn more about the physics

Look at it from the converse, being too dumb for physics is the best way to learn physics because then you have the joy of guessing what should happen and be surprised when you’re wrong. The part where you figure out why you’re wrong is the part where most physics takes place anyway and requires the most math too which you’re good at.

Physics professor here.

Do you know how to use all of the pedagogical features of your textbook, and do you make full use of them?

As you read each worked example in the textbook, do you write out all the steps on a piece of paper so you understand them?

Do you visit your professor’s office hours to get assistance with difficult topics?

Do you take advantage of any tutorial services offered by your university?

Are you a study group with other students in the class that meets regularly to go over challenging problems?

Do you have a series of steps that you use to solve physics problems of all kinds?

If the answer to any of these is “No,” I recommend making some changes.

I also struggled with physics when I first started learning it. I’m a physics professor now. lol

It just takes patience with yourself and lots of practice.

Fancy meeting THE Roger Freedman, Associate Teaching Professor Emeritus of Physics at Santa Barbara on reddit of all places.

Umm, what's that? It's just a random person using a pseudonym? Huh...

When people say math and they’re in high school they think about algebra

Physics is more calculus. Which is based on geometry in a way. So, you have to approach it in that way. It’s very “directional” so directions matter

That helped me learn it