A-2: PROBLEM SOLVING

Problem solving is an art best learned by practice. It requires

understanding, systematic procedure, ingenuity, common sense,
and creativity. Problem solving is learned easily by some
students, for whom the process may seem "obvious" or "trivial."
Most students will need quite a bit of practice before they attain
confidence in their abilities.
How do you get to Carnegie
Hall? Practice, practice, and
more practice.

The student who has little or no previous practice in problem

solving should start by following a systematic procedure to
ensure the avoidance of trivial mistakes and develop good
habits.
Such a systematic procedure is given below. You might call it a
"cook-book" method for problem solving! Some steps may seem
obvious, but even good students would benefit from reading and
using them. This procedure is one that the best and most
successful students actually use.
As an example of what even good students can learn from this
procedure, note that it suggests solving the problem
Do the algebra first; thenput
in the numbers.

algebraically before inserting numerical values. Many students,

left to themselves, take a long time to discover that the algebraic
solution often eliminates some quantities from the calculation

entirely, and considerably simplifies the arithmetic that must be

performed.
Most rules have exceptions. You will encounter problems,
especially in advanced courses, where the algebra becomes so
messy that it is simpler to numerically evaluate certain key
quantities along the way. Knowing when to do this comes from
having a good grasp of the complete solution strategy before
actually doing the gory details.
Although the procedure summarized below is a good one, used
by many successful students, it is not presented as the only
correct one! Use it while you are learning. When you reach the
point where you understand physics well, you will no longer
need these "cook book" rules.
HOW TO SOLVE PHYSICS PROBLEMS
1. Read the problem carefully!
2. Terms: Do you know and understand the definitions of all
words and terms used in the problem? If not, look them up with
the aid of the index of your textbook. If you still don't quite
understand them, try another book. Attempting a problem
without knowing precisely what it means is futile; your time
would be better spent learning basic definitions and principles.
3. List all given facts. Some important facts may not be
explicitly stated, but are understood by the context of the
problem. For example:
a) Mechanics problems often refer to situations at the surface of
the earth, where g = 9.8 m/s2, approximately.

b) Air resistance and friction are usually neglected (treated as

having negligible effect) unless the problem explicitly mentions
them.
4. Draw a diagram to help you visualize the physical situation.
Label it well, and insert any given values.
5. Decide what sort of answer is required. List and label (in the
diagram) all relevant unknowns.
6. Consider the situation carefully. [This requires thinking about
it.] List the principles that apply to this problem. Double-check:
are you sure they apply? Write down the principles in formula
form.
7. Stop to think about what you now have. Decide which
combinations of facts, formulae and principles will most
efficiently lead to the desired result. If necessary, split the
problem into smaller parts that are easier to handle. Make
approximations if high precision isn't necessary. Some given
facts may not be needed, so ignore them if you are certain they
don't apply.
8. You may need some formulae or theorems from pure
mathematics. List those you think might help. Look them up if
you have the slightest doubt about the reliability of your
memory.
9. Solve the problem mathematically for the
unknown(s), without yet inserting numerical values.

desired

10. Decide which unit system you will use. If most or all of the
data is expressed in one unit system, that's probably the best

system to use. Convert all of the data to the units of the chosen
unit system.
11. Insert the given numerical values into the mathematical
result, and perform the operations to obtain the answer(s).
12. Check each answer. Think about it critically. Is it reasonable?
Make independent checks on the answer. Compare each answer
with something with which you are familiar.
13. If the "answer" is an equation, test it with simple values, or
for simple cases, where you are sure of the results.
14. Never submit your first draft. Reorganize and rewrite it,
explaining the reasons for all steps (except for the obvious
elementary operations). This process may seem like extra work,
but it is part of the important process of communicating your
understanding to others, and doing it will strengthen your own
understanding. It might even clarify some points in your mind,
or even expose a blunder or error you might have made.
Some students become so good at this that their first drafts are nearly good enough for final
submission. I once had a student who worked all his homework and exam problems using a
fountain pen, and they were as organized and clear as anyone could want. The few occasional
errors were "lined out" neatly. But note, in my 38 years of teaching, I only hadone student who
was that organized and confident in understanding. It's rare.

GENERAL HINTS FOR WORKING PROBLEMS:

Don't be reluctant to use several pages for a problem. Crowded
work is hard to read and hard to check in case of a blunder.
Write on only one side of each sheet and leave margins around
all sides.

Be neat and orderly. Never submit your original "scratch"

solutions. Recopy them into organized form. This step is not
merely to make the work "look good." Doing this helps you to
organize your thoughts and reinforce your understanding of the
problem.
Include labeled diagrams as appropriate, the labels consistent
with the notation used in the problem.
Include explanatory words stating what principle is being used,
what assumptions have been made, which case is being
considered, etc. The problem solution should never be a
disjointed collection of equations. It should read as a narrative of
words, equations, and diagrams. The worked examples of
textbooks serve as a good model for your problem solutions.
Carry all units through the numerical calculations as a check on
the work. Label final answers and give their units.
Do problems as a way to strengthen your understanding and
improve your skills. Do not be content with just "getting the
answer." Be sure that you know why the method works. Ask
yourself if there are other ways the problem might be done. If
there are, you can check your results and perhaps find an easier
method, or a clearer one.
Physics textbooks today have many examples of worked
problems. If you treat them merely as recipes or patterns, hoping
that exam questions will be "just like" them, only with different
numbers, they will do you no good at all. You won't have
learned a thing from them.

Someone once said that you should never do a problem without

first knowing the answer! This means that you should first think
the problem through, using your physical intuition and common
sense, to get a good idea of what a reasonable answer would be.
This is good advice. If your advance "intelligent guess" turns out
to be right, you will gain confidence in your understanding. If it
turns out to be wrong, you may discover a flaw in your analysis
that will help you avoid such mistakes in the future.
"Getting the right answer" isn't the only important goal. You
want to learn something about physics as you do the problem,
and you want to polish your skills at doing physics.
In my undergraduate days at the University of Iowa I knew a
physics stockroom clerk, Mr. Grescher, who hadn't a degree to
his name, but could make any physics apparatus work. He was
responsible for all the equipment professors used for
demonstrations in their classes; he helped them design it, and
he'd set it up and have it working before the professor came to
lecture. His genuine interest, cleverness and willingness to
Do you understand all you
know about it?

"tinker" had given him a really good intuitive understanding of

physics. Sometimes we student assistants would need to borrow
a piece of physics equipment from his stockroom. Before letting
it out of his care, he'd question us about what we intended to do
with it, and make sure we knew how to use it properly. When
students tried to show off their knowledge by high-powered
mathematical analyses. Mr. Grescher would tolerate this just so
long, then haul them up short with the question "Do
you understand all you know about it?" Students ought to ask

themselves that question, often. There's a great difference

between knowing facts and information, and genuine
understanding.
Another lesson I learned as an undergrade was from the director
of the radiology lab at the University Hospitals. I had been given
the task of taking some metal Geiger-Mler tubes there to be xrayed, so we'd have a picture of their internal geometry for a
published paper. We wanted the X-ray source to be far from the
tubes, for least geometric distortion, but that put the x-ray tube
They are trained,
noteducated. They
know onlywhat they've been
taught.

well off its calibrated scale. The lab technician assigned to help
me could not calculate the proper exposure, since she was used
to simply reading that value from the scale. I suggested
calculating it using the inverse square law, but she was unsure
whether that was appropriate, and asked her boss. He shrugged,
and scribbled some calculations on a prescription pad (using the
inverse square law) and looked at the result. "Set the current at
the same value you'd use for a Baby's arm." That she
understood! Later, when she was out of the room, he said to me
"It's so hard to get good help. They are trained,
noteducated. They know only what they've been taught."
A philosophy professor at that school challenged me by asking
why I was taking his philosophy of science course, since it
wasn't required of physics majors, and I was the only physics
major taking it that year. I responded with something naive like,
"I think it might give me broader perspective to enhance my

understanding of what physics is all about." "Nonsense," he

replied. "To be good at physics, you have to `have physics in
your bones'. If you don't, no course will do you any good, not
even mine."
Galileo Galilei observed, "You can't teach anyone anything; you
can only help them find it within themselves." The education
You can't teach anyone
anything; you can only help
them find it within
themselves.

that lasts the longest and does you the most good in the long run
is that you achieve by your own hard work, sweat, brainstorming
and perseverance. Instructors can give you hints,
encouragement, point out your errors, show where you went
wrong, prod you to try harder; but if they have to finally give up
and show you how to do it they know that the process has failed.
1996, 2004 by Donald E. Simanek.