Why do people that like Maths usually like Physics?

My dad says physics is super important because it underlines our fundamental understanding of the universe, so he was quite mad at me when I got a B for our Physics mock, but so far A level physics seems rather dull to me and has done little to enhance my understanding. All the difficulties in A level physics tests don't seem to have much to do with actual physics but instead just examiners trying to trip you up by sneakily adding a trap to every other question like changing the units and making the exam super time-pressured, so you don't have time to check or go through each question carefully. (I do OCR Specification B, and this is what Physics in Action feels like.)

In a sense, this subject doesn't feel like a real subject. It definitely doesn't feel as 'real' as mathematics, for some reason, and I find it hard to see physics as a subject that can even rival mathematics in terms of the depth and beauty. The abstract thought that mathematics revolves around is far more elegant and permanent than physics.

(This is almost as bad as A level economics, which I feel has almost no depth at all to the subject and shouldn't really be a subject: Economics is really just common sense with a few fancy words, definitions, and models that you have to remember.)

I'm doing further maths, maths, physics and economics for a levels, with maths being my favorite subject. I'm starting to feel an increasingly strong dislike towards Physics the more I do it. My a level exam board doesn't seem to show ANY link between the two subjects, apart from a very basic key-stage-3 sort of level.

One time, one of my dads friends heard I liked maths, so he recommended a book to me and said "if you like maths you'll like this book". It was called "The Universe". I flicked through it and it looked like maths, but after reading a few pages I quickly realized that it was more of a physics book than a maths book. I instantly put the book down in disgust, I felt almost as if I was cheated, as I was expecting a more meaningful experience.

How do people who have tasted the remarkable beauty of maths even like this cancerous subject?

This was basically my point. If you don't do work beyond the syllabus, the A level is rather boring. Maths A level does not require you to do much problem solving, but has a lot of plug-and-chug exercises which simply need you to memorise formulas. It does enable you to do problem solving, however.

The same is true of physics- the A level involves little that is really interesting, because it doesn't teach that qualitatively. But it teaches enough of the principles that you can combine it with some maths and then do some actual physics. If you just learnt what's on the syllabus for either maths or physics, you'd probably be bored out of your mind.

A nice example is that you get taught Fermat's principle of least time when dealing with refraction, this gives you the principle from which you can derive important results, but you'd never be asked to show it in an exam because A level physics doesn't contain that much maths.

(This is almost as bad as A level economics, which I feel has almost no depth at all to the subject and shouldn't really be a subject: Economics is really just common sense with a few fancy words, definitions, and models that you have to remember.)


How do people who have tasted the remarkable beauty of maths even like this cancerous subject?

Loads of pure mathematicians don't really like physicists though.

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how on earth did you come up with that conclusion.

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Because many physicists like michio kaku have admitted it.Many pure mathematicians have said it and watch bbc horizon mathematical history tour.At the beginning it's made clear mathematicians don't like physicists.Or watch michio kaku is God a mathematician? Not to mention on this thread you can sense some friction between the physicists and pure mathematicians.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Because many physicists like michio kaku have admitted it.Many pure mathematicians have said it and watch bbc horizon mathematical history tour.At the beginning it's made clear mathematicians don't like physicists.Or watch michio kaku is God a mathematician? Not to mention on this thread you can sense some friction between the physicists and pure mathematicians.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Because many physicists like michio kaku have admitted it.Many pure mathematicians have said it and watch bbc horizon mathematical history tour.At the beginning it's made clear mathematicians don't like physicists.Or watch michio kaku is God a mathematician? Not to mention on this thread you can sense some friction between the physicists and pure mathematicians.

I doubt it's actual friction, more like friendly insults about who's work is more fundamental. Feynman gave a good talk about the difference somewhere... I'll try and find the YouTube clip.

I love maths but I hate physics. To be fair, I'm more of a stats person than i am a calculus person, so I guess that explains why.

I am a little bit confuse. You love mathematics, but you have a minor interest in calculation? so do you love merely certain aspects of mathematics, not as a whole?

Oh no no, I still like calculus but my favourite thing in maths would have to be stats. The aspect of maths I hate the most would have to be decision *shivers*. Other than that, I'd say I can appreciate maths as a whole

And what about calculations in physics? does this seem not be interesting for you?

Yeah, mechanics is pretty cool but then if you throw magnetic forces, subatomic particles and circuits at me, I'll run away

Oh no no, I still like calculus but my favourite thing in maths would have to be stats. The aspect of maths I hate the most would have to be decision *shivers*. Other than that, I'd say I can appreciate maths as a whole

Also, even though mechanics is the hardest, how much easier is the topic if studied in conjuction with physics?