Hey! I even answered the question. As a physics professor here used to say, “F=ma, what’s the problem?”
I think he really meant F=d/dt [mv].
I think people have forgoten to say somthing… well done Miles! 
He never said if he copied the answer from somewhere else or if he figured it out on his own.
Then again, you may have your own definition of “well done”…
How do I close a thread?
You can only do it in the tradng fourms, but its under the thread tools.
Oh okay, thanks.
I’ll take that as a “I copied the answer from physicsforums.com”.
Too bad.
Grade-based education is so faulty.
Why do you say that?
I think it’s a fine system, as long as those determining grades don’t “soften” the curve… i.e. if “C” is defined as “Average” then why don’t most students get "C"s?
The problem becomes compounded when teachers pass students who may not have mastered the material, then the students find themselves unable to manage in a higher-level class… i.e. a student “scraping by” in Algebra will quickly sink in a Calculus class. Teachers shouldn’t be so judicious with passing grades.
My favorite professor in college often flunked 1/3rd of incoming freshman as they “weren’t ready” for basic physics classes. His upper-division classes were brutal; exam scores averaged in the 40-50% range. Some saw him as brutal, others said brilliant. Sadly, there aren’t many like him.
There must be a moan thread for all your complaints. 
Let’s be clear.
I’m a pedant, not a whiner! 
It results in most students studying not to obtain valuable knowledge, but to get good grades on their report and eventually a diploma.
From high school, I remember a lot of students who were able to get excellent(even exemplary) grades in Physics without having a real understanding of the subject(I gathered that from talking to them and hearing them ask questions in class).
It’s just jumping through hoola-hoops.
Exams must be the other problem. Most don’t test your understanding, but memorisation skills. Not so much in physics, but a lot in other subjects.
I don’t know about the American system, but that’s how it was when I studied for my A-levels(British system).
Okay then, your a whining pedant, that fits Owwww I missed out the full stop, This marks my end
This thread makes me feel incredibly lucky to have been through such a rigorous high school program. Yay IB!
Exactly.
One must have a good imagination to write a truly challenging exam. It takes courage to administer it to a group of students who expect to produce all the answers from memory. One must be resolute to flunk any number of students that cannot demonstrate mastery of a subject.
Sadly, it seems many instructors lack one or more of those qualities.
School shouldn’t be so much of a hoop to jump through as a rite of passage.
sheesh give the guy a brake. Physics is not a very easy subject to learn. I myself have difficulty with it. Its not like he asked where he could purchase the answer book from. Maybe his Physics teacher is a bad teacher who doesn’t explain things well. All he wanted was some help on a conceptual question that is confusing. Think before you accuse someone of trying to undermine their own education. I would find it quite insulting.
Maestro complains a lot, but his complaints deal with things worth thinking about it. He can come off as a jerk some(lots of)times, but he’s wiser than most on the forums, and many of his complaints are valid. Don’t just dismiss them.
My college physics book.
I hear you. Perhaps to be more specific on my previous post, most of my teachers in my high school career (with some notable exceptions, as Alex can attest to as well) have been very good about testing us to make sure we actually understand the material, so we’re not just regurgitating old stuff. My physics teacher isn’t afraid to fail those who need to be failed - and on tests, that can mean a LOT of bad grades. Luckily, if you just pay attention and do the assigned homework, you’ll learn a lot of physics concepts. He pretty much guarantees it’s not just a memorization test by allowing us to use an equation booklet with many of the fundamental equations for things like magnetic flux, various wave characteristics, dilated time and contracted length, etc. so that we really need to understand how to apply those equations in relation to each other to complete a largely conceptual problem.
Hopefully, college will be a continuation of this, because I love this style of learning.
OK so I really go off on a tangent, This started as a reply to Maestro’s post and about the prof that failed the first year and it evolved into something else.
Here it is:
The only university class that I have failed was Math 110 for Engineers. If you failed but had over a 40 you could re-take it and take the classes that have Math 110 as a pre-request.
I went to every class, lab and work session and while I did better than average I failed with a 39. Class average was 34 with a 80% fail rate (only 20% of the class passed). I went to the dean to find out if this was normal and he told me that while there are 400 spots for first year Engineering there are only 200 spots for upper year Engineering. Math 110 and GE 110 (which I did very well in) were made disproportionally difficult to cut down the number of students that continue to upper years. Then he told me to take the arts and science math to boost my average and a couple electives to take the spot of the classes that Math 110 was a pre-requisite for.
I took the Arts and Science version of Math 110 (shows up identical on a grade transcript) and got a mark in the high nineties even though I skipped many of the lectures. The entire Arts and Science curriculum was taught in the first 3 hours of the engineering version.
The next year I struggled with, but passed, the higher level math classes since my grasp on the stuff that they taught in the Engineering version of math 110 was weak. I can deal with failing a class that is difficult, but there really should not be classes with the same name but completely different content so that arts students can pass.
I dropped out of Engineering after my third term and am now almost done my diploma program to become a Forest Technician in Ecosystem Based Management. It’s more my style anyway.