High School Physics/How to solve physics problems

The triangle: Pythagoras will remind us of his famous formula: A^2 + B^2 = C^2

       /|
     C/ | A    Pythagorean Theorem: A^2 + B^2 = C^2
     /  |      (ex) Billy started at the park. To get to his house, he went east for 3 miles and north for 4 miles. When he came
    /___|      home very tired, his sister said to him "Silly, the fastest way to get somewhere is a straight line. So since you                      
      B        went east for 3 miles, That means B = 3 and B^2 = 9. Since you went north for 4 miles, that means A = 4 and A^2 =    
               16. So to get C^2, i just add up A^2 and B^2 and thats equal to 25. So the answer is 25 and the "turnip root" of 25
               is 5. Only if you got here 2 miles earlier, you wouldn't have been so tired, Billy!"

Algebra Concepts

/The pyramid of algebra

    / \     Where A = BC
   / A \    How to use it: Whatever you want the equation to be equal to, just block that part out
  /B | C\   (ex) if i wanted B in terms of A and C, just block B and it will equate to visually, "A divided by C"

                         Almost all physics problems at this stage are in the form, A = BC

  (ex) General Purpose Problem
   ______
  |      |          |\  9 N                -3n    
  |      |          | \               =====O  / \       D = 5 meters 
  | 1 kg |  --------| /_              =====O |   |      T = 2 seconds
  |______|          |/__|             =====O  \ /       Mass = 1 kg
                    []_______5 meters________[]           gravity = 9.8 m/s^2

Joey Newton recent got into trouble by his parents. His parents, knowing that Joey was a strong kid with 9 Newtons of force, placed a 1 Kg bowling ball to his foot to prevent him from running away. To make things worse, Johnny has a really strong "anti-Escape" fan that exerts 3n on his foot.

From the following Problem, Figure out the answer given the following concepts:

A. What is the Force? (chapter 1:Force) B. What is the Acceleration? (chapter 2: Acceleration) A. W = Mass X gravity (chapter 4: Energy)

B. What is the net force of the problem, assuming his leg is "actually" the bowling ball.

The doodle/Diagram: Basically its there to visualize problems and see how the concepts and the picture is related. One of the best concepts in which can be gained by drawing out the diagrams is a better understanding of the materials. Usually by drawing such diagrams, the math to it can be vastly simplified.

To aid in solving a problem, always assign the numbers which are given with their respective value.

Keywords for solving physics problems The general keywords that usually appear in problems in "the object starts at rest" = The initual velocity (Vo) is 0 "the object stops at rest" = The final velocity (Vf) is 0 "goes faster" =Add "goes slower" = Subtract Distance, Displacement, Movement = the change from the final distance from the starting position. "north" "South" -They either want you to use the pythagorean theorem or use vector diagrams elongates, stretches = gets bigger Also, try to imagine the 'physical situation' as given in the problem. for ex, if in the problem it is given that the 'wheel is rolling without slpping' try to imagine it in your head, and then go about solving the problems. Especially in mechanics it helps a lot.