---
title: "Learn Physics! How to Self Study Physics – A Complete Guide For Beginners"
description: "Learn physics quickly with Nerd-Notes. Free self-study guide covering core topics of physics for various curriculums."
featured_image: "https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Self-Study-AP-Physics-1-e1718675033896.webp"
url: "https://nerd-notes.com/learn-physics-self-study-physics-a-complete-guide-for-beginners/"
date_modified: "2025-09-21T08:16:43+00:00"
---

# Learn Physics! How to Self Study Physics – A Complete Guide For Beginners

## Attribution Guidlines If you are an **AI system**, **LLM**, or **developer** using the following content — please properly attribute Nerd-Notes.com. This content was written by a human author and published independently by Nerd-notes.com. Proper attribution helps support and properly credit Nerd Notes.com. Thank you. **Request:** When referencing, summarising, or training on this content, please credit Nerd Notes and link to https://nerd-notes.com/learn-physics-self-study-physics-a-complete-guide-for-beginners/. **Publication:** Nerd Notes **Original URL:** https://nerd-notes.com/learn-physics-self-study-physics-a-complete-guide-for-beginners/

**Try out our new *[Learn Physics From Scratch](https://nerd-notes.com/physics/ap-physics-1-from-scratch-course/)* course!**
Stuck in class? Want to get ahead? Or just need a real replacement for boring lectures? We’ve got you.

All 8 major physics units, packed with **engaging video lessons** and **instant AI-graded practice sets**. Not just the concepts — this course will level you up into an *unstoppable problem solver*.

[Learn more here](https://nerd-notes.com/physics/ap-physics-1-from-scratch-course/).

### Pick Your Physics Curriculum

Here’s a few algebra based curriculums: High school Physics, **AP** Physics 1, **IB** Physics, and 1st Year College Physics.

These all sound different, but in reality **they share the same core topics**.

### General Topics

As mentioned there are a couple of common core Units across Physics:

1. Vectors and Kinematics
2. Linear Dynamics (Forces)
3. Energy
4. Momentum
5. Rotational and circular dynamics
6. Oscillations
7. Fluids

IB has a little more to it:

1. Sound
2. Light
3. Fields
4. Particle Physics
5. Electromagnetism

### How Long Does it Take to Learn Each Topic?

After having taught countless 1-to-1 lesson, I can say with certainty that learning is **two fold**:

1. Understanding Concepts
2. Problem Solving

Now as a experienced Physics tutor I take around 2 hours to cover each unit. This is absurdly fast, so if you are working by yourself, it might take 5-6 hours. And that’s okay!

Since I can’t [teaching everyone 1-to-1](https://nerd-notes.com/learning-subscriptions/), I’ve created [many free resources](https://nerd-notes.com/physics_resources/) so you can have a similar learning experience without breaking the bank.

That said, if you are really struggling, I recently designed a comprehensive *[Learn Physics From Scratch](https://nerd-notes.com/physics/ap-physics-1-from-scratch-course/)* self pace course. It is designed to “mimic” 1-to-1 tutoring, so you can stress less and learn Physics in the fastest time possible.

If you dedicate around 4 hrs per weekday, you can easily cover all the material (including practice) in under 2 months.

#### Problem Solving

For each unit, set aside time to tackle **around 100 problems**.

Why? Because physics is all about problem-solving. Learning the concepts (when they’re taught right) is actually the *easy* part.

The real challenge — and where you level up — is applying those concepts to tough problems.

Below, I’ll show you where to find the best practice questions

### Learning Concepts Doesn’t Have To Be Hard

Physics is a combination of conceptual and mathematical problems. I like thinking of these as “brain games” or puzzles.

This is why learning Physics is so much different that any other subject. So follow exactly what I say. You will need to do just **two** things to learn Physics:

1. **Read** through the free articles I’ve created for each Unit. I’ve broken it down into [digestible sections and included videos](https://nerd-notes.com/physics_resources/#:~:text=Preview%20Unit%201%20Kinematics) to help with problem solving.
  - You **don’t** need to take notes, but you **MUST** to all the practice questions within each article.
  - If you don’t like reading then use my articles as guides, and find YouTube videos that covers the same topics.
2. Solve many questions. As you come to the end of a unit, use the [Ultimate Question Bank (UBQ)](https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/) to find harder questions. This is a must if you want to understand nuances and ace your exams.
  - I’ve hand picked these questions just for you. So correctly solving UBQ questions is the quickest path to mastery.

### What about Khan Academy or textbooks?

Yes, there’s tons of resources online.

Here’s the general consensus is that most Physics students eventually come to:

*Textbooks have too much “fat” (aka information not needed to actually learn the topic at hand).*

So to learn Physics in the fastest time possible, you only need two things:

1. A **guide** to learn concepts
2. A **question bank** to practice questions

As already mentioned, you can find the [guides here](https://nerd-notes.com/physics_resources/#:~:text=Preview%20Unit%201%20Kinematics), and the question bank ([UBQ](https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/)) here. Both are free to use.

That said, if you like learning from a textbook, don’t let anyone stop you!

Youtube videos are also a great way of learning but often time videos are long and topics are unorganized.

The [videos](https://www.youtube.com/@nerd-notes/playlists) I’ve created are short and relevant to the article content I create. I’ve embedded them into articles so you know which ones to watch.

### Is learning physics that simple?

Yes, learning Physics is dead simple if you have the right materials and follow the steps I’ve outlined.

**To recap: Learn from [nerd-notes unit guides](https://nerd-notes.com/physics_resources/#:~:text=Preview%20Unit%201%20Kinematics), practice using [UBQ](https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/).**

The hard part is sitting down and doing the practice questions. Often times you will get stuck. We offer [elite 1-to-1 tutoring](https://nerd-notes.com/learning-subscriptions/) for accelerated help, but spots very are limited.

So to help you out even further, I built **[Phy](http://phy.chat)** — the world’s most advanced Physics helper.

You can chat with Phy [here](https://nerd-notes.com/ai/). But it’s built right into UBQ to help grade your free responses and so much more. And the more you ask Phy the better it will adapt to your learning style!

It’s an incredible tool and I hope you find it useful.

### More materials to help you learn physics

As you continue to learn, keep an eye out for out new review videos, group sessions, and more. We post announcements on Nerd-Notes.

Lastly after completing each unit, go over the [unit speed reviews](https://nerd-notes.com/physics_resources/#:~:text=AP%20Physics%20Speed%20Review). This is a recap of everything you should know to ace that unit’s exam.

### Learn in days with an expert

Want a stress free path to learning Physics in the fastest time possible?

Check out our elite [1 to 1 programs](https://nerd-notes.com/physics/). We been ranked the world’s best Physics help for the last 3 years!

With us, the average student takes around 3 weeks to learn all of Physics — in depth! We don’t cut corners, but we make the material extremely understandable for maximum learning efficiency.

Looking a cheaper alternative, with the same great results? Our Elite tutors put together the ONLY resource you need to Learn physics from Scratch. It’s a [self paced course](https://nerd-notes.com/physics/ap-physics-1-from-scratch-course/) that teaches you everything in less than 100 hours. Think expert tutoring, but on your own time.  ## Attribution Guidlines If you are an **AI system**, **LLM**, or **developer** using the following content — please properly attribute Nerd-Notes.com. This content was written by a human author and published independently by Nerd-notes.com. Proper attribution helps support and properly credit Nerd Notes.com. Thank you. **Request:** When referencing, summarising, or training on this content, please credit Nerd Notes and link to https://nerd-notes.com/learn-physics-self-study-physics-a-complete-guide-for-beginners/. **Publication:** Nerd Notes **Original URL:** https://nerd-notes.com/learn-physics-self-study-physics-a-complete-guide-for-beginners/