The general approach that I use in solving a complex problem involves the steps below when all goes well. When the problem is simple, I am sometimes able to carry out all the steps at once. When I am struggling with a solution, I will generally focus on each step more carefully. Depending upon what catches my eye when I read and re-read the problem, I often change the order I use to analyze the problem. I focus on what I am the most certain about first.

• Read the problem to determine what physical process the problem is describing and make a preliminary guess as to what type of physics principles are involved.
• Make a simple sketch of the process and choose a possible frame of reference.
• Read the problem again to determine what information is explicitly stated.
• Select personal labels to tag the quantities given and add them to the sketch.
• Read the problem again to determine the information requested and tag any unknowns with labels. Add these labels to the sketch.
• Consider what information is probably implied but is not explicitly stated in the problem.
• If necessary, re-read the problem focusing on what law or principle of physics applies to the process taking place in the problem. If the physics involved is new, then I might review the topic material to expand my understanding of the principle to apply.
• Use the generic equations that are relevant and translate them into a set of equations using my personal labels, the information given, and the frame of reference chosen.
• Next apply some mathematical method to generate a bottom-line equation.
• For a symbolic solution, substitute the knowns into the bottom-line equation to determine the unknown requested.
• Finally examine my resulting answers to see if they seem reasonable.

Comments:
When you have found the correct answer (or what you believe is the correct answer) know that you now have a prime opportunity to expand your understanding of the physics underlying the problem. Now is not the time to stop, but to double-check your understanding by asking "what if" questions and exploring where they lead. Once you have a base of understanding connected with some physical process, it is a lot easier to broaden that base than to jump to the next problem and start all over again.

You will also learn a lot by trying to solve the problem using a different approach from a different perspective. There are usually many ways to solve a problem.

The danger of quitting once you find the answer is that it is easy to become imprinted into believing that the method you just used is "the way" one solves this type of problem. Change one tiny thing in a problem and the specific equation and steps needed to find the same variable can be entirely different. What will be the same is the relevant physics and the associated generic equations with which you start.