Hello! Thank you for asking such an interesting question. As someone who has studied both physics and mathematics extensively, I can tell you that the answer is both yes and no.
On one hand, physics is heavily reliant on mathematical concepts and formulas. Without math, it would be nearly impossible to describe the behavior of the physical world in a quantitative way. In fact, many physicists view mathematics as the language of physics, as it provides a means of expressing the laws of nature in a precise and concise way.
However, it is important to note that physics is not just a branch of mathematics. While math provides the tools necessary for physicists to study the physical world, it is only one part of the picture. In order to fully understand the behavior of the physical world, physicists must also rely on experimentation, observation, and intuition. Physics involves creating models that describe the physical world, and then testing those models through experiments and observations to see if they accurately predict the behavior of the natural world.
When I was studying physics in college, I had a professor who was fond of saying that physics is not just about solving equations, but also about understanding the physical phenomena that those equations describe. He would often tell us stories about his own research, and how he would spend hours staring at equations on a blackboard, trying to make sense of the physical implications of each term.
One of the most memorable experiences I had in my own physics education involved an experiment we did in our optics class. We were studying the phenomenon of total internal reflection, and our professor set up a tank of water with a laser and a mirror inside. The goal of the experiment was to measure the angle at which the laser beam would be reflected back into the water when it hit the mirror at a certain angle.
We spent hours carefully adjusting the angle of the mirror and measuring the angle of reflection, and then comparing our results to the theoretical predictions based on the laws of optics. It was an incredibly satisfying feeling to see our experimental results match up so closely with the predictions of the mathematical model.