<p>Ok, I accidently bought the AP physics B book to study college level physics over the summer. The problem is that I'm entering the college of engineering and I just read on the collegeboard that physics C is what I should be studying because its calc based.</p>
<p>Right now, I can't buy the ap physics C book because I'm not in america. Is ap physics B still a decent way to prepare for college physics even if its not calculus-based? or should I hurry up and find another college level textbook and buy it?</p>
<p>You should find the college level textbook and buy it. As an engineering major, you’ll be taking calculus based physics and the AP Physics B textbook won’t prepare you well enough.</p>
<p>Physics B stuff won’t help… it’s a direct memorization sort of course. Calc-based actually requires more than that, so you’d do yourself a favor in getting one as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Physics C will cover B too. Not every school has AP physics C,while B is more common in general. In our school, you cannot get out of calc-based physics 1 unless you got AP P-C with at least score of 4. </p>
<p>I am against to exemplify yourself from calc-based physics when you enter college if you are a science / engineering major. (to high school students)</p>
<p>I would spend my summer time for what I enjoy to do.
It is actually good to spend an hour per day looking over physics B stuff, and other time for games, sports, shopping, eating, showering, sleeping, stalking, facebooking, exploring your areas of interests, and even potential internship.</p>
<p>For college students, summer isn’t just for research, internship, job, or sleeping, or playing console game. A little preparation is better.</p>
<p>Thank you, I’ve had the link in the back of my mind, but I feel its easier to open up a book and do problems in there. but actually I’m looking at the webpage and its actually pretty good because all the problems are worked out; most textbooks do not do that. </p>
<p>Yes, I’m not trying to go crazy over physics like a nerd but playing all day and not doing anything keeps knocking on my conscious.</p>
<p>“Physics B stuff won’t help… it’s a direct memorization sort of course. Calc-based actually requires more than that, so you’d do yourself a favor in getting one as soon as possible.” </p>
<p>This is poor advice given to the OP. Both myself and my son took Physics B in high school and calculus based Physics in college. We both found Physics B to be excellent preparation in that we both mastered the concepts of Physics in high school. After my son took calculus I and II he found that he did not have to spend any time reveiwing the concepts which meant that he could focus his study time on other subjects.</p>
<p>I don’t know about his son, but I have to agree with Proud3894 about the value of B.</p>
<p>I have taken high school physics, AP Physics B (1 semester and I left for personal reason - not because I did bad), and last semester calc-physics 1. So I have at least two years of physics.</p>
<p>Well B is like high school level x 2 IMO, while C is a calc-based…</p>
<p>I had B for first semester then I left, but my friend who went to the same school had completed B and still struggled in physics 1. There are two reasons: 1. the professor was really difficult, everyone who went to our school all agreed. Even my professor (we were in honor section) said that professor put very difficult problems :)</p>
<p>Another reason was simply because he had forgotten some of the stuff already. </p>
<p>Whether it’s B or C, understanding concepts is more critical.
While B does not stress calculus, which is bad in fully understand physics, the basic concepts are covered. </p>
<p>I think everyone should agree that having expose to physics formally before taking calc-based physics is helpful, like high school physics. B is just high school physics + some additional topics. Certainly the materials are a lot more in depth than high school physics. Definitions are a lot more appeal to high school students because they are a lot simpler in words.</p>
<p>However, if you look at calc-based physics textbook, their definitions use calculus (integrals, derivative) all the time. It can get confusing if you are first time expose to physics and calculus one. </p>
<p>Also notice some people are more “natural” to physics. Some people just need to know the definitions, and they can still solve any problem without doing practice problems. :)</p>
<p>Most places in this country treat these two as the same. Generally speaking, Physics B is the same thing as “high school” physics, and Physics C is usually just a second high school physics class. If the material is more in-depth than for this “high school” physics class, it is most likely because of the quality of students in the class, not the depth of material that the class intended to cover. Usually, if a student takes Physics B, it is assumed they are going to continue on to Physics C… usually.</p>
<p>I’m just going to throw this out there: If you are passing calculus-based physics based almost entirely on your knowledge from AP Physics B, you are doing it wrong. You may pass. You may get a good grade. However, taking this route likely means you are still just memorizing equations and the situations they apply to instead of using the calculus as a basis for understanding why the world works the way it works. You can certainly work it that way, but you won’t get that deep understanding that doing it the right way will give you.</p>
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I had B for first semester then I left, but my friend who went to the same school had completed B and still struggled in physics 1. There are two reasons: 1. the professor was really difficult, everyone who went to our school all agreed. Even my professor (we were in honor section) said that professor put very difficult problems
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<p>Probably 9 times out of 10 that someone uses the professor as an excuse for why they did poorly, it is completely bollocks. I think I had only a single class during my undergrad that I could honestly blame my struggles on the professor.</p>
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<p>That isn’t really valid either. Everybody “forgets” things between semesters. If you really learned it well the first time, though, you will have no problem recalling it after minimal work.</p>
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<p>Here is a fundamental error that MANY people seem to have. The basic concepts in physics ARE calculus. In fact, the entire field is governed by differential equations of one sort of another. Physics B does not teach you the basic concepts, it teaches you the higher-level concepts in the hope that when you go back and take a calculus-based class, you can more easily apply the low-level (basic) concepts to the physical world just based on some of the empirical relations you learned before.</p>
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<p>True. It does help some, if not most people to have that high-level overview before delving into the lower-level fundamentals. It isn’t so much helpful from a conceptual standpoint, but because if you know what answer you are looking for from the beginning, you can check your work along the way.</p>
<p>im going to the engineering school at cornell, and they will give u credits and advanced placement for ap physics b, if u get a 5 on the exam AND have taken calculus at high school.</p>
<p>Are you sure that isn’t for the AP Physics C exam? That is incredibly odd that they would let you out of a calculus based physics class without ever having taken calculus based physics. If that is true, I can’t imagine what their reasoning is.</p>
<p>Yeah there’s no way that it counts for Calc-based physics… that is the most absurd thing. Calculus based physics goes so much more in depth in all the concepts you learn in algebra based, so much that you don’t even get to go over a few topics like fluids, optics and thermodynamics… atleast in that class.</p>
<p>I really don’t even see the point of non-calculus based physics unless you’re not a science major but you’re somewhat interested I suppose or you have a requirement. I’m sure that’s what the colleges assume, that either a student is taking physics because they like physics but haven’t had calculus, or they are non-scientists/engineers.</p>
<p>Yeah. That is how UIUC did it when I was there. You also had to get a 5 on the Physics C exams to pass out of the classes. I don’t even know if they allow that anymore.</p>
<p>“I really don’t even see the point of non-calculus based physics unless you’re not a science major but you’re somewhat interested I suppose or you have a requirement. I’m sure that’s what the colleges assume, that either a student is taking physics because they like physics but haven’t had calculus, or they are non-scientists/engineers.”</p>
<p>Your statements regarding non-calculus based Physics not being adequate preparation for calculus based Physics should come with a cavaet. If you had a poor Physics high school teacher who did not understand the basic concepts of Physics than your statements would be correct. If that teacher stressed memorization as you keep refering to that was a problem. However, my son had a very competent high school (non- calculus based Physics) teacher who prepared him well for advanced Physics at Cornell.</p>
<p>You are missing the point, Proud3894. There is really no way that you are going to be proficient in calculus-based physics if all you have taken is algebra-based physics and a separate calculus class. That is the assumption made if Cornell really does accept a 5 on Physics B plus high school calculus as the equivalent of their entry mechanics class. If that is true, the only way they could rationalize it is I guess by assuming that they will become proficient in their E&M class and be able to retroactively apply it to mechanics. I am not sure how valid that assumption really is though.</p>