<p>Next year, i'm taking ap Physics B as a junior without having taken annny physics classes before although i finished Algebra II Trig honors. I'm really good at math but worried that i havent taken a physics class at all. i'm also doing Physics Workbook for Dummies over the summer to help prepare. Is there any advice or comments that people can give who have taken AP Physics B before, like about how difficult the class is and the exam itself? thanks!!!</p>
<p>The difficulty of the class depends on your teacher.</p>
<p>The exam itself is actually the most difficult exam I have ever taken. If you want to do well, understand the concepts thoroughly and do the concept questions at the end of each chapter in your textbook.</p>
<p>I also went into Physics B without any prior Physics instruction. I just learned as we went along. It really depends on your teacher and your work ethic. If your teacher is competent and you know you can keep up with the work, I don’t feel like you really need to prepare over the summer.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t feel like the exam is THAT difficult (at least, not compared to the Physics C exams). The most difficult part isn’t the depths, but rather the breadth. You have to cover a wide range of topics, but, for the most part, if you understand how and when to apply the right formulas, you should be fine.</p>
<p>I took a year of Honors Physics before taking Physics B as a sophomore, and found the exam and the class to be fairly easy (scored a 5 on the exam), though most of my classmates (who were seniors) struggled. I’d recommend Princeton Review Cracking the AP…most of the topics in that book would have been covered by a first year physics class before the AP. If you can grasp a fair amount of that over the summer, you should be fine, especially if your school allows students to take Physics B with no physics pre req. The math is nothing to worry about, you only need very basic trig to do vectors in the beginning of the year. To study for the exam, Princeton Review’s multiple choice questions are really great. I’d also suggest making flashcards of pretty much every formula you’ve used throughout the year and committing them to memory before the exam, as you will need them on the multiple choice section (much moreso than the other science APs).</p>
<p>I took Physics B without any prior physics knowledge and got a (pretty easy) 5. My teacher wasn’t the greatest at teaching or explaining things, but I must credit him with doing LOTS and LOTS of released AP FRQ’s (probably because he was too lazy to come up with his own problems) and going over them. Our tests were also released AP MC and FRQ’s. I managed to understand the concepts behind the equations by doing the FRQ’s and listening to the explanations. But, the difficulty depends on both your teacher and your ability to understand physics concepts (which may be better than you initially expect; that was definitely the case for me).</p>
<p>What they said. Do lots of problems, both conceptual and the mathy ones. Understand why you got a problem wrong or why you couldn’t even start on it. Remember and know how to use every formula on the sheet. Don’t procrastinate, obviously. You will need to cover a lot of material, and the more wisely you use your time, the better you will do on the exam.</p>
<p>(I self-studied this while taking Algebra 2 and got a 5.)</p>