<p>Im a rising Jr and my counselor advised me to take some kind of physics class before graduating and going to pre med just to be prepared. I'm an AP student and all my classes are advanced and honors, so taking a regular physics class would be boring and look kinda sorta bad on my transcript. Also, I do not have any space in my schedule for senior year to take AP Physics C :( so i decided that I should self study for AP Physics B since its a bit easier than C. So here are a few Qs I need to know:
1. Can I self study with a review book only or do I NEED a textbook?
2. What is the exam's format? (B)
3. What is the best review book?
4. Any free online textbooks/review materials available?
5. Will it be hard to score at least a 4?
In case you need to know my math level, I will be in AP stats and PreCalc next year. I took Geometry and adv. Algebra 2 and trig last two yrs.
Thank you in advance! :D</p>
<p>Taking AP Physics B is a great idea for you going on the Pre-Med track. Physics C really won’t help you much, as physics B is more for those going into medical fields, whereas physics C is for the engineers and scientists. But anyway, here some opinion answers to your questions:</p>
<p>1) You can study with either. I personally read mostly, if not all, from a textbook for either physics exam. You can use the textbook as a guideline for the maximum you could learn, the review book for the minimum you can learn. Then, learn as much as you can, making sure you are at least in the middle.</p>
<p>2) The exam format for 2014 is the same as before: 70-multiple choice questions in 90 minutes for section I, and 6-7 free response questions (80 points total) in Section II. The number (6 or 7) depends on how many 15pt questions there are.
The test will be re-done starting with the 2015 administration, splitting to AP Physics I and II (two separate tests). I do not know the structure for those tests yet (although I don’t think it matters to you), but the new exam involves a LOT more explaining and writing instead of math problems from skimming through some of the practice free-response problems.
So it depends when you are taking the exam.</p>
<p>3) I’ve heard different things for the best review book, and I personally never used one for any of the Physics exams. I’d recommend using multiple review books, but if you have to pick one, then start off with Barrons.</p>
<p>4) Here are some websites you can use:
- [The</a> Physics Classroom](<a href=“The Physics Classroom Website”>The Physics Classroom Tutorial)
- [MIT</a> OpenCourseWare](<a href=“http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm]MIT”>MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials)
- [Khan</a> Academy](<a href=“https://www.khanacademy.org/]Khan”>https://www.khanacademy.org/)
- [Learn</a> AP Physics - AP Physics B](<a href=“http://www.learnapphysics.com/apphysicsb/]Learn”>http://www.learnapphysics.com/apphysicsb/)</p>
<p>5) It depends on how hard you study, and depends on you. To some people (like me), the test might be really easy to get a five. They could have studied for many hours beforehand or it just comes naturally to them. To some people, they think the test is hard, whether they can’t understand even with all the studying or they just didn’t study at all. So it’s up to you.</p>
<p>Pre-Cal and trig will help a lot with the class, as Physics B is all algebra based. So you should be set there.</p>
<p>Darksaber21 thank you! Thats really helpful! :)</p>