Hey guys, I’m in Ap physics E and M this year and have a bad teacher. Unfortunately he is a new teacher and a lot of people in the class are having trouble understanding what is going on, including myself. Is there a book you guys recommend that I can use to help me understand and learn the material so I don’t bomb the ap test? Thanks
Textbooks or review books?
@Episteme would a review book work well to teach me information I don’t know? I think a text book may be too much
There are only a few review books on the market, and none of them are (in my opinion) exceptional.
- AP Advantage: Physics C - Mooney
- Cracking the AP Physics C Exam - Princeton Review
- Barron's AP Physics C
The first two are more than adequate for content review. The third is more difficult than the test, both in content review and practice problems; only use it if you would like to master the material well beyond the difficulty of the AP exam.
My recommendation is to use a textbook to learn the material, the review books to review, and both the textbook and the review books as sources of practice problems. The simplest and probably the most effective way to learn introductory physics is to first understand the concepts and then do a ton of practice problems until you fully understand the material.
That being said, what exactly are you having trouble with? Understanding the concepts, doing problems, or both? As someone who self-studied E&M, take it from me that it is probably the hardest course you could take in high school. It isn’t meant to be easy and takes quite a bit of time and effort to master.
@Episteme I’m having trouble understanding concepts and setting up equations. Right now with mid terms coming up, my main concern I with mech (that’s what will be on the mid term) .
Have you tried reading your textbook? Is it too hard to understand?
Is there any other teacher on campus who has previously taught the course or knows the subject well enough who might be of help? (At my high school, for example, one of the chemistry teacher is almost as knowledgeable as the AP Physics instructor.)
Watch videos on Khan Academy. Ask students in your class who do understand the material if they could help or tutor you.
Basically, you need to try a variety of resources of varying difficulty levels before you will find something that clicks. Make sure that you understand the fundamentals before you move onto the subsequent topics.
That’s all I can say based on the information you’ve provided so far. If you want to provide more details about specific concepts or problems you’re having difficulty with, I may be able to point you towards relevant resources.