I didn’t see a thread for mechanics next year yet, so I decided to create one myself!
I’m really excited about this course, I made a thread explaining this earlier but I took AP Physics 1 this year, and I will only taking Mech (no E&M), so I wasn’t sure how normal that would be.
I also will be taking it online (so essentially self studying)- so if any of you guys have tips and tricks or good study resources feel free to share them throughout the year! Hoping it won’t be too too difficult online, though I’m taking AP calc concurrently so my calculus skills are somewhat limited until the year progresses, which somewhat worries me.
Any of you already have study plans set up?
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
I’m adding E&M to this conversation; the separate E&M thread for 2014-2015 did not get much action, so it makes no sense to have a separate discussion.
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Taking this class too, also right after AP 1, though I’m also taking E&M too.
I’ve already taken Calc but I heard it shouldn’t be a problem taking both concurrently.
I don’t have any study plans for the summer, not really feeling like having one.
Hey, I am also self studying just Mechanics this year! What textbook will you use? I’ve got University Physics but I dont know which chapters are for mechanics.
How difficult or plausible is it to self study for the e+m exam while concurrently taking mechanics? And any advice on how to do so?
Can we just make this a general AP Physics C official thread rather than just Mechanics? I’m in IB Physics (first year of HL) and my teacher went over basic concepts of both mechanics and E&M. I will self-study for AP Physics C (both parts) this summer and over the course of next year. Electricity is EXTREMELY similar to gravity, so if you got down gravity, you’re solid for electricity. Magnetism is just a matter of taking your hand and pointing it places. I would like to ask tho, how hard is this class in comparison to other AP’s? I’ve taken AP Calc BC this year. Are the calculus concepts in this course really hard? What’s the best prep book for this course?
Oh boy. I signed up for this course in my class as part of a full-year AP Physics C course (it does mechanics first semester and E&M second). So to prepare for this along with the subject test in October, I’m self-studying during the summer. So far, it’s working well! I’m using Princeton Review, and it is a great one the use (I heard it’s the best one). Also, thank you Dan Fullerton. You are a genius!
Of course, that’s just my self-study. I’m not sure about the class though. It should be fun, but interesting.
Taking this course too (right after AP 1)
Hopefully C will actually make sense (compared to 1) because you go into the calculus and the actual understanding of the relationships between the concepts
Self studied AP physics C Mechanics after I took April ACT (so like 2-3 weeks probably?) and got a 4.
Not too bad but I’m retaking it next year with E&M, hoping 5s on both
I only found one discussion for mechanics, but that ended a month ago. So I decided to make a new one. You can discuss both Mechanics and E&M here.
Hey guys. I’ll be taking Mechanics this fall but am kinda worried about the math portion since I’ll be concurrently enrolled in Calc AB. Does anyone know how much calc is necessary in this class? What should I study?
@dragonfruit18 From what I’ve heard, you just need to know basic differentiation and integration. I would get a review book so that you’ll get the concepts down for the course. It doesn’t take long to learn if you are motivated enough.
I’m almost having second thoughts about doing Mechanics, I thought I was really good at AP physics 1 so I planned to do Mech online this year since my school doesn’t offer it. But I didn’t quite get the score I expected, so I’m a little hesitant… You guys don’t think the new AP Physics 1 exam is too big of a determinant of success in AP physics C do you? I mean I made a 3 which is good but I was expecting a 5. I feel like I mastered the material but also don’t want to get in over my head.
Only 4% got a 5, so I would not let that deter you.
@tylerfrenchfrye I agree with @skieurope. From what I researched, Physics 1 had a 63% failure rate, one obvious reason being that it was the first year it was taken. Because of that fact, practice was limited, so people were overall not adequately prepared enough.
In addition, the Physics C exam will be the same as it has been for many years, so this would mean that there still is a generous curve.
To get an idea about this, here are the cutoffs for Physics 1 vs. Physics C:
Physics 1:
5 - 71%
4 - 55%
3 - 41%
2 - 26%
Physics C (Mech):
5 - 55%
4 - 43%
3 - 34%
2 - 25%
As you can see, you need a little less than 3/4 of Physics 1 to get a 5, while on Physics C, you just need a little more than half of that test correct. This is just something to consider.
Overall, I wouldn’t rely on just a number for your success next year. What’s more important to consider is if you’re truly ready to understand the material. Since you said that you feel that you mastered the material, I think you’ll be alright in the class. But just note that there is calculus required in some situations and the material is presented in greater depth.
If you want to get a sense of what you might experience, I would get an edition of Princeton Review. It gives you all the content required for the test as well as the types of questions you might encounter. In addition, scroll up to my post with resources for the course.
Good luck!
How do you guys suggest self studying both AP Physics C tests this year? I’m solid in calc and I’ve learned all the algebra-based versions of the topics in C. I know it’s a hard test to self study but my schools unaccomodating schedule system leaves me with no choice.
If you got a 3 in Physics 1, you will probably have trouble with Physics C. Still, the challenge is worthwhile.
@imbep49 I self-studied both tests and got 5’s. I suggest reading the PR review book to learn the content, and doing most of the old FRQ for both exams (try to do all if you can, as I think they give you the best sense of the real difficulty and level of understanding you to have in need to do well on the actual exams). Also, do 2-3 old released MC tests (you can easily find these on Google), or more, depending on how confident you feel after each, so you can get a sense of the format, etc.
I’m self-studying for this class and I’ve read that the MITOpenCourseWare is great for AP Physics C.
However, it seems that there was an incident last year, and all of Walter Lewin’s courses have been removed! I found this article: http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/lewin-courses-removed-1208
Does anyone had any of these videos saved? All I could find was this playlist of his course, but it’s really old: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyQSN7X0ro203puVhQsmCj9qhlFQ-As8e
wow that’s terrible he turned out to be that way. although I wish I could access his good teaching videos even if he was a sucky person haha