AP Physics C: Mechanics (self-study) question

Test Preparation AP Sciences
1

<p>I took AP Physics B last year. On an old official Physics C thread, someone with the same situation thought the textbooks weren’t very helpful because most topics were a review of Physics B. </p>

<p>I kind of agree with the review part, but I’m reading through the chapters (of Fundamentals of Physics) to make sure I don’t miss anything.
I still intend on using the book more for other topics like gravitation, rotational momentum, and center of mass, but should I concentrate more on other resources such as Viren’s and Dan Fullerton’s review videos or the MIT 8.01 lectures? How much time should I spend on the textbook questions? </p>

<p>My question is, basically, which should be my priority / which is more helpful to bridge the gap between B and C (Mech)? </p>

<p>I’m going to use all the aforementioned resources in addition to Mooney’s AP Advantage review book, but I’m not sure which resource I should use more heavily. Any input will be helpful. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Firstly, I would suggest you look at the course description or whatever it is called on the AP website to make sure you know exactly what you need to cover. </p>

<p>Since physics C is going much deeper than physics B does, a normal high school textbook really wouldn’t do much for you in physics C. You can use your textbook as a supplement to understand the material (as sometime one text may explains the material easier than the others), but you should rely on a more advanced text (or whatever source you are using) primarily. So my suggestion is to try to find a introductory text at the university year1 level (I think they have a list of suggested textbook on the AP website) and stick with it and only use your high school textbook as a extra reference.</p>

<p>But of course, if you know your mechanics well enough and if your primary is goal is just to pass the AP exam, it is very likely that all you need is just to review the material on your old textbook then use a AP review book to cover up the gap. And to be honest, it is possible to study the whole exam solely from a review book, especially for mechanics.</p>

<p>And for the topics you listed, be careful, your textbook wouldn’t cover enough for what you need to know, especially angular momentum (and I recommend you to watch 8.01 for this for a full understanding, although I doubt the AP exam would ask question at that level) and center of mass (which you need calculus for a more general treatment for it).</p>

<p>If you have a lot of time to spend I would strongly recommend you to take 8.01 (preferably on edX, where they got a forum and everything and set up like a real course). But only if you have a lot of time and energy to spend on it. The course is fantastic; however, for the purpose of AP physics, it is mostly an overkill. The course is definitely much harder than the AP exam and covers a lot that is beyond what you need for the AP. I think you only need around the first 2/3 for Phy C Mech. So only do 8.01 if you can handle that extra difficulty and don’t care to spend time on material that is irrelevant to the AP.</p>

<p>There is also another course offer by MIT and is specifically designed for AP physics. It is called 8.MReV or whatever, I forgot. I have tried it this summer for a few days just to review my mechanics, it is mostly just notes, no videos, so IDK if you prefer that. For the other guys you mentioned, I have no idea who they are so can’t give you any comment.</p>

<p>I self-studied Physics C last school year. Comparing to E&M, mechanics is much more manageable given that you already have some knowledge in Newtonian mechanics and know your maths (if you don’t, then I would suggest you go work on your calculus and vectors first). And you still have by far more than plenty of time to prepare.</p>

3

<p>I self-studied Physics C Mechanics last year as a sophomore with an introductory physics class that only covered basic mechanics. I read through the mechanics part of Fundamentals of Physics and PR AP Physics review book, and I did all of the previous AP free response problems. I felt more than prepared for the exam after that preparation. You should know your basic calculus (differentiation, integration) well, as well as basic differential equations.</p>