<p>Hey, anyone who has taken AP Physics C, please tell me what the course was like, in terms of material...</p>
<pre><code> *If you have taken AP Bio or AP Chem, please tell me what you thought of these classes as well.
*Also, what are good books for understanding the material in this course?
*Thank you so much, guys! You all are awesome!
</code></pre>
<p>I'm taking AP Physics C this year, but I've already taken AP Bio and IMO the test, if not the class, is pretty easy/straightforward. The AP Bio book covers a lot of material, but for me it was mostly memorization and drawing inferences. The test itself has a slightly hard multiple choice question, and on the essays you just want to dump out everything you know.</p>
<p>AP physics C is a course that requires a good level of understanding of the fundamental concepts of phy and the ability to apply them at the correct place. The material is, as you probably are aware of, calculus based. Overall, if you r comfortable with math and reasoning the test should'nt be difficult.
I used Princeton Review books for physics and Kaplan for Bio. But i've heard from alot of people that cliffs is much better for Bio. I don'y know if the post was of any help but if you ask a specific question i might be able to help you better.</p>
<p>I've taken all three...</p>
<p>Bio: Lots and lots of reading and memorization. Common textbook is Campbell and the best review book is CliffsAP. Very little math involved</p>
<p>Chem: A bit more math involved, but mostly simple calculations. Less reading and lots more practice problems. A lot less theoretical then Bio. Common text is Zumhdahl and a good review book is PR.</p>
<p>Physics C: Hard concepts + hard math. Lots of problems to work out. I thought this was the hardest of the three classes just because of the amount and difficulty of the material. However, with a lot of practice throughout the school year, the AP test wasn't bad at all. The textbooks used vary a lot - the one I liked was Halliday/Rensick.</p>
<p>Your experiences will vary from school to school. If you have any more specific questions, let me know.</p>
<p>I took AP Biology last year. There is a lot of reading involved and a lot of concepts to remember. Campbell's is a pretty common textbook. The universally recommended prep book is CliffsAP with good reason. It is truly the best. It is organized very well and there are plenty of sample questions.</p>
<p>jm, you say Physics is calc-based - does that mean that I won't be able to understand anything that's going on in Physics if I haven't taken Calc yet? Originally I was going to take Chem AP, but I didn't know if the material would agree with me or not (I absolutely sucked at Bio - hate pure memorization), so I at the last minute, I switched to Physics instead (bad choice, eh?).</p>
<p>(Sorry I'm sort of usurping your thread, puppydogeyes ^^;</p>
<p>Depends if your teacher expects you to know calc or not.</p>
<p>And chem would have probably have been a better choice.</p>
<p>I would imagine chem to be the "easiest" choice, unless you don't like memorizing a lot of concepts (Bio), and physics is just hard! (at least at our school) There was nothing I didn't particularly "hate" about the class, except for the workload (a lot of lab write-ups and practice problems- close to 100 per 2 weeks, and each problem can have around 5 or more parts to it, so yeah..). It was the first year our teacher taught it, so we were rushed to get everything in towards the end of the year (May), and that resulted in a test after every 7 class periods for a few months :( Anyway, I'm sure whichever you choose to study, you will have loads of fun (or at least in the labs!) Good luck</p>
<p>ivis, the calculus that they expect u to use in AP Physics is not all that difficult. They just expect u to know basic concepts of differentiation and intergartion so that u can formulate intergrals and evaluate the simple ones. The questions normally don't require difficult integrals and if they do then the integral is computed and given as part of the question. So far i have seen just one question that involves differential equations.
So if your are not a calc student i suggest that u do basic calc b4 goin for AP Phy.( btw, if u like math then u'll love calc) </p>
<p>I second the opinion that AP chem is one of the easiest of the AP's. There is very little memorization and the exams ask the same things time and again. There is little math and absolutley no calc involved.</p>
<p>in ap physics would a ti 89 with problem solver help?</p>
<p>I thought Chem AP test was kinda hard (got a 3). I got an A in the class and all, but i guess my math skills were lacking. Mental math helps a lot on chem AP.</p>
<p>I am taking the course now, but I am still taking pre-cal, which means I don't have any basic calculus knowledge, my physics teacher went over the calculus before he starts the regular schedule, he said he teaches all the calculus stuff in 2 weeks, which suppose to take the whole year in math class. I feel a little bit frustrating at first, but as I go on, the course gets better, I score my first chapter test of a 91%. the first few chapters are all about mechanical motion, which does not contains too much calculus, only a little derivative and integral are used. But my teacher says these chapters are the easiest parts, so I cannot imagine how hard are the hardest.</p>
<p>Chemistry is amazing!! .. Prob cause my teacher is in a band... and randomly breaks out his guitar and sings about chem in the middle of teaching... and has an element named after him... </p>
<p>anyway, Chemistry is easier than physics. But physics isn't that hard if you keep up with the work. Like, the first couple of chapters was about mechanical motion and stuff like that. Now we're on forces and Newton's laws... which is kind of hard. But, once you understand the concepts and the basics, it gets easier. You honestly do NOT need to know that much calc.. jus the basics.</p>