I was making my schedule for the next school year (I’ll be a sophomore 2017-2018).
I am considering taking AP Physics. But will I be able to do well in the class without taking AP Calculus AB beforehand? In fact, I’ll be taking AP Calc. AB at the same time as AP Physics. And, I would’ve taken pre-cal over the summer before sophomore year.
I’ve heard the AP Physics teacher isn’t so good. But I was really hoping to take the class. Should I still take it? Or would I be better off with taking chemistry?
Is it calculus or algebra based physics? My son took algebra based physics as a sophomore and did well. He ended up taking calculus based his senior year because the school switched to calculus based physics.
If you are talking about AP Physics 1, you should have taken geometry. I am taking it this year as a sophomore and the hardest math you have to do is solve for variables and do basic trigonometric functions (basic knowledge of trigonometric functions may come in handy as well, but not crucial). For AP 1, you do not have to find instantaneous velocities nor find areas underneath curves on graphs which are not linear.
If you are talking about AP Physics C, I cannot speak for the math required, but am pretty sure that some of the calculus things I mentioned above are important. Good luck!
You’ll be fine if it’s AP 1/2–there’s no calculus whatsoever. On the other hand, if it’s AP C, that really depends on your math prep and how comfortable you are with physics. If you’re taking AP C concurrently with AP Calc BC (or even AB possibly) without any prior physics knowledge, you may or may not be okay, depends on how hard the class is at your school and how well your teacher teaches the material. I know of people that have done AP C concurrently with BC Calc without having taken physics at all before and did just fine, but they were juniors…You must be at an advanced level in math if you’re taking Calc sophomore year. That said, almost all of my AP C peers were in BC or AB calc concurrently. The first part of Calc AB is identical to BC and I’m pretty sure the stuff the two don’t share in common you don’t need to worry about for C, so you should be fine on the math front. If you haven’t done any physics before, I’d say it’s pretty much up to you–would you be comfortable with that? My suggestion would be that if you do want to take AP C next year, try to learn some physics basics over the summer–it will make your transition much more easier. Try looking for videos on Khan academy or looking at an edx course. A crash course in mechanics is great prep. Don’t worry about studying E+M because chances are, if your school doesn’t offer AP 2, then everyone else in the class has no background knowledge of it either so you’re in the same boat.
You would should be fine taking AP Chem–that’s what I took sophomore year, though taking pre-calc concurrently. Of course, it was harder since I had no previous chemistry knowledge or classes, but in the end i felt it was worth it. Do you have a preference between physics or chem? Which is more interesting to you? Physics is more math based and you take two AP tests (Mechanics and E+M) while for chem you only take one. Remember that you still have time to take lots more AP classes since you’ll only be a sophomore. You could always take physics one year and chem the next.