<p>Hey CC, let me apologize in advance for making a class/schedule help thread during the summer, but collegeboard's course description just doesn't suffice...</p>
<p>Anyway, I was never really planning on taking a Physics class, but one of the colleges I'm looking at requires Physics, so I'm debating whether to take regular or AP. I'm not gonna lie, AP Physics sounds pretty intimidating, and I'm not the best at math or Chemistry.. so what was your experience with this class and how much previous knowledge did you have? Was it really hard or not too bad? Was there a huge workload? How was the AP test? What are the labs like? Does it coincide with Chemistry a lot, or could someone get by with little knowledge (my Chemistry class was terrible)? And could I get by with math knowledge only up to Algebra 2? Thanks in advance for any info.</p>
<p>Physics doesn’t coincide with chemistry much at all (at least not AP Physics B anyways). The basic recipe for physics is: lots of numbers + lots of concepts + lots of time = good grade</p>
<p>It’s really not impossible to understand, but you have to be willing to put in the time and effort.</p>
<p>don’t take it, and forget about applying to that one school.</p>
<p>AP physics B is easier then chemistry and AP physics C. You could comfortably self-study the class in a month with a Barron’s review book and by watching a few videos from khan academy.</p>
<p>When I was Freshman, students had a choice whether to take ICP (Intro to Chemistry/Physics) or AB Physics (Algebra-Based Physics). I choose AB Physics, which I learned that AB Physics is just like Physics I and AP Physics B. It all mirrors. You just learn everything in AB Physics/Physics 1 except AP Physics B is for college credit and it’s more in depth. This is the reason why my school doesn’t have AP Physics B because it mirrors Physics I which is offered at my school. Also, you don’t need to know Chemistry for physics, that’s for later and difficult Physics in college, you’re fine. You need PreCalculus because physics is really math based that prepares you for AP Physics C which is Calculus based and you’re going to get lost with an Algebra II mindset. If I were you, I wouldn’t take it.</p>
<p>AP Physics B requires mostly Algebra along with the use of simple Trig such as Sin/Cos/Tan. It is unlike Chemistry although a couple minor topics do overlap but the majority will be entirely new to you. It is more conceptual than Biology or Chemistry and as a result many students struggle to learn the material on their own. We cannot predict how your class will be but without a decent teacher, I could see it being an uphill climb.
As with most science classes, you learn the material from doing problems and practicing, if you’re expecting to wing it then I wouldn’t bother taking it, take APES or AP Bio.</p>
<p>I self-studied it so I shouldn’t really speak, but it was definitely a hard course.
Without any previous knowledge of physics, I struggled a bit on teaching the vast number of concepts to myself (but if I had a decent enough teacher, the story would have been different).
Physics seems to be 75% concept 15% calculation 10% formulas (you’ll see why)…</p>
<p>You should have some knowledge of trigonometry but Physics B doesn’t involve any calculus.</p>
<p>Also physics has nothing (or almost nothing) to do with chemistry so you’ll get by even if you have shaky understanding of stochiometry (or however the hell you spell it)</p>
<p>I just finished taking AP Physics B and found that I’m really a physics person. The workload was pretty intense and a lot of the learning was out of the book. There wasn’t too much chem involved, but the people who were better at chem seemed to find modern physics easier. </p>
<p>There isn’t too much higher level math involved, mostly trig and algebra. No calculus in this course. I took the AP exam and am currently waiting on a score.</p>
<p>Overall, I recommend taking it. I knew that I wanted to go into engineering beforehand, but I didn’t know specifically what kind. After this course, I’ve pretty much set my heart on mechanical engineering and aerospace. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Thanks guys, it’s great to hear that there isn’t a lot of Chemistry or higher-level math involved. The AP Physics teacher at my school won the ‘Beast Teacher of the Year’ award so I assume he’s pretty great, but I don’t personally know much about his teaching style or class and I’m unsure of his pass rate. Hopefully a helpful teacher would make a class with a lot of material a little better, though. Any other thoughts on the workload or labs?</p>
<p>Physics B branches off from standard/honors physics…Atleast, thats why my teacher told me. I actually looked at the review book and could do most of it with just taking the honors class. However, not all of it is “easy”. Previous students tell me that not understanding concepts is what can mess you up in physics B.</p>
<p>^That’s what I’m scared of, I don’t want to fall behind due to not understanding something. I gotta admit, I had a lot of trouble in my regular Chemistry class, but I think that’s because I was with unmotivated students and a teacher that didn’t know or care about Chemistry, so I didn’t care to learn or try hard. With a good teacher and AP students, I’d probably kick my brain into gear… probably.</p>
<p>Physics is difficult for many to understand or to teach… It got annoying throughout the year watching the teacher have to reexplain everything because there were so many questions… The free response and multiple choice often has algebra exercises where you take formulas and combine them, substitute and move variables around–it’s tricky, but if you’re good you can do it. I love the plethora of problems that all can’t be taught and tests having you do systems of equations and one time I used the double angle identity…</p>
<p>Calculus? Some questions you do have to geometrically find the area under the curve… Meh I got annoyed when doing the Calculus is easier as in the PR book the algebra just makes it look messy… It’s a fun course if you’re one of the students who can figure out how to set up the many word problems.</p>
<p>For the most part Physics B is really just an advanced version of what you would expect from an honors class. I just took it, and there are some topics not normally covered in a first year physics course (fluidynamics, thermodynamics), but the big topics that count for most of the exam (mechanics, E&M) are covered enough. The teacher I had is infamous for grading hard and he said anyone who hadn’t taken honors physics first would drop out, but it really wasn’t that difficult. I’m a math/science oriented person, but as long as you’re willing to study a little extra, most of the concepts are pretty basic. No calculus is involved, meaning you’re dealing with entirely conceptual examples (not real world, frictionless environments, no air resistance etc). As long as you spend a little time each night reading the textbook to fill in what information your classmates covered last year, you should be fine. Consider looking for some online resources to study this summer.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, I think this class sounds pretty doable as long as I’m able to dedicate a lot of time to it, so I’m thinking about waiting until senior year so I won’t also have to worry about standardized testing and other hard classes I’m taking next year.</p>
<p>^That’s a good idea. Good Luck</p>