<p>So I'm taking AP Calculus BC at my school this year, but I was wondering ... would it be reasonable for me to take AP Physics (B or C, undecided as to what to chose) even if I haven't taken a year of basic high school Physics? And how much calculus does AP Physics (B or C) entail anyway? Thanks so much!!</p>
<p>it would be extremely hard for you. I know at my high school. The first 3 days of ap physics you review from regular physics. Then you satart new stuff THAT FAST. It's crazy. </p>
<p>If you think you can handle science very well and have done very well, then talk with your counselor and do it. Otherwise it wouldn't be worth it.</p>
<p>Well a couple kids in AP Physics at my school right now are taking it w/o having taken Honors Physics first, and I think they'll do fine in it just because their naturally smart. What my friend has been telling me though so far about the class is that its very Calculus based (this is an AP Physics C class btw.) and thats why he might struggle b.c he doesn't know too much calculus yet. So i say if you are naturally a good student, motivated, and are good at calculus then you should have no problem.</p>
<p>Another question - what else, besides calculus, is there to physics?</p>
<p>im taking physics b right now without taking honor physics even though i eschooled regualr physics which i didnt learned anything. im pretty much screwed for physics b haha</p>
<p>B -> Physics without Calculus
C -> Physics with Calculus, theres a bit more calculus in E&M than Mechanics</p>
<p>AP Physics C isn't that hard as long as you're very good at math and perceptive about concepts</p>
<p>I jumped into Physics C with Calculus AB, previous year taking Algebra 2 and taking precalculus over summer, and aced the course with 4 and 5 on the AP tests. I had a fairly bad teacher too. But be sure to study a lot before tests and understand the concepts.</p>
<p>It's definitely doable. Keep in mind that the first few things that they go over are position/velocity/acceleration relations, which as you might know, were discussed in AP Calc AB.
The calculus itself isn't very hard to apply.
Whenever you see two variables divided, think derivative (acceleration = velocity/time, ), and when you see two variables multiplied, think integral (momentum = mass x velocity, work = force x distance)</p>
<p>I took B without any physics first and it wasn't too bad - I got a 4 on the AP. After B, C was really easy (took it alongside Calc BC) and I got 5s on both parts.</p>
<p>You need to be very good with that stuff. If you understand the that type of spatial, mechanical, theoretical material very well, the Calc background should help you a lot.</p>
<p>I'm the kind of person who couldn't self-study AP Chem without taking regular H.S. Chem first. Would Calc BC help me a lot on AP Physics? My dad told me that Physics is all about calculus, but I still feel a bit insecure about taking AP Physics w/o any physics background.</p>
<p>I guess my school is weird, no one takes regular physics and then AP physics. Just one or the other. They all seem to do fine.</p>
<p>Calc BC doesn't help a whole lot. If you took Calc AB, it would be more helpful because of the reasons I said above. And no, Physics is not all about Calculus. There's more algebra in those exams than anything else. Besides, the only calculus I saw when I took the exam (Physics C) that's almost guaranteed to show up is differentiation and integration of polynomials such as x^3 + 4x^2</p>
<p>Physics B has no calculus whatsoever.</p>
<p>If you want, you can take Physics B, as that is simpler, and will give you the foundations needed to do well, and just self-study Physics C, which is definitely doable once you have the fundamentals from Physics B down.</p>