<p>I've never really been "completely lost" in a subject until now.. I decided to take AP Physics C because I am considering engineering as a major. At first, I thought Physics C would not be so difficult after getting a near-perfect on the first section test, which was on kinematic concepts. However, I'm now dealing with Force and Motion and I am completely lost. I mean, really, it's gotten to the point where my teacher goes over the homework and I'm just scratching my head and staring at him peculiarly. Probably some of you will ask, "why aren't you asking him questions if you're lost?" I don't know if anyone has ever had this feeling that you're so overwhelmed that you really don't know what questions to ask since you're lost altogether, but yea, that really is my feeling. The main reason why I made this thread is to ask what can I do to help study and mainly learn this topic well. I mean, if this is just the beginning and I'm lost, imagine later in the year when we deal with more complicated topics. In closing, can anyone recommend me a method of learning/studying this material?</p>
<p>One of the hardest skills to develop as a student -- and I find this is more so for students who have considered themselves "smart" all of their lives -- is the ability to self-diagnose a problem. As subject areas get to be more and more complex, it's harder and harder to determine what exactly may be lacking in helping you to understand the concept: whether it's a vocabulary issue, a failure of previous teachers to develop important concepts, a failure of the current teacher to take into account the initial level of understanding of the majority of his/her students, or the underdevelopment of good study habits that were previously unnecessary, because you could just "get it".</p>
<p>To me, this isn't so much a question of "Physics C", but a question of "What do I do when I don't understand any topic?" And the best advice I can offer to you is to start from the beginning. Take notes on the topic from your text and ask preliminary probing questions of your teacher. Work through this process until the understanding you have of the material differs from what your teacher says, or until the teacher restates your understanding in a way that doesn't make sense to you (and thus doesn't appear to be the same).</p>
<p>Many teachers, by the time you get to the high school level, will be willing to answer questions, no matter how "dumb"* they may seem, if they seem pointed or directed. Questions like "What did the authors mean when they said X? That idea isn't clicking with me" or even "As soon as we entered this section on Force and Motion, for some reason I felt like I couldn't keep up. Can you reexplain the beginning portions? I think I'm missing something there" are a lot more concrete than the typical struggling student's "I don't get it."</p>
<p>The truth is that a lot of teachers don't always understand why students don't get it either. :) But by directing the flow of the conversation in a direction that you feel may be helpful, you're a lot more likely to get a meaningful response. And if in doubt, start at the beginning and keep working your way forward.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>*I intended for "dumb" to refer to the "questions" here, but realize that the sentence as written could refer to the "teachers" as well. Take it as you will. :)</p>
<p>^Nice post!!!</p>
<p>"He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes.
He who does not ask a question is a fool forever."</p>
<p>I've asked some pretty basic questions. Also I really like asking recap questions where I put the concept in my own words and see if it's right- "So you're saying a derivative is the same as instantaneous velocity? Okay."
Kind of like a "make sure" question. In fact, one of these could prevent asking many more questions later. </p>
<p>Which brings me to another point. I know you feel behind now, but when this kind of thing happens again, clarify things as soon as they get hazy. You won't look stupid. Everyone has to tell their teacher to "Wait up! What exactly does that concept mean?" once in awhile. </p>
<p>Remember too that (I know lots of people say this) there is bound to be someone who wants to know the same thing but is afraid of looking "dumb". I've had that happen to me, both when I ask questions and when I hope people ask questions.</p>
<p>OP, I totally understand though where coming up with the right questions is super hard.</p>
<p>I tutor people, and no lie, sometimes I will say things EXACTLY how their teachers would say it (after all I had their teachers before), and for some reason they understand it when I say it. So try different sources. Some colleges have nice explanations of things that have the same content as what you're doing in class, but it might "click" better (Try Chelsea's Ultimate AP list).</p>
<p>Don't worry! It may be tough, it may be really hard, and grades may not be pretty at first, but you CAN do it!!!</p>
<p>I feel exactly like you, except I am taking physics in college now. As the prof. goes through the topic, I just stare at it as though I am watching television in chinese. The part where it really starts going downhill is when equations from previous chapters are introduced or when different equations are combined to remove some variable or something. It doesn't help that the homework assigned from the book has a) - e) questions that cover everything imaginable. I tried going back to the beginning and learning the concepts/memorizing equations, but once faced with a problem, I was still oblivious about what to do again and again. I would read the entire question and at the end ask myself, "Ok...what now?????" and not have a clue. So, I guess the best way to medicate this is to focus on practice until you get to the point where it becomes clear what you have to do in order to get the answer. </p>
<ul>
<li>I will attempt to do random problems at a time on my own. And then if I can't arrive at the answer/get going, perhaps look at the solution and try to grasp it that way.</li>
</ul>
<p>I was the same way. Try the book by Omam and Omam.
It will provide you with confidence to tacke Physics C Mechanics.
:)</p>
<p>This also happened to me in Physics C. But it's mainly due to the fact that I've never taken any physics class beforehand and the teacher was horrible. I found my own way to learn it, and ultimately I was able to ace the class with 4 on mech and 5 on E&M. Here were the resources that helped me the most:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cramster.com%5B/url%5D">www.cramster.com</a> <---major help on homework problems if the site has your book
<a href="http://www.archive.org/details/ap_physics_c%5B/url%5D">www.archive.org/details/ap_physics_c</a> <---flash videos that explain concepts, I thought it was helpful at times</p>
<p>Yeah, when I was in AP Physics B my junior year, I was pretty overwhelmed with the level of thinking you had to do to come up with the equation to solve the problem. However, I think that practice does improve your ability to think your way through a problem, because I'm now in Physics C and I think this class is a breeze.</p>
<p>^Yeah. People who've taken B before says that C is incredibly easy.</p>
<p>I think the system for the physics classes is that you're supposed to only take either B or C, not both.</p>
<p>I self studied C without having done B</p>
<p>I feel EXACTLY the same way as you!!! I am a senior now in high school and taking physics C. I've never taken any physics class before and my teacher is known to be a not-so-great teacher. I am LOST in my physics C class every single day!!!! INow I have given up listening to my teacher altogether and I kinda doze off everyday in my physcis class. I am sooooo lost in physics I don't even know what question to ask. On my last unit test about force and motion, I did not how to do even a single quesiton. U r lucky your teacher actually goes over the homework, my teacher never does even that. He gives us a bunch of homework before he starts teaching a unit. My teacher uses AP curve on every single test though. On the last acceleration test I think I got 70 percent or something and he curve it to a 93 percent. I think from now on I'll just depend on my textbook to learn physics, and not my teacher. I also heard people (who were in the situation) say Barron's Physics C book is very very good. I bought one from amazon and it hasn't come yet.</p>
<p>^The Barron's AP Physics C book is horrible. It has so many typos and it butchers up some important formulas too... I really didn't believe they could actually overlook typos like messing up one of the constant acceleration formulas.</p>
<p>I tossed that away and used the AP Advantage one instead; it helped me a lot more than the Barron's.</p>
<p>Review Books for physics aren't that efficent if you want to do good in the actual class ( AP test is a different story). I suggest just doing the odd textbook problems and going over the solutions till you get things right, try doing ALL of the odd problems.</p>
<p>PS:I believe PR is the best review book for physics (Many others on these boards would agree)...</p>
<p>I was completely lost like a lot of people in this thread last year in Physics B. I would say I was lost most of the year, I started to get the hang of it near the end. Somehow I got a 4 on the exam, I don't know. I had to get a tutor for a good bit but thats not practical for everyone. I guess I would say make sure to look at every example problem and try to understand the methods/steps used. Physics isn't really like anything else, every problem is unique so you have to learn how to navigate from point to point using your equations and math. There are definitely patterns in the problems though so try to pick up on them. I would go in outside of class and say you are completely lost. Ask to work through some problems, then when you are done look back at them and try to apply them to others. Hope that helps.</p>