<p>So which books do you guys have? Which do you recommend? </p>
<p>Yeah? I heard PR is good and 5 steps to a 5 is not as good. How about the good ol boring barrons?</p>
<p>I’m in a year-long AP Physics C Mechanics class. We use Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 6th ed, Serway, Jewett.
This class hasn’t been TOO hard so far but is definitely my hardest (it’s my first-ever physics class). I couldn’t imagine both Physics C’s being squished into one year. We’re still on one-dimensional motion (chapter 2, school started on the 19th for me) but seem to be just finishing up. Then we’ll be on Vectors, then two-dimensional motion. We have to get through about 15 chapters in our textbook.
To prepare for the exam, I’ll be using PR and possible Barrons for the practice tests. I am aiming for a 4 but will be just fine with a 3.</p>
<p>Edit: Sorry, double post. I have no idea what just went on there.</p>
<p>If you’re using Barrons, don’t use it for the practice tests. They are much harder than the actual test and many of the concepts on the Barrons tests go a lot more in-depth than what you’re used to. I used Barrons for self-study, and it had a lot of good information, although there were some wrong answers and some of it was confusing. I think I got about 50% on the practice tests, but most likely got 80% or so on the AP test.</p>
<p>Bottom line is, don’t get Barrons for the practice tests. You’ll be saying lolwut at half the questions.</p>
<p>Err, shouldn’t this be the 2011 thread?</p>
<p>I’m self-studying this and E&M this year. I self-studied AP Physics B last year and got a 5.</p>
<p>@puggly123: This is your first physics class? Then a year-long class for mechanics sort of makes sense… E&M is definitely quite difficult, and if you’re new to physics, then going into the depth that the AP exam tests would be quite challenging to fit in with learning mechanics in the same year. Shouldn’t you already have covered vectors in your precalculus class (assuming you didn’t go straight from algebra to calculus), though?</p>
<p>I’m using PR as well, and I’m also using the AP Advantage book (which is not in print any more, but you can order used copies on Amazon). The latter is decent so far (I’ve gone through the first two chapters) and PR was definitely very helpful for Physics B (though a little more difficult), so I’m guessing that it will be of similar use in Physics C as well.</p>
<p>I’m using the textbook by Halliday, Resnick, and Krane; it gets quite deep into the math and theory for a introductory textbook (a good deal more than is required for the AP exam), but I’m hoping to pass at least the first round of the USAPhO (Fnet=ma), so hopefully this will help. I don’t recommend it if you just want to get a 5 on the AP exam, though; I hear that you should get Halliday, Resnick, and Walker or Young and Freedman for that (if you’re going to use textbooks at all).</p>
<p>Rotational dynamics is probably the hardest part of mechanics for me, next to oscillations… maybe it’s because there’s not much of it in Physics B. I haven’t done much of it yet, though; I’ve only read part of the chapter, and I haven’t really done any of the problems for it yet.</p>
<p>^ We went through a bit of vectors, but we’re covering them in Physics C anyways. </p>
<p>Does anyone know where to buy AP Advantage Physics C new, besides Amazon where it’s like $50? I can’t even find it used for less than $25 or so.</p>
<p>Bump:
I took a practice frq, and only scored 6/15 points. Is this a good score? I don’t really know. I would’ve had a few more points if I would’ve known exactly what they wanted for a couple of the sub-questions. I really think they need to specify what is wanted on the essays a bit more. </p>
<p>Anyways, how are you guys going to prep for the Mechanics exam?</p>
<p>Just took two more frq’s for Mechanics… 11/15 and 9/15, respectively. This is a good improvement from my 6 I got yesterday, and I think it’s because I’ve learned what the graders want. Other than that, the problems aren’t too difficult. I’ve also been going through the parts I missed, taking notes and understanding how they got their answers. It’s really helping me solidify the concepts in my brain. I suggest you guys do the same.
Past FRQ’s are going to be my main source of studying.</p>
<p>Same, I’m self studying both sections of Physics C and past FRQ and multiple choice sections are going to be key in solidifying concepts.</p>
<p>Wow, I just found this thread…surprised it only has 9 posts after 5 months of existence!</p>
<p>Our class uses Halliday, Resnick, and Walker and is a yearlong course (first half mech, second half E/M). Our midterm was a released AP mech test and our teacher told us what our AP score would have been. I got a 5, so as long as I don’t forget too much by May, I think I’ll be ok on mech.</p>
<p>How are you guys handling E&M? We’re doing capacitance right now, but overall I’m finding E&M to be much more difficult than mechanics.</p>
<p>To previous test-takers: how much more difficult is the actual E&M test than the Mechanics test?</p>
<p>Hey everyone. I’m self studying the mechanics portion this year. I am using Halliday and Resnick 9th edition textbook and a few different review books. I expect to be entirely done with all the chapters by the end of this week and then have two full months of review. I agree with reviewing all the FRQs and released MC sections.</p>
<p>Mech should be OK for me; Mech was the 2nd-easiest thing for me last year in Physics B. And I’ll figure out rotation by May.</p>
<p>E&M is much weirder. We’re testing on electrostatics/Gauss’ Law tomorrow, and I’m OK with that stuff, but I am so not ready for circuits/currents/capacitors (I pretty much failed that section last year). But, I understood most of magnetism last year, so I should be fine, I hope.</p>
<p>I just finished everything for E&M today, so now I’m going to start going through all of the past FRQ and multiple choices. I’m hoping going through all these problems will help me really understand everything enough to get a 5 on the AP test.</p>
<p>which review book has the most accurate tests?</p>
<p>I don’t think either mechanics or E&M is that bad if you have a good grasp of the concepts and good physical intuition. My friend and I got 5s on both (we are now both planning to major in physics) as well as many others in our class. She said that she had trouble timing the multiple choice but feels she aced the free response, I did not have trouble timing the multiple choice, but felt a little more rushed on the free response (although I still felt good about it).</p>
<p>I just got a 4 on a Mechanics practice test. Time to GET DOWN and study.</p>