Official AP Physics C Thread 2012

Test Preparation AP Sciences
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1

<p>It would be interesting to see what you CCers have to say about AP Physics C for 2012.</p>

2

<p>Normally I would be furious at anything less than a five on an exam, but since I’m a senior and Physics C is considered to be the hardest AP exam, I would be satisfied with a 4 on Mech and a 3 on E&M.</p>

3

<p>The electricity and magnetism units in Physics B kind of scared me, but I want a 5 on both parts. I think there will be under 10 people in my class (there were over 100 students taking Physics B last year) and it’s considered the hardest course in my school. Almost everyone here is an underachiever though, so I’m not too worried.</p>

4

<p>Ha, I’ll self study for it</p>

5

<p>Know your calculus and calc-heavy parts of Physics C. Apparently people suck at those because many found the free-response section of Mechanics fairly difficult due to not being able to solve/apply differential equations (a topic in calculus) in questions 2 and 3. In fact, even though E&M is harder conceptually, most people felt that Mechanics was harder than E&M last year.</p>

<p>Just something to keep in mind.</p>

<p>(Personally, I found mechanics easier and E&M harder, probably because I’m better at math than physics, and because I didn’t review enough for E&M.)</p>

6

<p>you guys might find this useful:
Okay, so just so you know, I didn’t use a textbook very heavily because I took AP Physics B the year before so I already had a decent grasp of physics.
If you want a textbook, I suggest either University Physics by Young and Freedman, Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday/Resnick/whoever ( there are a few versions of this, any works), or the one I kind of used was Physics for Scientists and Engineers by Giancoli.
For a review book, the best by far is the the AP Advantage one for AP Physics C.
Because the textbooks suck, i used Viren’s Videos Free AP Physics Review Help which had really brilliant, concise lectures. MIT OCW has good physics lectures (8.01 is mech and 8.02 is e&m if i recall correctly). Because hte mit lectures are targeted towards college students, they can be a bit complicated and there are a few topics covered in the lectures that aren’t on the AP test. Um…what else.
There are these past tests which are pretty useful:AP Physics C (E&M + MECH) Released FR and MC with Solutions.zip
As are the past frqs (look through the solutions too, making sure you understand how they grade can help your score)
I’ll add stuff as I think of it, but that’s the main material I used.</p>

<p>[Viren’s</a> Videos Free AP Physics Review Help](<a href=“http://apphysicslectures.com/]Viren’s”>http://apphysicslectures.com/)
[AP</a> Physics C (E&M + MECH) Released FR and MC with Solutions.zip](<a href=“http://www.mediafire.com/?nk1lqxngmtd]AP”>http://www.mediafire.com/?nk1lqxngmtd)</p>

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<p>thanks its very helpful</p>

8

<p>theres gotta be more people taking c right?</p>

9

<p>Thanks a lot!</p>

<p>I’m taking Physics B and Calc AB as classes. Planning on self studying and taking the C Mechanics test. I might even try the E/M test O:</p>

10

<p>I have one question - is it possible to get a 5 on the AP Physics C Mechanics exam just by using the PR? I pride myself at being decent in physics, and I already have a 5 on the Calc AB exam. Thanksss</p>

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<p>Certainly. Most material in physics c is axiomatic. If you’re truly decent at physics (you could get above 60/70 on the physics b mc), self-studying for physics c mech is a cinch.</p>

12

<p>I’m in E&M right now; I finished mechanics last month and took the MC from the 2009 AP and got 32/35 right (I’m self-studying AP Physics C). I’m moving more slowly in E&M than I did in mechanics though. I’m finding some of the laws difficult to comprehend although I’m starting to get the hang of it. </p>

<p>I’m pretty confident I will get a 5 on mechanics, but I’m shooting for a 4 on E&M although a 5 is possible. What’s interesting about the exams is that getting >30 of the 35 MC questions right already gives you a 4, even without the free-response. The curve is insanely generous…</p>

13

<p>Could someone help me on the 1988 Physics C Mechanics Multiple Choice #9? The question asks: A piece of wire of uniform cross section is bent in the shape shown above (for picture: <a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/r/23tjr45/5[/url]”>http://■■■■■■■.com/r/23tjr45/5&lt;/a&gt;). What are the coordinates of the center of mass?
The answer is (A) (15/14, 6/7).</p>

14

<p>

<a href=“http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/085/444/1282786204310.jpg?1318992465[/url]”>http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/085/444/1282786204310.jpg?1318992465&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Because of the empty space in the upper left, the point has to be past the x midpoint, 1, because more mass is on the right than the left. It also has to be below 1, because there is more mass below than above. The only answer that fits the description is A.</p>

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<p>Im getting a bit nervous for the E&M exam. Mechanics, i think, is easy and can definitely get a 5, but I don’t know about E&M. Right now, I’m studying gauss’ law and the maxwell equations; still got a long way to go.</p>

17

<p>I am self-studying for the Physics C E&M Exam and I personally think it’s harder than mechanics(I am currently studying the Magnetism part). MIT’s OCW is a great resource for that matter. By the way, does anyone know where to get practice multiple choice problems?</p>

18

<p>^Hmm i didn’t know about MIT’s OCW. Thanks for mentioning it I’ll check it out.</p>

<p>As of MC problems, I know that there is a free 199 something exam on AP central for both AP physics C, there is the Official Practice exam by collegeboard for AP Physics C: mechanics, which you can find the link by going to the thread in AP Preparation: “A way to find practice exams” then search for physics C, but the E&M practice exam is not available online.</p>

<p>You can also order 2 released AP Physics C tests from the collegeboard store, which are $35 each for the 2009 and 2004 exams</p>

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<p>I’m nervous about the Mechanics exam. I have been studying for Calculus BC and I have a few more topics to go but while I learned about the topics tested for Physics C: mechanics I forgot a lot of things and now I’m starting over from forces. Today though I get to start my Spring Break after I get off from school so hopefully I make a lot of progress.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://i43.■■■■■■■.com/svkuuo.jpg[/url]”>http://i43.■■■■■■■.com/svkuuo.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
Can someone explain to me how the r changes to r^2?
I’m really confused and I’m not sure if this is an error or not since I’ve seen a bunch of errors in this year’s book from Barron’s.</p>