<p>How is the curve 70%? It covers so many topics... it should be 50%!!!</p>
<p>Some of the FRQs are mad hard while others are easy.... damn I shouldn't have taken bio and physics!</p>
<p>I know, right? >(</p>
<p>It seems a bit unfair for those who have teachers who can't even get through all the material that the exam covers.</p>
<p>u know for like i think the 1998 the curve was like 55%. THe curve is usaully around 65% nowdays which is still really hard to get in physics.</p>
<p>My teacher didn't get through everything as well, and my bio teacher only covered about 40% of the material.</p>
<p>se.lf studying part of it here. i cant seem to remember the concepts, but im ok with the formulas.</p>
<p>How do you guys memorize formulas? Notecards? Staring at the formula sheet?</p>
<p>My teacher took about two weeks to cover all of modern physics, so no one really learned it. We also had to do magnetism and AC circuits on our own, over break. I don't see why the exams have to be in the middle of may. It sucks to be in New York - classes are in session until the Regents exams at the end of June. So now I have one night to learn everything we barely covered in class... <em>Sigh</em></p>
<p>I'm a starer. I'll say it a couple of times to myself, do a problem or too, and keep going, seeing as the exam is in less than 12 hours.</p>
<p>I used notecards to memorize my formulas. I put all the formulas that are on the formula sheet given out by collegeboard onto flashcards and just started memorizing. On one side I would write the formula name and on the other I would write the actual formula and then the formula written out in words.</p>
<p>in 1998, the curve was 58% = a 5 (106 out of 180)... it's worse than AP chem because there is so much more covered</p>
<p>the test will be hard, but a good thing to remember is to not freak out.. there WILL be FR (and MC) that you won't know... for MC, just don't answer them (if you cannot narrow at all.. if you can get down to 2 or 3 choices, then go ahead)... for FR, put down the equations you think are right.. even if you have no idea how to use it, putting the equation down will get you a point or two</p>
<p>one one of the tests i took at home last night, i had no idea how to do 75% of this one problem.. i got 3 points for part a because i got it right... 1 point for b just because i wrote down the right initial equation.. 2 points on c for writing down the right equation and stating a law related to the equation.. and i made up a random number because this number found in c was needed for d... and in part d, i used this number CORRECTLY, and got the right answer on part d (wrong answer, but based on the number i "got" in c, i got the credit)... that was 3 points... so on a 15 point problem where i didn't know how to do most of it, i got a 9 out of 15... that's the key.. just write down what you know.. better than nothing</p>
<p>and i managed to get 120 points on that test as a whole, and the minimum was a 110 for a 5.. so those points i saved myself on the FR helped me</p>
<p>In 2004 a 5 was 64+% and a 4 was around 51%~63%.</p>
<p>yea, its gonna blow tomorrow. i just taught myself modern physics today, and the last few equations about optics. i'm currently going over fluids too!</p>
<p>i took a practice in the princeton reviewbook, and got 44.7/90 raw score multi-choice (yikes!), and a 68.3/90 on free response (!!!! :-) !!!). That's a high 4, 2 pts from a 5 according to the 2004 curve! i'm so happy, i thought i was gonna get a 2.</p>
<p>writing down formulas works, and if you don't know how to do part A, make up an answer, and use it for the other parts, so u don't leave it blank. that's a common mistake. never leave anything blank (unless its multi-choice of course)</p>
<p>yeah, the creating your own answer technique is a grade-saver on ap physics tests.</p>
<p>optics and sound are my favorite subjects in phys. b... too bad not much sound is on the test (from what i've seen)</p>
<p>i hope theres a graph q, where u just have to find the area under curve etc. That would be so tight. Also if there was another newtonian mech question besides that it would be so cool.</p>
<p>what do you mean "make up" an answer?</p>
<p>John203--I think what they are saying is: say you don't know how to get the answer to part A, but you know how to do B,C, and D. Put some number down for A (or just BS an answer), then use it correctly for parts B,C, and D. You'll get credit for B, C, and D because you did those parts right, even if your answer to part A is wrong.</p>
<p>You can get a lot of points on FR by doing that. Don't just look at part A, give up and not bother with the rest of the problem. Even if the number to answers B, C and D is wrong because A is wrong, if you employ the equations/concepts correctly in the other three, you'll get credit.</p>
<p>is there credit for explanations in words when it asks for a numerical value?</p>
<p>John--I'm not sure. I think it depends. Sometimes if you write down an equation or show you know something, you'll get some credit. It's worth a shot if you've got time but can't figure out the answer. I'm no expert. But basically, with the FR, you want to do as much as you possibly can. There's no penalty, so the worst that can happen is you won't earn any credit, but you just might earn some--particularly with the formulas available for that part!
I knew nothing about this one practice problem I got on a midterm/practice test. I managed to get 8/15 points on it, just by guessing or using formulas. You can definitely up your score that way.</p>
<p>Cool, thanks for all the advice guys/girls.</p>