<p>I am currently taking AP Physics B in my high school which does not offer any other physics courses. I just learned that Physics C does not require any prior physics knowledge. It’s kind of weird that B is antecedent to C in the alphabet but it isn’t required to take the ostensibly higher level course. </p>
<p>I know for sure I can self-study Physics C Mech because we have already covered a lot of the Newtonian Mechanics concepts in Physics B thus far. I’m not so sure I can do Physics C electricity/magnetism self-study. Is all the material covered in Physics B albeit more superficially? Or will I really have to learn a lot of new concepts in order to pass the physics c electricity/magnetism exam? Can anyone who has taken these courses or is taking these courses shed some light on the issue?</p>
<p>Also, my school has issued Physics Principles and Applications 6th ed. by Giancoli as our textbook for Phys B. Can I possibly use this to self-study for Phys C Mech and E/M?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>id like to see some response as well, Im currently taking physics B, and was planning on self studying for C: mech, but im curious about E&M also. It seems like the calculus in E&M is a bit of an issue, triple integrals, etc, but there is a very good curve on the test, so im thinking i might give it a shot</p>
<p>Seriously, no one has an answer to this?</p>
<p>I took the class for physics B last year, and ssed C. The way I see it is that the only reason people consider C “harder” then B is that C requires calc and (at least at my school) most people take physics before they take calc. The reason that C requires no prior physics knowledge is that at it’s core it is an “introductory” class, even though it uses some heavy concepts. If you have a good understanding of calc then it is fairly easy to integrate (haha) the concepts from calc and the concepts from physics to score fairly well on the AP exam. There are a few topics for C that aren’t covered in B (angular speed, rotational inertia, ect.) but these can be learned fairly easily through a prep book like barrons or pr review.</p>