<p>Hey, anyone her talking the USAPho? I'm thinking of taking it but not exactly sure how to initiate studying. Any advice from previous USAPhO'ers? Thanks</p>
<p>you just have to be good at physics...mostly mechanics.
i guess all you really have to do is make sure you're learning your physics solidly during the year and can do hard problems (like the problems at the end of the section). it also helps if you've had multivariable calculus but do not despair if you haven't, i think i only encountered that kind of problem when i got to semifinals.</p>
<p>What textbook would you recommend?</p>
<p>try halliday/resnick</p>
<p>or university physics by sears and zemansky</p>
<p>but really whatever textbook you use is fine so long as it's calculus based. i personally used serway for most of my physicsing needs.</p>
<p>I'm taking it on a whim, haha. I'm a lot better at Biology.</p>
<p>My Science Bowl team decided that we should all take the various olympiad tests to see where we are.</p>
<p>I'm using the Serway book to relearn my physics from 2 years ago.</p>
<p>Yeah I have recently obtained a copy of the Serway book "Physics for Scientists and Engineers", is this good?</p>
<p>Yeah but I am also more of a Bio than Physics person but my teacher recommended that I take it.</p>
<p>are you in ap physics? if not, i would wait until you take that course. even the first round of testing in pretty difficult if you don't have a proclivity toward physics (since you said you are a bio person). good luck if you do decide to take the test.</p>
<p>I believe the Serway's College Physics is a much better book for learning the general scope of physics. Plus, it has cool pictures.</p>
<p>So insta111 you're saying that, Amazon.com:</a> College Physics (with PhysicsNow): Raymond A. Serway, Jerry S. Faughn, Chris Vuille, Charles A. Bennett: Books is better than Amazon.com:</a> Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Volume 1, Chapters 1-22, 7th Edition: Raymond A. Serway, John W. Jewett: Books</p>
<p>and brownballerina, thank you for advice but I'm just trying it out to get a feel for the test when I take AP Physics next year.</p>
<p>Yeah. College Physics makes everything so much simpler to learn than a lot of books I've seen.</p>
<p>
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Yeah I have recently obtained a copy of the Serway book "Physics for Scientists and Engineers", is this good?
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</p>
<p>it's good enough. and i think it's a lot easier to understand than university physics or even halliday/resnick. the notation is not as formal but that's kind of a good thing</p>
<p>Okay, I guess I'll read both and just use which ever I prefer. </p>
<p>Also fizix, have you ever taken the USAPhO before? Of so what was your experience with it?</p>
<p>yeah i made it to the semifinals. i don't remember much of what it was like, that was like three years ago...and besides i think the test has changed since then. like they put in an intermediate round or something.</p>
<p>the preliminary test wasn't that bad, it was all mechanics. but i was very surprised to hear i'd qualified for the next round.</p>
<p>the semifinals had all sorts of different physics topics on it and the problems required a lot of thought. if you figured out what the steps were supposed to be they weren't that bad. (think about how ap physics problems would be like if they only asked you for part (f) and expected you to figure out you needed parts a-e on your own.)</p>
<p>when can we expect f=ma results, or at least an answer key? tests were due in yesterday...</p>
<p>It's a bit late, but for anyone interested in physics I've always been a fan of University Physics by Young & Freedman. Good descriptions, good illustrations, and some hilarious problems.</p>
<p>anybody know? i mean they have to have the key made before they put the thing out, it's multiple choice...</p>
<p>damn, i wish i could have taken usapho, sadly, my physics teacher wasn't interested in pursuing it this year =(</p>
<p>meadow are you taking usapho/bo and the amc?</p>
<p>In 3 days, teachers can start administrating quarterfinal exams. No word about quarterfinalists yet.
I'm nervous. This year's prelim was harder than last year.</p>
<p><em>sigh</em>
: (</p>
<p>Quarter finalists are already up...</p>
<p>Check: U.S</a>. Physics Team - Quarter-Finalists</p>