Customer Reviews

Cracking the AP Physics B & C Exams, 2002-2003

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I took the AP Physics B exam as a freshman, taking just a regular honors physics course, and used only this book, the non-AP textbook, plus some tests from previous years to prepare, and managed to get a 5, so this book is really something. It also helped me prep for the SAT IIs (800 on that).

Not really having paid attention to the Physics C parts, I don't have much say on that, but the B sections were quite helpful. Everything is explained very clearly, provided that you understood the chapters that came before.

The reason that this book really deserves 5 stars is because it is the only book I've come across that goes over the information in so much detail and more depths than what was actually required on the AP. So when the test rolled around it actually seemed very EASY.

Some people might say that spending all that time on the extra information is a waste if you really don't need it, but I really think it provides a very sturdy ground for you to stand on while taking the AP. So instead of stressing about it and biting your nails like the person to your right is doing, you're just thinking, "Oh, this is simple." It's the greatest feeling to open up the test, see the problem and sigh with relief--because after this book you'll know how to do all the problems right off the bat.

Granted, the beginning is a little shaky, some of the mechanics and torque not being explained very well, but there isn't much torque on the test anyway, and if you take any physics class, you should've covered mechanics and torque in that long before the AP actually takes place.

The only complaint to be made is that many of the practice problems and examples have mistakes/typos in them, which could get pretty aggravating.

Overall, if you're prepping for the AP it's really YOUR attitude that matters, any book, as long as it's got the info will work. Some of my friends used the SAT II version of this same book or the Barron's AP book and got 5s, so you might want to consider too.

Also, taking practice tests will help a lot, especially actual exams from past years (the resident physics teacher should have quite a stock of those). And keep in mind that you can get a 70% and still get a 5, so don't stress out too much ^_^.

Good luck!

This review is based on the 2000-2001 Edition, but the only difference I am aware of between this edition and the one I have is the addition of fluid dynamics. So you won't find any new problems to solve if you have other editions.(I took the B exam last year.)

As with any prep books out there, this one is no substitution for your AP class, but it does come in handy when you want to review all the subjects in the month before the AP exam.

It covers all the materials on the syllabus:
1. Vectors (A nice review but you don't need to know too much about them, knowing what they are and how do some simple operations with them will suffice. C students should know how dot product and cross product work) 2.Kinematics 3.Newton's Laws 4.Work, Energy, and Power 5.Linear Momentum 6.Rotational Motion 7.Newton's Law of Gravitation 8.Oscillations 9.Thermal Physics 10.Electric Forces and Fields 11. Electric Potential and Capacitance 12.Direct Current Circuits 13.Magnetic Forces and Fields 14.Electromagnetic Induction 15.Waves 16.Optics 17.Atomic and Nuclear Physics 18.Fluid Mechanics
Each chapter is about 20-30 pages in length.

The examples it gives are very good and have clear solutions. Every practice question has detailed solution and is very similar to those you may see on the actual exam. (this means most of the questions you will see are conceptual questions that require some thoughts)

Now for the flaws of this book:
1. For some odd reason, the number of (practice) multiple choice questions in each chapter is strictly restricted to 10. There are certainly many more types of questions it can include.
2. The free response questions in this book are generally very mathematical. If you have seen a real AP question you will know I mean. I did all 7 FR questions and got 5 on the AP, but I could only solve 75 percent of the questions to completion. On the AP exam you will have 15 min to do each question, but give yourself more time when you do problems in this book. They are hard but it is good practice for you.
3. Although this book is intended for both B and C courses, it really concentrates on the B exam, so C students should try to find more problems elsewhere. In particular, Barron has a really good review book on the C exam, I highly recommend it.
4. For B students: if you still want more multiple choice questions for practice after you tried all B-type questions your teacher has given to you, ask your teacher for questions from the C exams, you can do at least 70 percent of the problems on them.

Some advice:
1. Your teacher should have test questions from past years, be sure to do those.
2. You can find some free response questions on [the internet].
3. Concentrate on the concepts when reviewing for the AP. Physicists always place concepts before actual math. You will get one or two points off for mathematical mistakes on the FR part, no matter how horrible they appear to your math teacher; but a wrong concept might cost you the entire 15 points.
4. Chances are you will have many free response questions on the AP that you have never seen before. The questions aren't as hard as they appear, and the questions often guide you to solve the entire problem.

Anyway, this is best review book I have seen so far. Barron's review book on the B exam might be helpful too, just don't buy the one from REA, I saw two horrible errors just by skimming through a few pages, and the questions it provides are in no way in resemblence with the questions on AP....

I used this book for my AP Physics C - Mechanics course last year and it was PHENOMENAL. It also serves as a nice reference for formulae and theorems with a few challenging, thought-provoking problems for each chapter. I still use it for reference and refresher in my Lagrangian Dyanmics course now. I GUARANTEE - IF YOU COMPLETE ALL OF THE END-0F-CHAPTER MC AND FR AND GET GREATER THAN ABOUT 80%, YOU WILL EARN NO LESS THAN A FOUR ON THE AP PHYSICS EXAM (ALMOST CERTAINLY A 5!).

I used this book to prepare for the AP Physics B test two months ago (and got a 5), and I have to say that this book is marvelous. The B and C topics are clearly divided, the layout is very good, the review chapters explain concepts extremely clearly and comprehensively, and there are many illustrative examples. Exercises after each chapter are slightly harder than the real test (especially the free response questions), so it's really good preparation. The explanations are good too. The only weak point is that it does not have enough practice tests, only one for each test (B and C), but then you can get practice tests everywhere. Not mentioning the AP test, the review part also most definitely helped me understand a lot of physics concepts much better and clear up confusion. I strongly recommend this book.

This book is extremely useful for studying the AP Physics B test~ I am not really sure about C, but I used this book and I got a 5 on the B test. Although some ppl prefer Barron and say Princton Review is too easy, but a lot of stuff in the "hardcore" barron book are not even on the AP test. So don't waste time trying to understand all the materials taught in Barron
Buy this book~ it gives you I guess, 90% of the review you need for the test.. the other 10% comes from hte homeworks from your textbook..

I highly recommend this book. In September, I completely relied on class preparation to nail the AP Physics B. But, when by March, we hadn't started Electricity and Magnetism, I (as well as my parents) started to seriously worry. I had purchased the Princeton Review book about a month before, just in case. So, I started studying the Princeton Review book, chapter by chapter, every night trying to do practice problems. It was hard, because I had to study some difficult topics on my own. Now, I am glad I used this book. Our class, after being stuck on Electricity and Magnetism, finally ran through electricity and magnetism, with the teacher barely explaining the concepts. The actual exam had many questions which were similar to the ones in this book. I would not have been able to do many of the problems if I hadn't studied this book. I received a 4, and am very happy. I am scared to think what I would have received if I hadn't used this book. The only problem is the single practice test, which forced me to use internet sources to obtain practice tests. Otherwise, this is a great buy, which saved me from AP Physics "disaster."

This is probably one of the best Ap prep books I have ever bought. Going along with my AP Physics class, I was able to snooze through my teachers lectures and still obtain perfects on all my teacher's exams. With using this book alone, I was able to achieve the highest grade on every test in my AP Physics class out of all 150 students taking the course at my school. The average student with an A in the course would get 60%, but with this book I would get 130%.

Princeton Review has great stuff for SAT I preparation, but I have hated every single AP Exam and SAT II exam book I have gotten from them. They're all too simple and hardly give the comprehensive review that I find with other test preps like REA, Kaplan, or Barrons.
This book for one thing stupidly covers B and C together, which seems to cause them to cover NEITHER particularly well or comprehensively. Of course, because they have to be concerned with the B students, they really skimp on the Calculus, which irritates me to no end. Their vector section was so poorly done I went to my old Pre-calc book to read up on vectors. They left out all sorts of essential short cuts and vector tricks, and sadly enough, my old Pre-calc book, not even a physics book, had some better physics question than they did in their book.
The question I found were very simple, and I'm the kind of person who likes to practice with more challenging problems than what will show up on the AP exams. And they only have *ONE* practice test for each exam.
I most definitely prefer Barron's. I haven't seen the REA for Physics, but I'd sooner spend money on THOSE than Princeton Review.
It's got nice diagrams, and minimally adequate material, and that's about *all* I can say in its favor.

I used this book junior year to study for the AP Physics B exam, but I didn't take a regular course. I studied from this book alone, no teacher/textbook/course, and I managed a 4 on the B exam. I used this book again for the Physics C exams and I'm pretty sure I nailed it.

I got my AP Report card today. I appreciate for this book. I did very well on the test. The imformation in this book is so useful, it lets you to know everything you need to know and it won't tell you something yor don't even have to know. Trust me! Buy this book.