Customer Reviews

How to Prepare for the AP Physics C

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I took AP Physics C in my high school, and often, I found that the textbook we were using was very badly laid out and difficult to understand. I decided to abandon the textbook. Instead, I solely used this AP Physics study guide. I noticed an immediate improvement in my grades. They went from previously being 87-93 to consistently being 98+ (and this is in a class with a dynamic curve based on how well you do compared to the rest of the class). I couldn't believe how well this book prepared me for tests.

However, this book goes into so many details and gives such incredibly complicated examples, that I often found myself skimming. Also, simply reading the book takes enough time as it is, I found that making time to actually try example problems was very difficult. This isn't necessarily a shortcoming, though, because I found I understood the material much better because the book didn't condense the information.

Now, on to what people really care about: How did the AP exams go?

Well, after having read this book, I breezed through the mechanics test and instantly knew I had a 5. (and I did get that score)

The electricity and magnetism test raped me very badly, even to the point where I felt like I was making things up to fill space. Would you believe I still made a 5? I can only imagine how horribly you'd have to do (and feel) to make a lower score.

Despite the fact that this book is not condensed and that it is incredibly difficult to the point where I almost want to throw the book at the wall and say "Just tell me the equation, and be done with it!!!!" , I cannot complain because this book has taught me physics better than any other book that I have consulted, and it has achieved its main purpose: It gave me a 5 on both AP Physics exams. Also, from my E&M results, I think it's clear that although the book is difficult to plow through, it's because the material is difficult, not because the author wants to torture our little minds.

Definitely recommended.

I purchased this book in the winter of my senior year, having decided to study for the Physics C exam independently, as my school does not offer such a course. The book, on first sight is quite thick, and is a bit daunting to get into, however, Mr. Pelcovits does a tremendous job explaining each concept as it comes along, One is expected to have a foundation in calculus, however, the major concepts regarding derivatives, integrals and vectors are presented so that a reader less versed can catch up (if you're trying to learn calculus, however, this is not the book for you, although it will reinforce major calculus concepts with concrete examples).

I ended up only taking the Mechanics portion of the exam due to time constraints, and admittingly, the material overlapped very well with my Calculus BC course so it was easier than it would have been if I had done it exclusively, nevertheless, the book provides very solid explainations, plenty of examples that are, frankly, alot harder than i would have liked them to be, but as most of the reviewers have noted, after mastering the diffcult questions in the book, the actual test was a breeze.

I got a 5 on the exam, and my only regret is that I did not take the E/M portion of the test. Even after the test, I plan to use it as I study E/M next year at Stanford. (In a side note, the book is comparable in material and depth (though it is much more example oriented) to the venerable "Mechanical Universe" freshman physics textbook by Goodstein et. al.)

As usual, Barrons has produced an amazing comprehensive AP prep. Sure, the questions are so difficult my physics genius father grudgingly admits he would've had trouble solving them at my age. Sure, they give disturbingly detailed coverage on derivations of equations and so many integrals and differential proofs your mind can go dizzy looking at all that calculation.
But it's excellent preparation for the AP exam, and as usual, after surviving Barrons, the AP exam truly seems like a joke.

Without having taken any physics before this, jumping straight int Physics C cold, and without taking any classes at school or colleges and relying only on guidance from my father who rather likes teaching physics in the exact style Barrons does (2 sentences of explanation, millions of practice problems, and hard ones at that...ok, maybe slight exaggeration), I've been able to handle AP Physics *very*, *very* well. I couldn't have done it without Barrons.
Only warning: sometimes, the problems are ambiguous and sometimes they put the problems in nonsensical order (really hard problems followed by really easy problems).
Nonetheless, this book is BRUTAL but will meticulously prepare you for the AP exam if you are brave enough to stand the faultlessly thorough preparation.

How to Prepare for the AP Physics C contains a good deal of very helpful problems that are harder than the problems on the actual exam. The difficulty level of the problems makes the AP exam rather easy in comparison. However, there are typos on nearly every other page. These errors range from the benign grammar and spelling errors to the downright atrocious mathematical errors. You do need to have a pretty good grasp on physics before you use this book so the errors won't confuse you. If you don't feel you have a good grasp on the material, consider buying the Princeton Review's review book, which is for both the Physics C and Physics B.
The book is good overall and especially helpful for the Physics C student considering it is the only review book devoted specifically to the Physics C AP exam.

This is an excellent, comprehensive manual. 746 pages of length ensures that every imaginable topic on the AP physics tests (Electricity and Magnetism, and Mechanics) is covered. Excellent organization! The test questions in this book are harder than the actual test, which makes the actual test a breeze. If you go on in physics, this book is a good primer to get you ready for harder classes and harder problems. I used this along with Feynman's lectures for studying.

The only flaw: the numerous typos. I did get a kick out of the one on p62-63 that said to "Integrage" the function. Unfortunately, the errors are with pretty rudimentary stuff, and they could have benefitted from a more comprehensive proofreading. But when you only spend $12 on this wonderful book, the typos can be overlooked, and you see an excellent comprehensive guide overall.

This book contains plenty of problems on all the subjects covered by the AP Exam, and detailed solutions for each problem. It was very helpful in my Physics C crash course before the AP last year. The book is also good because the practice questions are harder than actual AP questions, so that the Exam seemed easy in comparison.
However, the errors (either benign typos, or equations which were just wrong) were frequent enough to be somewhat annoying. I ran into an error every few pages or so.

I bought this book with several others to supplement my daughter's physics class. I also went back and collected the openly available free-response questions and the much more limited multiple choice questions from actual prior tests. By comparison this book is indeed harder than what is needed for the actual test. However, overall this is a great book as it will prepare you for the AP Physics C test.

This book is comprehensive and deals with each topic in detail - therefore there is no problem on this point.

However, I feel that the difficulty of the problems may not make it appropriate for someone studying the topic with less than a few months to go before the AP exam. It may be better in that case to try another guide (see my other reviews - Physics C by Mooney) in order to cover more topics - albeit in less depth. However, if you start early (or have a good grasp of physics already and are in need of excellent and challenging problems) this is the way to go. If you can master this guide, you will get a great score on the exam. Keep in mind, the "trick" to physics problems is to do enough in number and quality to be able to "smell out" what the correct answer should look like and to "see" the common pitfalls and avoid them. Once you do enough, you will realize that there are only so many variations on any one particular topic that can presented in a testing format.

For those of you that start studying early, buy this book and Physics C by Mooney and get to work.

The examples in this book are hard, which is a good thing. If you plan on doing any physics in college, this book serves as a great reference book (that's how good it is). In fact, the author even tells you in the preface that this book serves as a supplementary text book. It is very straightforward and readable. I would recommend it to anyone.

If your just a student looking for success on the AP Physics C Exam then this book is just for you.

While the level of physics that this books presents is way above that which appears on the real AP exam, it will no doubt truly test your understanding of Physics and also enhance your ability to think critically.

My high school never offered the AP Physics C course at our school, I self-studied for this exam using Halliday's "Fundamentals of Physics" book while concurrently taking the Physics B course at school. Although Halliday's book is fundamentally strong in presenting the information clearly and succinctly, it often fails in presenting physics problems that pertain to the AP examination.

Despite what my friends said about the unnecessarily high level of physics that this book presents, compared to Princeton Review or Kaplan, I thought that studying harder material would payoff in making the AP exam easier. It sure did as I miraculously scored 5's on both exams by just going over this book twice and somehow trying to understand its contents.

So if all you're looking is to score a 5 on the AP Physics C exam, this book, though painstakingly, will almost guarantee that w/ time and effort.

This book is very useful and helpful for the AP. It gives an in depth explanation of each problem and the relating topic. But when using this book, keep in mind that THE BOOK PROBLEMS ARE MUCH HARDER THAN THE EXAM. I felt that the problems in the book were significantly harder and more time consuming that the AP problems. So if you purchase this book (which I recommend), don't get too worked up over the difficulty, the AP is much easier. Good for practice but bad for self-confidence :) Otherwise, excellent book, can be used in college as well.