5 Steps to a 5: AP Physics C 2021
Genres: Physics
Book Preface
Why This Book?
To understand what makes this book unique, you should first know a little bit about who I am. I have taught all versions of AP Physics over the past two decades, helping more than 90% of my Physics C students garner 5s on the exam. I am also an AP Physics table leader—which means I set the rubrics for the AP exams and supervise their scoring.
I know, from my own experiences and from talking with countless other students and teachers, what you don’t need in a review book. You don’t need to be overwhelmed with unimportant, technical details; you don’t need to read confusing explanations of arcane topics; you don’t need to be bored with a dull text.
Instead, what I think you do need—and what this book provides—are the following:
• A text that’s written in clear, simple language.
• A thorough review of every topic you need to know for the AP exam.
• Practice test questions that are exactly in the style and format of the actual AP exams.
Organization of the Book: The Five-Step Program
You will be taking a lengthy, comprehensive exam this May. You want to be well prepared enough that the exam takes on the feel of a command performance, not a trial by fire. Following the Five-Step program is the best way to structure your preparation.
Step 1: Set Up Your Study Program
Physics does not lend itself well to cramming. Success on the AP exam is invariably the result of diligent practice over the course of months, not the result of an all-nighter on the eve of exam day. Step 1 gives you the background and structure you need before you even start exam preparation.
Step 2: Determine Your Test Readiness
I have included a diagnostic test, of course, broken down by topic. But more important to your preparation are the fundamentals quizzes in Chapter 4. These quizzes, a unique feature of the 5 Steps to a 5 program, are different from test-style problems.
A problem on the AP exam usually requires considerable problem solving or critical thinking skills. Rare is the AP question that asks about straightforward facts that you can memorize—you’ll get maybe one of those on an entire 35-question multiple choice test. Rather than asking you to spit out facts, the AP exam asks you to use the facts you know to reason deeply about a physical situation. But if you don’t know the fundamental facts, you certainly won’t be able to reason deeply about anything!
Thus, a good place to start your test preparation is by quizzing yourself. Find out what fundamental facts you know, and which you need to know. The 5 Steps fundamentals quizzes will diagnose your areas of strength and weakness. Once you can answer every question on a fundamentals quiz quickly and accurately, you are ready for deeper questions that will challenge you on the AP exam.
Step 3: Develop Strategies for Success
Yes, yes, I know you’ve been listening to general test-taking advice for most of your life. Yet, I have physics-specific advice for you. An AP physics test requires a dramatically different approach than does a state standards test or an SAT.
I start you with the secret weapon in attacking an AP test: memorizing equations. I explain why you should memorize, then I suggest some ways to make the learning process smoother. Next, I move on to discuss the major types of questions you’ll see on the AP exam, and how to approach each with confidence.
Finally, I present you with drills on some of the most common physics situations tested on the AP exams. These exercises will allow you to conquer any fear or uncertainty you may have about your skills.
Step 4: Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High
This is a comprehensive review of all the topics on the AP exam. Now, you’ve probably been in an AP Physics class all year; you’ve likely read1 your textbook. This review is meant to be just that—review, in a readable format, and focused exclusively on the AP exam.
These review chapters are appropriate both for quick skimming, to remind yourself of salient points, and for in-depth study, working through each practice problem. I do not go into nearly as much detail as a standard textbook; but the advantage of this lack of detail is that you can focus only on those issues germane to the AP Physics exams.
Step 5: Build Your Test-Taking Confidence
Here are your full-length practice tests. Unlike other practice tests you may take, this one comes with thorough explanations. One of the most important elements in learning physics is making, and then learning from, mistakes. I don’t just tell you what you got wrong; I explain why your answer is wrong, and how to do the problem correctly. It’s okay to make a mistake here, because if you do, you won’t make that same mistake again on that Monday in mid-May.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Introduction: The Five-Step Program
STEP 1 Set Up Your Study Program
1 How to Approach Your AP Physics Course
Ignore Your Grade
Don’t Bang Your Head Against a Brick Wall
Work with Other People
Ask Questions When Appropriate
Keep an Even Temper
Don’t Cram
Never Forget, Physics is “Phun”
2 What You Need to Know About the AP Physics C Exams
Background Information
Some Frequently Asked Questions About the AP Physics C Exams
3 How to Plan Your Time
What Should I Study?
Understand Physics First, Then AP Physics C
A Word About Calculus
Three Different Study Schedules
STEP 2 Determine Your Test Readiness
4 Fundamentals Quizzes
Mechanics Quiz
Electricity and Magnetism Quiz
Answers to Mechanics Quiz
Answers to Electricity and Magnetism Quiz
What Do I Know, and What Don’t I Know?
5 Take a Diagnostic Test
Diagnostic Test
Answers and Explanations
Interpretation: How Ready Are You?
STEP 3 Develop Strategies for Success
6 Memorizing Equations in the Shower
Can You Ace This Quiz?
So, How Did You Do?
Equations Are Crucial
What About the Free-Response Section?
Treat Equations Like Vocabulary
Answer Key to Practice Quiz
7 How to Approach Each Question Type
How to Approach the Multiple-Choice Section
How to Approach the Free-Response Section
Lab Questions
8 Extra Drill on Difficult but Frequently Tested Topics
Tension
The Answers
Electric and Magnetic Fields
The Answers
Inclined Planes
The Answers
Motion Graphs
The Answers
Simple Circuits
The Answers
STEP 4 Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High
9 Free-Body Diagrams and Equilibrium
What Is a Free-Body Diagram?
Equilibrium
Normal Force
Tension
Friction
Inclined Planes
Torque
Practice Problems
Solutions to Practice Problems
Rapid Review
10 Kinematics
Introduction to Motion in a Straight Line
Graphical Analysis of Motion
Algebraic Analysis of Motion
What If Acceleration Isn’t Constant?
Air Resistance and the First-Order Differential Equation
Practice Problems
Solutions to Practice Problems
Rapid Review
11 Newton’s Second Law, Fnet = ma
The Four-Step Problem-Solving Process
Only Net Force Equals ma
Fnet on Inclines
Fnet for a Pulley
Newton’s Third Law
This Chapter Was Not as Easy as You Thought
Practice Problems
Solutions to Practice Problems
Rapid Review
12 Momentum
Momentum and Impulse
Conservation of Momentum
Motion of the Center of Mass
Elastic and Inelastic Collisions
Two-Dimensional Collisions
Practice Problems
Solutions to Practice Problems
Rapid Review
13 Energy Conservation
Kinetic Energy and the Work-Energy Theorem
Potential Energy
Conservation of Energy: Problem-Solving Approach
Springs
Power
Potential Energy vs. Displacement Graphs
Practice Problems
Solutions to Practice Problems
Rapid Review
14 Gravitation and Circular Motion
Velocity and Acceleration in Circular Motion
Centripetal Acceleration
Mass on a String
Car on a Curve
Newton’s Law of Gravitation
Kepler’s Laws
Practice Problems
Solutions to Practice Problems
Rapid Review
15 Rotational Motion
Rotational Kinematics
Rotational Inertia
Newton’s Second Law for Rotation
Rotational Kinetic Energy
Angular Momentum and Its Conservation
Practice Problems
Solutions to Practice Problems
Rapid Review
16 Simple Harmonic Motion
Amplitude, Period, and Frequency
Vibrating Mass on a Spring
Pendulums
Practice Problems
Solutions to Practice Problems
Rapid Review
17 Electrostatics
Electric Charge
Electric Fields
Force of an Electric Field
Electric Potential
Special Geometries for Electrostatics
Gauss’s Law
Practice Problems
Solutions to Practice Problems
Rapid Review
18 Circuits
Current
Resistance and Ohm’s Law
Resistors in Series and in Parallel
The V-I-R Chart
Kirchoff’s Laws
Circuits from an Experimental Point of View
RC Circuits: Steady-State Behavior
RC Circuits: Transitional Behavior
Inductors in Circuits
Other Circuits
Practice Problems
Solutions to Practice Problems
Rapid Review
19 Magnetism
Magnetic Fields
Long, Straight, Current-Carrying Wires
Moving Charged Particles
Mass Spectrometry: More Charges Moving Through Magnetic Fields
Induced EMF
The Biot-Savart Law and Ampere’s Law
Practice Problems
Solutions to Practice Problems
Rapid Review
STEP 5 Build Your Test-Taking Confidence
Physics C—Mechanics Practice Exam 1—Multiple-Choice Questions
Physics C—Mechanics Practice Exam 1—Free-Response Questions
Physics C—Electricity and Magnetism Practice Exam 1—Multiple-Choice Questions
Physics C—Electricity and Magnetism Practice Exam 1—Free-Response Questions
Physics C—Mechanics Practice Exam 1—Multiple-Choice Solutions
Physics C—Mechanics Practice Exam 1—Free-Response Solutions
Physics C—Electricity and Magnetism Practice Exam 1—Multiple-Choice Solutions
Physics C—Electricity and Magnetism Practice Exam 1—Free-Response Solutions
Physics C—Mechanics Practice Exam 2—Multiple-Choice Questions
Physics C—Mechanics Practice Exam 2—Free-Response Questions
Physics C—Electricity and Magnetism Practice Exam 2—Multiple-Choice Questions
Physics C—Electricity and Magnetism Practice Exam 2—Free-Response Questions
Physics C—Mechanics Practice Exam 2—Multiple-Choice Solutions
Physics C—Mechanics Practice Exam 2—Free-Response Solutions
Physics C—Electricity and Magnetism Practice Exam 2—Multiple-Choice Solutions
Physics C—Electricity and Magnetism Practice Exam 2—Free-Response Solutions
Appendixes
Constants
Physics C Equations
Four-Minute Drill Prompts
Web Sites
Glossary
Bibliography
The Pantheon of Pizza
| Download Ebook | Read Now | File Type | Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Download here
|
Read Now | Epub | April 10, 2021 |
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