r/apphysics • u/kkeira_ • 8d ago

difficulty in ap physics c mech

I am taking AP Physics C Mech. I have never taken a physics class before but i was supposed to take ap physics 1 and couldn't due to schedule conflicts. almost everyone in my class has taken ap physics 1 so i am already at a disadvantage

we took our first test and i got a 37. i studied monday-thursday for 2 hours every night and i felt like i understood the material.

I want to excel in this class because i want to be an engineer and i love math and puzzles how can i go about studying in order to fully understand topics and get a good grade

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

1

u/No_Chemistry_1756 8d ago

One good book. YouTube for additional help. A tutor if things are overwhelming. All the best

1

u/Pure-Suspect-8890 8d ago

Flipping physics and laufer physics. Also openstax for more

1

u/socratictutoring 8d ago

Since you felt that you understood the material - did you do a practice run with actual MCQ/FRQ?

1

u/UnderstandingPursuit 8d ago

I gave this response yesterday to a student in a similar situation.

I would modify it for you in one way: Before each new unit, read through the corresponding chapter in the textbook at about the pace of reading a medium-difficulty novel.

  • Have a piece of paper labeled "Chapter <X> Terms"
  • When it defines a term within the text, perhaps using a bold font, write it on the paper, along with a one sentence description of the term.
  • When it describes an action or property, perhaps using an italic font, also write that on the paper.

This should help you 'catch up' with the class, since most would have seen this information in AP Physics 1. The rest of what will help you is in the other response, about how to study using the textbook and how to solve problems effectively and efficiently.

1

u/Quiet_Basis_6404 4d ago

Eight hours of studying and a 37 almost always means the studying was reading and rewatching rather than solving. Feeling like you understand the material is exactly what passive review produces, and it's why the test came as a shock.

Concretely, close everything and do problems cold. If you can't start one, that's the real state of your understanding, not the feeling you had while reviewing.

The other thing is you're missing the Physics 1 layer everyone else has, which is mostly free body diagrams and translating a word problem into a picture. That's genuinely a gap and it's worth going back to Physics 1 kinematics and forces for a week even though your class has moved on.

studybuddy.vc helped me with the cold problem part, and when I pick a wrong answer it says what was off about that specific choice, which is what I needed since my errors were setup not arithmetic. Free.

37 on the first test with no physics background is recoverable.