Contents
Guide
Page List
Acknowledgments
I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to my coauthor, Joshua Farkas, an exceptionally gifted former student of mine. Josh contributed the lions share of work to the first edition, developing most of the examples and problems (especially the novel and creative ones), and offering numerous ideas and suggestions as to the best way to present difficult concepts and useful problem-solving strategies. I am very grateful for all he has done in making our book a success.
RAP
I would first of all like to thank Robert Pelcovits for coauthoring this book with me and for his valiant efforts in its revision. To work with a man of his stature, both as a physicist and as a person, is indeed a privilege. This book never could have been possible without him. I would also like to thank Esta Farkas for heroically reviewing the initial drafts of this book for both content and English.
JDF
Copyright 2022, 2020, 2016, 2012, 2008 by Kaplan North America, LLC, dba Barrons Educational Series
Prior edition Copyright 2002 by Barrons Educational Series, Inc., under the title How to Prepare for the AP Physics C Advanced Placement Examination.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this eBook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Kaplan North America, LLC, dba Barrons Educational Series
1515 W Cypress Creek Road
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309
www.barronseduc.com
ISBN: 978-1-5062-8115-5
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Kaplan North America, LLC, dba Barrons Educational Series print books are available at special quantity discounts to use for sales promotions, employee premiums, or educational purposes. For more information or to purchase books, please call the Simon & Schuster special sales department at 866-506-1949.
About the Authors
Robert Pelcovits is a professor of physics at Brown University, where he has taught since 1979. He earned his B.A. and M.S. degrees at the University of Pennsylvania and his Ph.D. at Harvard University. The author of over 90 publications in theoretical condensed matter physics, he has lectured on his research at many universities throughout the world. He has taught 20 physics courses courses at Brown, from introductory to advanced graduate level. In 1999 he was awarded the Philip J. Bray Award for Teaching Excellence in the Physical Sciences by Brown. In 2008 he was named a Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence at Brown, and in 2011 the university awarded him the Harriet Sheridan Award for Distinguished Contribution to Teaching and Learning.
Having earned both Sc.B. and M.S. degrees from Brown University and an M.D. degree from Cornell University, Joshua Farkas is currently an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Vermont. He was also a National Merit Scholar, a Goldwater Scholar, and a Faculty Scholar at Brown University, with experience teaching college-level calculus and calculus-based physics. Having scored 5s on AP exams in BC Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics C, as well as 800s in SAT I Math and on SAT II exams in Math IIC, Chemistry, and Physics, he brought a students perspective to this book.
Table of Contents
Diagnostic Test
First, take the diagnostic test to gain an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Read the answer explanations for all questions, as they provide valuable insight into correct and incorrect answers. Refer to the diagnostic table to identify the areas you need to brush up on. Here you can find the chapter numbers that correspond to each of the questions in the diagnostic test.
Review and Practice
This books review chapters align with the curriculum for the AP Physics C course. The text of the chapters works from the ground up without assuming extensive knowledge of physics on your part. Therefore, the text is appropriate at any stage of your mastery of AP Physics. You may find it helpful to read the text along with your textbook when you are first learning the material and studying for course exams, or you may choose to read the chapters together as a review after you have completed most of your AP Physics C course. By answering the practice questions that follow each chapter, you will be able test your learning as you progress through the book.
Practice Tests
The final section of the book offers the opportunity to take two full-length practice tests that include all question types found on the actual exam. A comprehensive answer explanation is provided for each question.
Online Practice
In addition to the diagnostic test and two practice tests within this book, there is also a full-length online practice exam. You can take this exam in practice (untimed) mode or in timed mode. All questions include answer explanations
As you review the content in this book to work toward earning that on your AP PHYSICS C exam, here are five things that you MUST know above everything else:
| Dimensional Analysis. Many AP Physics multiple-choice questions can be answered or have the number of possibly correct answers significantly reduced by using dimensional analysis to check the units of the answers. |
Even for free-response questions you should check your units. You may discover a mistake in your work by doing so. Whenever you solve a practice or homework problem, always check the units; this is a great habit to develop while mastering physics. |
| Vectors. Vectors are key quantities in physics, whether Newtonian mechanics or electricity and magnetism. |
Review the addition and subtraction laws for vectors in . Most important, review how to resolve vectors into components, including the relevant trigonometry. |
| Graphs. The AP exam will test your ability to understand physical information in graphical form, such as displacement of a moving object vs. time. You will need to draw graphs in the free-response questions and select correct graphs in the multiple-choice section. |
Review the use of graphs in the free-response questions. Also read Graphical Analysis of Data in the Introduction. |