r/apphysics

We're working on projectile motion right now, and the test is this friday. How is this pace for the AP exam? Is my teacher going too slow? We've only done unit 1 so far.

hi! for reference, im a senior thats an aspiring bme major. im taking c mech with no calc bg (im taking calc bc rn) and no physics bg. naturally i expected it to be very hard and was ready to put the work in for it, but i didnt expect it to be THIS hard, nor for my effort to be THIS useless, in the long run.

we did unit 2 (dynamics) first, and i got a literal 21% raw, 51% with the curve. i thought i was just stupid, but his own p1 students from the year before (now in c mech with me) were getting 30-40's as well. regardless, i was very determined to do well on unit 1, especially bc another 20-30% curve was expected (per his words) on the unit 1 test.

so im doing the worksheets, labs, reviews, etc, and every assignment is relatively simple to complete. i even got an 80 raw on the practice test for unit 1. the issue is that the practice test, assignments, NOTHING he gives us, is equivalent to the real test rigor wise. i learned the night before the test (yesterday) that he apparently makes our tests using the MIT ver. of C:Mech to make the ap exam feel like a breeze (which i can confirm works, bc our assignments are almost always previous collegeboard frqs and theyre a cake walk).

today i took the unit 1 exam.. the mcqs were manageable conceptually and mathematically, but the frqs were fucking awful. the 2 frqs on the practice test were both 3 parts and all conceptual. the frqs we were given as assignments all asked the same thing (max height, total time, voy and vox). however, the frqs on the real thing were 5-6 parts each, nearly all calculus/mathematical, were far more advanced conceptually than we ever discussed, and left out WAY more details than our practice assignments did. he also threw experimental design on there which no one expected bc he didnt mention it as a concept on our test (nor has even brought up experimental design since early september). each frq was about 4-5 pages f2b in length on the real thing.

aside from needing to study the MIT version of C:Mech to pass this class, are there any other resources out there that will help me succeed in his class? we follow a quarter system and depending in my score i could be stuck with a C for the quarter which really makes me nervous, esp for my major of choice. this class in general makes me think bme is not for me tbh 😭 im just nervous for whats to come, i cant drop the class, and i WANT to do better in it, but i genuinely do not know how.

For anyone who completely self-studied AP Physics C:Mechanics on their own without a tutor or a class and got a 5, what are the resources and methods you used to study? And how difficult was it to understand the material on your own?

I started the year in AP physics C and I have been struggling on every aspect, even after studying for 3+ hours I was only an 9/15 on the MCQ portion of a test. so I am planning on switching into AP Physics 2 instead. I want to know how hard is one compared to the other. also I took on level physics 1 so if they are equal difficulty should i take AP physics 1 instead

Hey, I am a student currently taking ap physics 1. Long story short, I bought the barrons prep book and don't like the way it is covering the topics and don't undderstand it. Last year, I used princeton for my aps and had good results and I need to get my hands on the princeton review 2026-27 ap physics 1 prep book.

Anyone who has the link, free feel to comment or dm.

I am in my junior year and I just dropped Physics 1 (I will take it in Grade 12). Originally, I was going to take it this year, and then take C in my senior. But for my school, it's a requirement to listen to Physics 1 before C so I won't be able to do that: but my college counselor is now telling me that I have no chance in getting into top universities such as UC Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, etc because I don't have C. How much of that is true?

Note: I want to major in aerospace/mechanical engineering and currently rigor of class is:
AP Chem
AP Calculus AB
AP Lit
AP Research

and more to come in senior year.

The biggest difference, in my view, is not simply that F=ma contains “harder physics.”

It demands a different level of problem recognition.

In many standard physics problems, the structure is already visible: identify the relevant equation, substitute the information, and solve.

A strong F=ma problem often asks a different question:

Can you recognize the hidden structure before doing the algebra?

For example, when you see two objects accelerating under gravity, do you immediately think about relative acceleration?

When you see a wedge moving on a frictionless surface, do you recognize horizontal momentum conservation before writing Newton's laws for every object?

When a circular-motion problem asks for a minimum condition, do you immediately look for the limiting case where the normal force or tension becomes zero?

This is why simply doing more textbook problems is not always enough.

For F=ma preparation, I recommend developing three separate skills:

1. Physics knowledge — Do I understand the principles?
2. Pattern recognition — Can I identify which principle matters?
3. Efficiency — Can I find the shortest reliable route under time pressure?

A useful exercise is to take an F=ma problem and, before doing any calculation, give yourself 30 seconds to answer:

“What is the central idea of this problem?”

That habit can change the way you solve competition physics.

Someone please help me with this class I genuinely do not understand how people say this is harder than ap chem, I am a junior rn taking both and I have a 93 in ap chem but bro ap physics is hell for me, I have an 82. Ik for a fact I am doing something wrong. I feel like I know all the concepts pretty well but when I need to apply them that’s when the problem arises, and the thing is I don’t wanna drop the class because I do enjoy the class the labs are super fun and my teacher tho she doesn’t teach to much is awesome and very nice. As of now what I do is watch flipping physics, do mit workbook for ap physics 1, do ap style frq but I just always do terrible when I practice. Come test day, I drop like a 70 and I am being serious have no clue how to get better. I am 100 percent certain I am doing this class completely wrong because I am doing well in my other ap classes. Someone please give me there approach on how to succeed. I don’t even care to really get an A, I just want to know how to study and succeed in this class.