Can someone make me a Physics C timeline?

[khalkash]

I am not sure if I worded the title correctly. But here it is, I want to study both Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism (I am planning on being a physics major, not just an AP loader). But my school only teaches us Mechanics ,and our teacher is a horrible one. So I want to start learning Mechanics in the beginning of September to the middle of the year, by then, I would like to begin studying Electricity and Magnetism. I have the books University Physics and Fundamentals of Physics by Resnick. Using either one of these books, can someone possible make a monthly timeline for me for the chapters I should hit. If this is too much work, can someone atleast give me the topics that are needed for the AP exam and nothing superfluous?

 

[MarneMath]

That's a lot to ask. In Resnick, physics II at our school was from electric charge to relativity. I'm not sure what is on the AP exam for Physics C, but if your goal is to self-study this material and know it by the time you start college, I would imagine you would need to go at a slower place than a typical class, and it would behoove you to understand it well, not well enough for an AP Exam, (Which usually translates into rather poorly.)

 

[khalkash]

Isn't these two subject areas in physics covered in two semester, approximately the time frame I am trying to work on? Do you recommend then I cover more than I need? I am planning on using OCW to guide me through some of the concepts in addition to the books. I just don't know what to do.

 

[WannabeNewton]

Hi there hkalkash. Have you taken a look at the college board's site? They have a syllabus for the EM part of the exam. Here's everything you'll (hopefully) need: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap-physics-course-description.pdf. Best of luck!

 

[khalkash]

Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH WannabeNewton! Exactly what I was looking for.

 

[WannabeNewton]

Anytime friend! Good luck again. Speaking from experience I would focus more on EM than on mechanics because I personally found that the mechanics part was quite trivial whereas the EM part wasn't as trivial (I hate circuits!).

 

[hsetennis]

Even if you're school's teacher is a horrible one, he/she most likely has access to archives of other teachers' and AP-recommended syllabi, worksheets, videos, timelines, and other content. As students we don't always see all this behind the scenes material. Don't feel shy to ask to borrow it or photocopy it.

 

[verty]

If you aim to learn one chapter every 1-2 weeks, that should get you through the syllabus within the year. At any time if you find there is some math you need that you don't yet know, take a timeout to learn it.

Doing a little each day, it should be doable :).

 

[serllus reuel]

How much physics do you know as of now? It sounds like you are taking a yearlong mechanics class next year and want to take both mechanics and EM exams next May. That is a difficult situation, as EM relies on much of the mechanics material. If you already know mechanics up to about the AP physics B level, perhaps you can start EM right away and learn them concurrently. Or consider taking EM in 2015 of you are not going to be a senior.

A final word of warning/reassurance (those two are not mutually exclusive): its pretty easy to do well on the AP exam. The downside is that you can get a five and have a terrible understanding of physics. If you suddenly realize that it's April and you haven't done much, get Princeton review or something and burn through it; you'll be surprised how easy it is (that is what I did, now I am completely re-learning it)