What are the best high school physics books for self-study?

[Indifference8]

I CANNOT POST IN THE SCIENCE BOOKS AND MATERIALS SUB FORUM FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON.

Now that that is out of the way, I am in dire need of assistance. I will be taking classical physics I and II this coming school year, and I have very poor physics background. I didn't even take high school physics.

I have gotten the book that is going to be used, and have attempted to start working through it, but its a little to complicated without having lectures, study groups and etc to get all my questions answered... So I really need a high school or pre-university physics book that will give me extensive knowledge to help me get through this course sequence.

Here is the book that my university uses:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/080532187X/?tag=pfamazon01-20

What books would give me a extensive foundation to build off, so that in the fall I'm not completely behind my class mates and completely lost.
Thanks

 

[jtbell]

You can certainly post here in the Science Books forum, which is for discussion of, well, science books.

The Learning Materials forums are for posting of actual resources such as tutorials written specifically for PF, and links to resources on other Web sites. They're not for discussion.

 

[thrill3rnit3]

I like University Physics because it has a wide variety of sample problems to actually show how to solve problems, but I usually turn to Halliday-Resnick-Krane Physics for a more advanced and in-depth explanation of the concepts.

 

[Daverz]

Isaac Asimov's Understanding Physics might be helpful reading before getting into the calculus based treatment in the textbook. It should be in many school libraries and is cheap on Amazon.

 

[Andy Resnick]

<snip> I will be taking classical physics I and II this coming school year, and I have very poor physics background. I didn't even take high school physics.

<snip>

What books would give me a extensive foundation to build off, so that in the fall I'm not completely behind my class mates and completely lost.
Thanks

I'm guessing (I haven't seen this book) that this is calculus-based intro physics? I only ask because you didn't mention what your math prep is- and that's as critical as any physics prep.

In any case, from the description on amazon, it looks indistinguishable from any of the other intro physics books- same topics, same order, same basic (solved) problems, etc. So getting another intro book (I have 5 or so and they are near identical) won't likely be of much use.

So, depending on your comfort level, I would recommend either:

Feynman lectures in physics (vol I and II especially)
Spielberg and Anderson "Seven ideas that shook the Universe"

 

[bookranda]

I'm using Dr. Jay Wile's Apologia science textbooks right now in my high school science. He is extremely clear! Be forewarned; these start with a Christian presupposition, but I've read reviews from some people who said they're passing their college courses without studying because of these books. http://apologia.securesites.net/prodas02.php

P.S. The books are designed for homeschoolers, and so are easy to use on your own..