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Re: Physics first

At 2:48 PM -0400 6/30/00, Lisa Gardner, you wrote about Re: Physics first:


Dear List Members,

I'm a 9 year old student and I like physics, but it seems like there
is one thing that isn't being taken into consideration. That is math;
at the public middle school that I plan to attend I expect to have
completed Algebra 2 before I'm a freshman in high school. I don't know
if I will be allowed to take AP Calculus as a freshman, but from the
Physics books that I own I think I will really need it before I take
AP Physics.

Remember that there are TWO AP Physics courses. Physics AP-B uses only algebra.
It is the AP-C course that requires calculus (which can be taken concurrently).

And considering the AP-C exam: It is divided into two entirely separate halves.

Mechanics: this is a pretty straightforward treatment of the 'usual'
first semester physics course - it 'just' uses derivatives and
integrals occasionally.

Electricity & Magnetism: This treatment of electromagnetism is a VERY
different way of looking at the usual second semester course. It
stretches the mind by using line and surface integrals and also
three-dimensional derivatives. (To MY way of thinking - these physics
laws are what lets advanced mathematics make sense!)

Separate grades are given on each half of the C exam and many
students will take the Mechanics portion and not try the E&M portion.

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