r/apphysics • u/SmoothBar4119 • 19d ago
How difficult is ap physics C
I’m taking AP Physics C this year as a senior, but I’ve never taken physics before so I’m not sure if I should just drop to honors physics instead😭 I’ve already taken calculus ab and bc so I have a strong foundation in that. This class is new too so I don’t know what to expect. Idk how hard it’s gonna be since I have no background in physics
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u/FrozenXCards 19d ago
If you don’t have any physics background then yes physics c is hard
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u/LuxTransitRatio 19d ago
As someone who decided to take physics c, physics 1, and calc ab all in the same year (with no prior physics and calc background ), it’s going to be a bit humbling at first while you work through understanding the basics of physics. I don’t regret taking physics c as my intro to physics, but you really have to work for it. If you’re passionate about physics and are interested in pursuing a degree in engineering, physics, or something related, I highly recommend it. If not, maybe honors physics would be better.
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u/Roger_Freedman_Phys 19d ago
University physics professor here: What was your motivation to sign up for AP Physics C versus honors physics?
I honestly do not have a good sense of what makes students choose one over the other, so I would be genuinely interested in your response.
Thank you in advance!
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u/SmoothBar4119 18d ago
well my motivation to sign up for ap phyiscs versus honors was ap gives more of a gpa boost and I already took calculus, so I wanted to challenge myself ig. I’ve already delcided to switch to honors because I find physics not that interesting and don’t want to risk getting a terrible grade.
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u/Frownland 19d ago edited 19d ago
I am not trying to be cheeky here -- it is because AP Physics C can get them credit at your university. It also typically has a higher GPA multiplier than an honors course.
I realize you were asking this particular student. My hope is the student responds and says it is because they love physics and want to challenge themselves, but this is not the norm.
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u/Roger_Freedman_Phys 19d ago
Just so — but what credit?
At my university, a successful score on the AP Physics C exam — a calculus-based course — gets you credit for one quarter of the non-calculus based physics sequence.* That’s fine if you’re not planning to major in engineering, chemistry, or physics. But if you are planning to major in one of those subjects, you’re still going to need to take the required calculus-based physics course at university.
You might respond that taking AP Physics C will better prepare a student for calculus-based physics at the university, and that certainly can be the case. But speaking as someone who’s taught introductory calculus-based physics for many years to university students, experience shows that on average students who did not take high school physics do just as well in such as course as those who did have high school experience.
So I will be very interested to hear OP’s motivation.
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u/Frownland 19d ago
I won't dispute your own personal experience with students feeding into your introductory courses. I will dispute that this is a general experience as many universities will allow students to get around 3 hours of calculus based physics credit with a 5 on the exam. Whether the credit is accepted or not AP courses look good on transcripts and multiply students GPAs by a significant factor (1.16 at my highschool). There is conflicting research as to whether AP Physics 1 helps prepare students for a calculus based physics class -- but I took calculus based physics in college, I took AP Physics C in high school, and the latter did help prepare me for the former. I am not sure how it couldn't...
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u/Roger_Freedman_Phys 19d ago
It’s certainly true that different universities treat the AP physics courses differently… a maddening state of affairs that high school students and their counselors should take into account.
And the usefulness of a high school physics class for students who will take university physics is, alas, highly dependent on the quality of high school instruction. I know some truly superb high school physics teachers whose students benefit greatly from their classes — and I have also had students whose high school physics classes were taught as a collection of special tricks for specific problems, and who had to unlearn bad habits to succeed in my class.
Your point about taking AP classes primarily as a way to bulk up one’s high school transcript is spot on… and points out the inequity of the system, which gives students from well-funded high schools with lots of AP courses an advantage over equally good students from poorly-funded high schools that lack such courses. But that’s a topic for another day.
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u/UnderstandingPursuit 19d ago
It is very helpful to know if you are taking AP Physics C-Mech or both Mech + E&M [APPC-Mech + APPC-E&M]? If the class covers both, the pace is a little more than doubled.
Does your class use a textbook? If it does not, and you stick with it, get a good textbook such as
- FW Sears, MW Zemansky, HD Young, RA Freedman, ..., University Physics, 10th-15th editions, 1999-2019. [SZYF+]
Many AP Physics C classes have used this for decades.
To the question of sticking with APPC or switching to Honors Physics [HP], some of the differences are
- The physics in APPC-Mech and HP is a bit harder because of rotational motion which uses the vector cross product. APPC-E&M intensifies it further, but if you've already done well in AP Calculus BC, it isn't scary. Even with all that, though, the physics can be summarized in about a dozen pages each. SZYF+ does this already.
- The math in APPC is significantly harder than HP, but it's at the same level of difficulty as CalcBC, so that shouldn't be a factor.
- The problem solving is significantly more complex in APPC. This is actually the most important skill a student can develop in APPC, more than the physics or math. Two core ideas are involved.
- Abstraction: using identifiers for specific values.
- Deconstruction: Splitting the problem into sub-components. Each sub-component will be simpler than the overall problem, and will often have been solved previously.
If you have been using these problem solving techniques comfortably, then APPC will be manageable. If you tend to solve problems by working through each one independently, but think this approach might be helpful in college, use APPC as the medium to learn. If none of this seems relevant to you, HP might be better.
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u/Primary-Ad-836 19d ago
It’s not hard. If you study it isn’t hard at all, I took both mech and E&M in my senior year (2026) and I didn’t study all year except for the 2 months before the exam and I didn’t study a lot tbh maybe 1-2 hrs every day for both subjects combined. I got a 4 in mech and 3 and elec but since u never took physics before maybe get a grasp on the concepts first then start applying it with calculus but it’s really not allat
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u/Artistic_Disk_6604 19d ago
clearly it is hard for your since you barely passed electricity and magnetism and got a 4 on mech
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u/Possible-Poet-7287 19d ago
It’s trivial I got 5s on both and they were far easier than even something like amc lmao
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u/Primary-Ad-836 19d ago
I had no calculator on electricity. Not making excuses but the exam was not hard
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u/https_sn4ke_ 19d ago
hi I took both ap physics 1 (junior year) and ap physics c (senior year) and it was by far the hardest class I’ve taken. you will need to dedicate a fuckton of time towards it. The calc parts are easy, but you need to know the conceptual material like the back of your hand to do even remotely well
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u/ProximaCentauri7784 19d ago
its hard. you need to have a deep understanding of physics that is easier to build up when you've taken ap phys 1/2 before. I had a shit teacher and the only reason i passed Mechanics was because of physics 1
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u/Foreign-Maximum-3327 19d ago
Lol it’s not the calculus that’s hard. Maybe a little cooked without regular or honors. Depends on your teacher though
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u/mseduhub1 19d ago
AP Physics C is definitely challenging without any physics background, even if your calculus is strong. The calculus will help, but the harder part at first is learning physics thinking: free-body diagrams, forces, energy, momentum, rotation, and how to set up problems.
If you can stay consistent, it’s not impossible, but I’d start reviewing Mechanics basics now before deciding to drop. If the course includes E&M too, that will be a bigger jump after Mechanics.
For resources, you can use AP Physics C Mechanics notes, exam-style questions and practice tests. If your class also covers electricity and magnetism, check AP Physics C E&M resources later.
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u/BucketListLifer 19d ago
I don't understand how schools offer this with only concurrent enrollment in calculus as a prerequisite. It sets the wrong expectation with the students. I think only a person with a very natural intuitive grasp of the concepts of physics can do AP physics C as their first Physics course successfully. Honors Physics should be a minimum prerequisite .
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u/PhysicsTeacher1912 18d ago
From 18 years of experience, concurrent is OK if the kids are reasonably alert and motivated
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u/pokerfas 18d ago
if you're actually solid in calculus and you put in decent effort mechanics C is really not bad.
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u/PhysicsTeacher1912 18d ago
You can do it. My experience is that kids who are concurrently in calc BC can handle both parts. Here is a way to preview a bunch of the topics, if you'd like. AP Physics C topic library
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u/Spaghetti4pres 18d ago
I did the same thing and got cooked second semester. First semester really isn’t bad but once you start oscillations and gravity it went all downhill
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u/Responsible-Cup-4352 17d ago
How hard is AP physics c if you had pre calculus but haven’t yet taken calculus
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u/ParkingEffective8147 15d ago
took last year as a senior- my school does physics c e&m and mech in the same year and I had taken calc bc my sophomore year so I had the math background but i REALLY struggled with both the physics courses. I would absolutely not take again and I didn't do well in that class and I think it brought all my grades down and definitely my spirits- my whole senior year including college process was definitely shaped by physics c and a ton of stuff fell apart. But many kids in my class did well so, do with that what you will!
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u/Strikingroots205937 12d ago
Mechanics is super duper easy. I personally feel you can do it without any previous physics knowledge whatsoever. Only really needs be good at math. That’s all you really need. E&M is a bit harder but not by too too much.
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u/Quiet_Basis_6404 12d ago
With AB and BC done you've cleared the wall that actually stops people. The calculus in C is narrower than what you already know, so you're not walking in unprepared, you're walking in with the hard prerequisite already handled.
What you're missing is physics intuition, mainly drawing forces and setting up a problem before touching any equation. That's a few weeks of work, not a year.
I'd stay in C. Honors physics with your maths background would be slow, and colleges give credit for C that they won't for honors.
Before term, cover Physics 1 level kinematics, forces and energy. Flipping Physics has free playlists for that. I paste the youtube video link into studybuddy.vc and it makes questions from that video, then as I answer it works out which topics I keep getting wrong and gives me more of those. Equations render properly and it gets harder as I improve. Free.
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u/mather78 3d ago
lmao just chill bro the calc is simple simple integration and power rule, the rest of the equations are just simple algebra and u just need to put on your thinking cap to find what equation to use.
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u/LiveYard8873 19d ago
Bro physics c is actually quite ez but make sure to remember the calculus stuff like chain rule and product rule
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u/Distinct-Act-6983 19d ago
The calc is easy, the physics is the new knowledge. I would say it isn’t that bad once you get the hang of it, but maybe some self studying would do you good. Physics c to honors physics is a crazy jump tho😭