Gravity. It's the law.

citlalyy asked: So I'm taking AP Physics this year...how can I prepare myself for this class? :)

Sleep when you can, because with AP Physics you won’t be getting much of it!

Kidding (mostly).  My experience with AP Physics was a bit unusual as it was the first year my high school was offering Physics C.  The class had 6 students, maybe 2 of whom were invested, and the teacher was preparing to retire at the end of the year.  Your situation will depend a lot on the teacher’s comfort level with the material and the interest of your peers in the subject, but there is plenty that you can take into your own hands!

If I could go back, I would…

• Ask more questions.  Even the dumb ones.  Scratch that, especially the dumb ones.  With physics, having a good foundation of knowledge is essential when moving on to harder topics.
• Start my homework the day I get it.  This gives you more chances to harass your teacher!  I became exceptionally good at that near the middle of the year to the point that the teacher stopped giving lab reports to avoid my questions.  It was an interesting class.
• And on the subject of labs… Learn to sort through the results that are altered by sources of error.  Believe me, there are a lot of ways your experiments can go wrong.  Take it in stride, and try to understand the underlying concepts behind what you’re doing instead of nit-picking over the fact that your data is telling you that you created matter.
• Finally… Have more fun with the material.  I spent so much time stressing over what I didn’t understand that I didn’t fully celebrate what I did understand.  Fostering a love for physics now will serve you well as you move on to college and beyond.

Hope that was helpful, best of luck to you in your class!

How about you, followers?  Any AP Physics advice/horror stories?  Share them with us!