Review / Prep Books for Physics C?

Good texts are available
for physics C...

Back in September I reviewed the AP B supplement to the Walker 4th edition text.  The one sentence summary:  author Connie Wells, formerly on the AP test development committee, did a great job.

That post has now spawned two official comments and some informal inquiry as to what good Physics C supplements are out there.  I should have tackled this question before, but I'll go at it now.

Problem is, the whole idea of a "good physics C supplement" doesn't make complete sense to me.  

In Physics B or Honors Physics or Regents Physics, novice students are covering only the basics of a variety of introductory physics topics.  Textbooks are not wholly satisfying in such courses, because they cover way more material and depth than is level- or exam-appropriate.  Especially for the Regents level, the available textbooks are such compromises of committee writing that straightforward, targeted physics explanations are lost in the eduspeak.  So the purpose of a prep book at that level is for focus:  Here's what you need to know for this exam, here's a one paragraph (rather than four page) explanation of a concept in plain language, here are practice questions in the style of the exam you'll be facing at year's end.

In physics C, though, the textbooks are generally solid.  The mechanics chapters in Halliday and Resnick, or Tipler, or Serway, are all reasonably well correlated to the AP curriculum.*  The end-of-chapter questions vary from way easier to way harder than the actual AP exam, but it's not hard to pick out questions that are on-level, and even in a similar style to what is seen on the exam.

* Or, perhaps, the AP curriculum is reasonably well correlated to these common textbooks.  Chicken or egg?

Consider the typical student in physics C, and what he or she needs from a "review" for the exam.  This student has been in a class doing problems and reading a textbook all year.  A prep book is useless if it just mirrors the explanations and problems found in a text.

The strength of a good prep book is concise, focused, readable, non-mathematical explanations of basic physics concepts.  Books at the sub-physics C level already do this.  My own 5 Steps to a 5 book, the out-of-print AP prep book written for Kaplan by Hugh Henderson and Connie Wells*, Connie's supplement to the Walker book that I link above... all provide explanations of the basic physics at a readable level, along with straightforward questions and problems.  And when students are doing last-minute review before a major examination, straightforward and readable is the key.  Most texts do NOT do a great job with the basics.


*NOT the current edition of the Kaplan book


However, if two days before the exam someone's looking for a detailed discussion of solving something deep, like a Biot-Savart problem with a non-uniform magnetic field, a prep book isn't going to help!  The more mathematically intense problem solving methods can only be learned through careful and repeated practice.  You want to get good at Biot-Savart two days before the exam?  Do 7 practice problems from a couple of textbooks.  No prep book necessary.

The available textbooks generally do an excellent job explaining the more difficult aspects of calculus based mechanics and E&M.  The problems available from Halliday & Resnick et al are generally better and more numerous than what prep book authors can come up with.  And released AP Physics C exams are so plentiful * that even the most diligent students can find enough practice to occupy them.

* The Physics B exam has changed significantly over the years, such that only the last two (2004 and 2009) released exams are truly representative of what students will see in May.  Physics C has not changed so much, such that the 1998 and even 1993, 1988, and 1984 multiple choice exams are still mostly solid.  Careful, 'cause calculators were allowed on some of those earlier exams, but usually the calculator wasn't necessary.


Thus, my recommendation for physics C exam prep is twofold: (1) Use a physics B-level prep book to confirm an understanding of the basics; and (2) Use the published textbooks and released exams for practice.

Don't neglect (1)... with limited study time leading up to the exam, students are generally making far better use of their time by reminding themselves of fundamentals rather than solving unusual and difficult problems, even though the difficult problems might seem sexier.  In exam review time, it's all about getting the most benefit for the time spent.  And that's why a B-level prep book is often just dandy for physics C students.

Supplement Review: The AP Prep Book for Walker Fourth Edition

Every summer at my AP Summer Institutes I'm asked, "Which is the best textbook?"  And I answer, "None of them is good, none of them is terrible, and they're all essentially the same."

Publishers know this.  One way they try to differentiate themselves in the marketplace is through supplementary materials.  The online resources are usually a boondoggle -- you don't need to pay for physics materials online.

But I'm seeing increasingly strong AP-specific supplements.  Publishers seem to be getting the message that you can't just hire a hack freelance writer with a physics degree to write good test questions for a college-level physics course.  Nor can you hire a random physics professor, nor a graduate student.  AP readers and exam authors are the experts who should be tapped.

Cutnell and Johnson jumped the gun years ago by getting Hugh Henderson, an AP reader and former member of the test development committee, to write their AP supplement.  (Note that this is a 2003 edition... the newer edition does not have Hugh's name on it, and I have not read it.)  Hugh included three AP physics B tests; I still use questions from these on my in-class tests.

This year, Serway got into the good-AP-supplement business.  They hired a long list of very strong AP readers, including exam leader Shelly Strand and former exam leader Bill Pappas.  (I won't review Serway's material because I contributed numerous free response items.)

The book that has caught my eye is the supplement to the James S. Walker text from Pearson, pictured at the top of the post.  It's written by Connie Wells, a former member of the AP development committee, my table leader at the AP reading in 2001, and an all-around expert physics teacher.

My first, raw test of an AP prep book is to leaf through and look at topics.  A depressing majority can be immediately defenestrated because they include improper topics, like calorimetry, rotational dynamics, or relativity.  Others can be burned at the stake for including multiple choice questions that obviously require calculators.  Connie's book passes this first test.  She includes review of rotational kinematics and dynamics, because she seems to be tasked to parallel the chapters in the Walker text; however, she is crystal clear that these topics are NOT COVERED on the AP physics B syllabus.  

Every problem that I looked at was right on-level for AP.  She included some simple calculations in the multiple choice, sure, but the majority of her questions require serious conceptual application -- just like on the real AP exam.  Solutions (not just answers) are included.  

I was most pleased that I found laboratory-based free response questions.  Connie was on the development committee while AP was still transitioning from the days of "shut up and calculate" to the current emphasis on verbal expression of conceptual understanding.  She was the primary author of perhaps my all-time favorite AP physics B question, the one about the platinum resistor.  (I can't post it here because I can't find a legit copy online; but look up 2001 problem 5.)  Sure enough, Connie's book includes questions testing lab skills and concepts, including graphical analysis of experimental data.  

I could not recommend this supplement more highly for teachers of AP or honors-level physics.  In my new Honors Physics I course, which is intended to anticipate the College Board's future AP Physics I course, I need to create a whole host of tests and quizzes with new multiple choice items.  Connie's book will be one of my go-to sources.