Physics Notes and 5 APs

I know, I know, I’m not supposed to post something every day…

But yes, physics notes are popping up here. They are slightly different from how the math notes are structured, and gives more instructions on the material. They might not be able to teach a person completely new to calculus-based physics per se, but they should be more detailed than what I have done with the calculus notes. But since we are here, we might as well as talk a little bit about my experience in those courses.

11th Grade Me

In my third year of high school, I decided to take 4 Advanced Placement courses and 5 AP exams, which included Calculus BC, both Physics Cs, Biology, and Computer Science A. It was a particularly stressful year, since I had not had such a heavy courseload since I left Hong Kong after grade 8. I breezed through Computer Science while struggling immensely in Biology.

Calculus was quite the quick-paced course, but mathematics, being my strongest subject since grade 3, presented no massive challenges for me. I would almost always work ahead in class, going through the practice problems while the class was still learning the material. By the end of the course, my mock exams were a solid 90/108, and I rightfully earned my 5.

Naturally, the year after that, my peers would often come to me for help when they encountered problems in calculus (looking at you, Jessie). After learning it once, and teaching half the syllabus, I decided to make a really condensed set of notes, only highlighting the important concepts with as little explanation as possible, instead supplying the document with mathematical derivations.

Physics, on the other hand, is a completely different beast. Although the Mechanics part reviewed many familiar concepts, my lack of training in calulus at that time largely hindered my learning; later in the year, the Electromagnetism part had me completely baffled most of the time. I scraped by barely, yet I still enjoyed the two 5s that were awarded to me by CollegeBoard.

Knowing my goal is to get into an Honours Mathematics and Physics program next year, I had to review and relearn the material. As a result, my set of notes for physics is relatively lengthier in explanation, as I barely understood it the first time through.

If you are taking any of these APs, I wish you the best of luck, especially you, Marcus, and I hope my notes helped you at any point along the way.