Seniors - 2020 AP Exam info & start of review

Here's the scoop, seniors.

All AP exams this year are 45 minutes in length, with 5 minutes needed to upload your work. For AP Physics C, both Mechanics and EM will have 2 free response problems (NO multiple choice). Go here to find more details on any AP exam you are taking. EM Exam at 1:00 PM on May 11. 

The first physics problem is 25 minutes and 60% of the score. It will almost certainly have multiple topics involved; it will be a bit more conceptual than just mathematical. While derivations are still fair game, it won't be completely math based. It is more difficult to BS one's way through conceptual questions than computational, so expect more writing than usual. Remember, they will likely want to have some calculus on the exam, and perhaps some derivation.

The second problem is 15 minutes and 40% of the score. It will be a lab-based problem. Perhaps you need to take a bunch of data and do an analysis. Or perhaps you will be given a list of available equipment and design an experiment to measure something specific. Keep in mind that a major piece of analysis is to have a mathematical model in mind, with a constant stuck in it, and you need to find the constant's value by using data - usually it involves linearizing a graph and using the slope to get the constant's value.

These exams are open book, open note! Go here to get advice about open book exams (these occur in college more frequently than in high school).

To find old AP problems that are similar to this year's problems, I will be putting the info here. You can find them in our AP Exam page on our school website. Any exam from the past decade will have lab based problems.

To me, it sounds like the AP Physics C problems this year will be more like AP Physics 1 problems. These tend to be more writing and explaining than hard-core calculations. The College Board gave as an example problem for the first problem, #3 from the 2017 Physics 1 exam. Go here to see past AP Physics 1 exams. Just focus on those problems that are on topics we study. The scoring solutions are available.

EM Topics for 2020: 
- Electrostatics: Point charges and E-fields, electric potential; F = qE, U = qV, Coulomb's law 
- E = -dV/dr, equipotentials, energy and work with charges
- Gauss & Non-Gauss
- Resistor circuits; R = pL/A (p = resistivity)
- Capacitor circuits; dielectrics
- RC circuits 

There is NO magnetism or EM induction this year!!

Review Set for the week of April 20:
- AP EM Review set I - Electrostatics to be completed by end of Friday, 4/24; solutions are on the 4 Chem/Phys page of our school site. Videos for all topics are here. 
- During our class Zoom sessions, we will take any and all questions, try some of the recommended problems together to best practice for this year. 
- Official class times: Mondays at 11 am; Wednesdays at 1:15 pm; Fridays at 10 am. 
- I've been doing 3 pm drop-ins on Tuesdays and Thursdays for juniors; will offer 2 pm drop-ins for seniors on Tuesdays and Thursdays as we get into review weeks! 
- Remember, using eths202 account you can access AP Exams and solutions.