Going Solo

Hit me up on an IM Bio, I'm happy to help you learn.

The difference between the three Physics courses is math and the materials covered.

Physics B - Non-Calculus Based physics that covers all the physics areas

Physics C Mechanics - Calculus based physics which covers Newtonian mechanics, torque, simple harmonic motion, temperature, fluids, stuff like that

Physics C E-Mag - Calculus based physics which covers electricity, magnetism, optics, and...well, that's the bulk of it. Maybe some modern physics with radiation and such.

Each course (Physics B, Physics C Mechanics, and Physics C E-mag) is a separate test. I think they do the Physics C tests back to back (one morning, one afternoon on the same day), or at least they did when I took it. So you can take both of those tests. Although I'm not so sure about taking B and C together - I think they overlap them. So you'd have to choose.

B is more over concepts, while C goes over the concepts more in depth, and you have to actually apply what you learn in calculus, and unfortunately it isn't always as simple as "acceleration is the derivative of velocity".

I will have to also say that mechanics and e-mag are different from each other...it's kinda hard to explain, but they kinda require a different way of thinking. Granted, physics itself requires a different way of thinking. Of course all the sciences have different ways of approaching problems...but that's going to get me off on a tangent.

Essentially, you can either take the Physics B test or your choice of one or both of the Physics C tests in a given year.

Well, there's a separate class for each of the tests, although some schools may not offer the C classes or even the B depending on location - my school didn't have a C E-mag class, and nearly didn't have a C mechanics class - my teacher gave up his free period for the 8 of us that braved the AP test.

As to which one - Physics B is going to cover more topics, but not quite as in depth. Physics C is like B split down the middle then more in depth. Really, it's up to you, but really if you look at it physics B is more of the concepts with some math, and then C is the concepts plus all the calculus behind it...well, most of the calculus because I took this differential equations class and we did this thing with pendulums and...well, let's just say simple pendulums get complicated once you get past your calculus 3...but I'm going off on a tangent.

ANYWHO. Since you're doing independent study, what you can do is do the first few sections fully to the physics C level, and if you decide you don't want to go past physics B, you're time hasn't really been wasted because you still learned what you need. I will say that in my experience, people find mechanics to be easier than e-mag. I have a theory that mechanics you look at stuff that you can apply like gravity and momentum which you can apply to dropping stuff and pool and such, but in e-mag you look at electricity, magnetism, optics, stuff that harder to see and experience (you can kinda see optics, but you need all this stuff, and experiments really help).