AP physics without Algebra 2
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Anonymous
| My current 9th grader, currently taking honors geometry and honors biology, wants to take AP Physics next year while also taking Algebra 2, because "all" of their friends will be in AP physics in 10th. My experience with my older kids is that they and most of their MoCo peers took chemistry in 10th grade, regardless of which science they'd had in 9th (i.e. regardless of whether they were on the faster or slower math track). (Clearly none of them was in a STEM magnet program.) Does anyone know if AP physics requires the completion of Algebra 2, or if it would at least be a good idea to have this math under their belt? DC is a pretty strong math and science student with a scientist parent who can help at home, but I'm not sure this is such a good plan. Also considering taking Alg2 over the summer, which DC's counselor has okayed. |
Anonymous
| Never took AP physics but I took physics in college and calculus was a prerequisite for it so. I don’t see how you could do it without even algebra 2 |
Anonymous
| Do not take the AP Physics without the Alg 2. AP Physics 1 is one of the lowest passed exams. You can search this forum for many conversations about Physics. |
Anonymous
| Tell him to go find the AP Physics 1 teacher at his school and ask what they think |
Anonymous
+1 I’ve taught 10th graders in AP Physics 1 who were talking Algebra 2 concurrently. Smart kids, but they struggled all year, earning Cs and 2s on the exam. It’s not simple plug and chug algebra problems. It’s abstract reasoning across multiple concepts with formula manipulation. Your child should take chemistry in 10th and wait until they take calculus to take AP Physics C at the same time. |
Anonymous
| Your kid shouldn’t take any challenging class solely because his friends are! |
Anonymous
It hasn't gone great for DD's friends who did that to be honest OP. DD took it the year after Alg. 2 or concurrently with Precal and she felt it was very manageable. The Alg 2 and AP Physics curriculums aren't coordinated so it's possible your child may not have learned a certain math concept well enough by the time it comes up in AP Physics. |
Anonymous
If they make a good study group, though, it may help. |
Anonymous
| Strong math students tend to take Alg 2 or Precalc in 9th grade. AP physics without Alg 2 will not end well. |
Anonymous
| After completing algebra 1 and geometry you should only take high school physics as an introductory first time course. After Algebra 2 there’s a better understanding of functions, exponents and logarithms, but still the math foundations are quite weak. After precalculus you’d learn trigonometry for waves and oscillations, plus vectors required for pretty much anything physics related. But at that point you might as well wait one more year and take AP physics C concurrent with Calculus. |
Anonymous
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I'm surprised by this. What is a example of AP Physics 1 math that uses Algebra 2?
Cubic functions? Imaginary numbers? I assumed the Alg 2 rule was to weed out people who didn't understand Algebra 1 and needed review. |
Anonymous
AP Phyics 1 has Alg 2 as a corequisite. https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-physics-1-algebra-based This is an interesting choice , because it includes Harmonic Motion which is sine waves, which is usually Precalculus. |
Anonymous
Solving simultaneous equations with higher order polynomials for one, logs, a lot of trig. I think if your child is strong at math and can learn on their own they can extend their Alg 1 knowledge to these things. It's just more complicated versions of what they did in Alg 1 but in AP Physics you have a ton of word problems in addition to the solving part so if your child is not confident any work will take a lot longer and tests will be a beast. DD likes math and might have been able to do it with with Alg 2 concurrently but it would have been a lot of struggle but it would have taken away from the actual physics concepts and I don't think DD would have liked the class. She's taking it with Precal H now and she likes it. |
Anonymous
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Don't do it.
AP Physics 1 is a somewhat manufactured course that strains to put calculus concepts into an Algebra rubric. Alg 2 in summer is a bad idea because Alg 2 is a very foundational class for Pre-Calc and Calculus, and 6 weeks is just too short for it. Hon Chemistry + Physics C when DC gets to Calc is the way to go. |
Anonymous
| B-CC had a meeting about course registration for rising 10th grade parents this week and they said honors physics is a prerequisite for AP physics. That seemed strange to me because it means you’d have to take physics twice if you want to do AP, but a parent asked for clarification and they confirmed that a sophomore wouldn’t be able to take AP physics because they have to take honors physics first. Anyone else hearing this at their HS? |