The Varsity Tutors AP Physics C Electricity Mobile App
Think you know all there is to know about conductors and capacitors, dielectrics and electrostatics, or magnetic fields and electromagnetism? The AP Physics C: Electricity course will challenge your understanding of these more than you could ever realize. You may have touched on electric circuits in other classes, but your AP Physics C: Electricity course will focus even more on equations and calculations, among other topics. This college-level physics course is calculus-based. You will be using introductory differential and integral calculus to solve various types of problems, and it will be used in your experiments as well. With the diversity and complexity of the material, there is little room for falling behind. Ample practice is critical. To aid in your preparation, the AP Physics C Electricity app from Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools is available for iOS and Android devices. You can download it to your smartphone or other device via iTunes or the Google Play Store.
In your class, you will design experiments, observe and measure phenomena, and organize/display/analyze data. It will be up to you to analyze sources of error and determine any uncertainties in your measurements. You’ll also have to draw accurate inferences from observations and data and be able to communicate results in a scientific manner. This includes suggesting how experiments can be improved and proposing new questions to study. At least 20 percent of the course is in a laboratory, and students are required to have a lab notebook and maintain a portfolio of lab reports.
Succeeding in the course and the AP Physics C Electricity exam requires effective practice. The app’s available Learning Tools leave little to guesswork, focusing on topics that are sure to be covered. Full-Length Practice Tests are perfect for testing your ability to answer complex questions and handle the material in the format of the exam. You can practice with word problems and equations, identifying vectors and scalars, and with the graphs of functions. Vector mathematics is used for solving physics problems at this level and is therefore an area to practice as well. With the app’s exercises, you’ll have many opportunities to perfect your skills. Both the full tests and the shorter concept-specific practice tests allow you to view your score. You can track your performance on each question, including how long it took to answer, and view your percentile that compares how you did to everyone else who took the practice test.
The app also includes flashcards, which you can select based on individual topics. They enable you to quickly view questions, and they provide answers, with immediate feedback and the option to continue with as many as are available. The flashcards are pre-made, or you can customize them with video, audio, and text to personalize your study experience for maximum efficiency. The Learn by Concept interactive syllabus is another feature that focuses on individual topics. It lets you continue your studies with questions and answers (with explanations) on all relevant problems available. Lastly is the Question of the Day, chosen from a rotating list of items on the Full-Length Practice Tests. It offers a quick study session that will further give you exposure to the randomness of the test.
All of these features are at your fingertips with the Varsity Tutors AP Physics C Electricity app for iPad, iPhone, and Android, which can be downloaded from iTunes and the Google Play Store.
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The Advanced Placement program offers four AP-level physics courses. The algebra-based AP Physics 1 and 2 courses are the equivalent of a yearlong college-level introductory physics course. There are also two AP Physics C courses: one in Mechanics and the other in Electricity and Magnetism. Intended to be taken after AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism is the equivalent of a one-semester, college-level, calculus-based physics course, and is geared toward high school students who are interested in specializing in fields like physical science or engineering. By the end of the course, students should be proficient in topics like electric circuits; magnetic fields; electromagnetism; electrostatics; and conductors, capacitors, and dielectrics. Since integral and differential calculus skills are used throughout the course, it is recommended that students have already taken or be concurrently enrolled in a calculus course. You can practice all of these concepts one by one, or take free full-length practice tests that mimic the actual exam, with Varsity Tutors' AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism app for iPad, iPhone, and Android devices.
Enrollment in AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism is geared toward students who are interested in specializing in engineering or physical science. One-fifth of the course time will be spent performing inquiry-based, hands-on laboratory experiments, bolstering students’ knowledge of best scientific practices. Taking a hands-on approach to the concepts of AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism provides the chance for students to interact with the material in an engaging manner. Students are expected to maintain a dedicated lab notebook or portfolio of their notes, processes, records, and results.
Students in AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism are expected to continue refining their scientific practices. They will develop predictions and testable explanations of natural phenomena through the use of solid lines of evidence. By the time students take the exam, they should be using mathematics, representations, and models to problem-solve and communicate using upper-level knowledge in a clear and cohesive manner. They must also be proficient in the skills involved in data analysis and evaluation, data collection strategies, and effective scientific questioning. Students in AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism must be able to thoughtfully and accurately form connections between concepts, representations, and scales across a wide variety of topics and domains. Students who can synthesize the diverse topics learned during the course will be well on their way toward success, in both the classwork and on the AP exam. The comprehensive study tools in the free Varsity Tutors AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism app allow you to practice all of these skills, wherever and whenever, on your iPad, iPhone, or Android-powered device.
AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism expands upon the content presented in AP Physics C: Mechanics, and is divided into five areas. The first is electrostatics. Students will be expected to understand the concepts and types of charge, and use Coulomb’s law to calculate and analyze a force’s magnitude and direction. This unit also covers the concepts and properties of electric fields and electric potential, Gauss’ law, and miscellaneous forms of charge. Second, conductors, capacitors, and dielectrics will be reviewed. Students will be expected to know the mechanics and nature of electric fields in relation to conductors; in particular, the process of charging by induction. The role, functions, and electric fields of capacitors will also be discussed, and students will need to understand the qualities and functions of parallel-plate, cylindrical, and spherical capacitors. Students will need to be proficient in explaining the effect of dielectrics on various types of capacitors.
Next, AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism delves into an expansive unit on electric circuits. Students will be expected to know the definition and properties of electric current, conductivity, resistivity, and resistance in order to better understand and describe their relationships. Then, steady-state direct current circuits will be taught. Students are tasked with developing a familiarity with the behavior of both series and parallel combinations of resistors, the properties of real and ideal batteries, and the methods of connecting voltmeters and ammeters. Both Ohm’s law and Kirchhoff’s rules are introduced, and students must be able to accurately apply each to figure out an unknown current, resistance, or voltage.
Magnetic fields are the field’s fourth area of focus, and this unit will teach students about the forces on moving charges, current-carrying wires, and long current-carrying wires extant within magnetic fields. Ampere’s law and the Biot-Savart law are introduced, and students will learn to use them to relate a magnetic field’s strength and discover the contribution that a current-carrying wire has on a magnetic field, respectively. The course concludes with a unit on electromagnetism. It begins with an exploration of electromagnetic induction, including Lenz’s law and Faraday’s law. It moves on to cover inductance in both LC and LR circuits, and ends with a review of Maxwell’s equations.
The AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism Exam is a 90-minute exam that is divided into two parts, both of which are weighted equally when the final score is calculated. Students are permitted to use a graphing calculator throughout the entire exam. The questions asked assess students’ understanding of the content covered over the entire course, along with their experimental skills. Students who are able to draw from a variety of different areas and topics to analyze and evaluate data will be well-positioned to excel on this exam. Section I consists of 35 multiple-choice questions, and students will have 45 minutes in which to complete this section. There are discrete questions, and questions presented in sets within this section of the exam. Section II is made up of three free-response questions, which also must be completed in 45 minutes. This section contains both laboratory-based and discrete questions. Excelling on the exam can provide a variety of benefits to students who dedicate themselves to mastering the material. When you download the free Varsity Tutors AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism app from iTunes or the Google Play Store, you get a set of comprehensive tools to help you prepare for every section on the exam.
AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism is particularly well-suited for students who are applying at highly competitive colleges and universities, as it is an excellent way to showcase their skills. Additionally, a standout performance on the AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism Exam can provide students with a variety of benefits, which make mastering the course material well worth the effort. Many post-secondary institutions will grant course credit for a high score, and it will also be taken into account when placing students into level-appropriate courses. AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism is a smart option for students who are interested in establishing a solid foundation from which they can build their skills in calculus-based physics. Download the Varsity Tutors AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism app today from iTunes or the Google Play Store, and get started on working towards your future in physics.