Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
About the Author xi
Introduction: The Five-Step Program xiii
Step 1 Set Up Your Study Program
1 How to Approach Your AP Physics Course 3
Ignore Your Grade 4
Don't Bang Your Head Against a Brick Wall 4
Work with Other People 5
Ask Questions When Appropriate 5
Keep an Even Temper 5
Don't Cram 6
2 What You Need to Know About the AP Physics 2 Exam 7
Some Frequently Asked Questions About the AP Physics 2 Exam 8
3 Building Your Personal Attack Plan 15
Memorization and Cramming Won't Help 15
Building a Plan That Is Right for You 16
Plan A: I'm Starting in September 17
Plan B: I'm Starting in January 17
Plan C: It's Spring Break and I Just Got Started! 18
Step 2 Determine Your Test Readiness
4 Test Yourself: AP Physics 2 Fundamentals 23
AP Physics 2 Fundamentals Self-Assessment 23
Answers to AP Physics 2 Fundamentals Self-Assessment 28
What Do I Know, and What Don't I Know? 34
5 Test Yourself: AP Physics 2 Question Types 35
AP Physics 2 Question-Types Self-Assessment 36
Answers to AP Physics 2 Question-Types Assessment 45
Step 3 Develop Strategies for Success
6 General Strategies 51
What Do I Need to Remember from AP Physics 1? 52
Tools You Can Use 52
Get to Know the Relationships 54
What Information Can We Get from a Graph? 55
Ranking Task Skills 59
7 Strategies for the Multiple-Choice Questions 61
Multiple-Choice Basics 62
How to Get Better at Multiple-Choice Problems 62
Multiple-Correct Questions 63
Time: Pace Yourself! 63
Additional Strategies and Words of Wisdom 64
8 Strategies for the Free-Response Questions 65
The Structure of the Free-Response Section 66
Getting Off to a Good Start 66
Lab Questions 67
Practice Designing a Lab 68
Paragraph-Length Arguments 69
Student-Contention Questions 70
Qualitative-Quantitative Transition (QQT) Questions 71
What the Exam Reader Looks For 73
Final Advice About the Free-Response Section 74
Step 4 Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High
9 Fluid Mechanics 77
How the Nano-World Influences the Fluid World We Live In 79
Density 80
Pressure 80
Static Fluids 81
Applications of Static Fluids 82
Barometer 84
Buoyancy and Archimedes' Principle 85
Dynamic Fluids-Continuity 86
Dynamic Fluids-Bernoulli's Equation 87
Practice Problems 91
Solutions to Practice Problems 95
Rapid Review 98
10 Thermodynamics and Gases 99
Start Small-Atomic Behavior That Produces Thermal Results 100
Heat, Temperature, and Power 102
Heat Transfer 103
Kinetic Theory of Gases 104
Ideal Gas Law 105
First Law of Thermodynamics 107
PV Diagrams 108
Round and Round We Go: Cycles 112
Four Special Processes (Paths) on a PV Diagram 113
Entropy 114
Practice Problems 115
Solutions to Practice Problems 120
Rapid Review 124
11 Electric Force, Field, and Potential 125
Electric Charge 127
Quanta of Charge, Conservation of Charge, and How Charge Moves Around 127
Charge Distribution on Different Objects 129
Electric Fields 130
Force of an Electric Field 130
Electric Field Vector Diagrams 131
Electric Potential 132
Equipotential Isolines 134
Special Geometries for Electrostatics 137
Electric Fields Around a Point Charge and a Charged Conducting Sphere 141
Electric Potential Associated with a Point Charge and a Charged Conducting Sphere 142
The Force Between Two Charges 143
Mechanics and Charges 143
Practice Problems 145
Solutions to Practice Problems 153
Rapid Review 159
12 Electric Circuits 161
Current 162
Resistance and Ohm's Law 163
Ohmic Versus Nonohmic 165
Resistors in Series and in Parallel 166
The V-I-R Chart 167
Kirchhoff's Rules 170
Circuits from an Experimental Point of View 174
Real Batteries and Internal Resistance 175
Changes in a Circuit-Switches 176
Capacitors 178
Parallel and Series Capacitors 181
RC Circuits 184
Practice Problems 188
Solutions to Practice Problems 193
Rapid Review 195
13 Magnetism and Electromagnetic Induction 197
Magnetic Fields 198
Magnetic Dipoles in a Magnetic Field 200
Magnetic Field Around a Straight Current-Carrying Wire 201
Force on a Moving Charged Particle 202
Magnetic Force on a Wire 205
Force Between Two Parallel Wires 207
Charges in a Magnetic Field and the Mass Spectrometer 208
Particles Moving Through Both Magnetic and Electric Fields 210
Magnetic Flux 212
Electromagnetic Induction 213
Magnetic Behavior of Materials 216
Practice Problems 217
Solutions to Practice Problems 222
Rapid Review 225
14 Geometric and Physics Optics 227
Transverse and Longitudinal Waves 228
The Wave Equation 229
Interference 230
Electromagnetic Waves 231
Polarization 232
Diffraction and the Point-Source Model 232
Single and Double Slits 233
Index of Refraction 235
Thin Films 236
Wave Behavior at Boundaries 238
Reflection and Mirrors 238
Snell's Law and the Critical Angle 241
Lenses 244
Practice Problems 248
Solutions to Practice Problems 255
Rapid Review 263
15 Quantum, Atomic, and Nuclear Physics 265
What Is Modern Physics? 266
Space, Time, the Speed of Light, and E = mc2 266
Subatomic Particles 267
The Electron-Volt 268
Photons 268
Photoelectric Effect 269
Photon Momentum 272
De Broglie Wavelength and Wave Functions 273
Bohr Model of the Atom and Energy Levels in an Atom 276
Three Types of Nuclear Decay Processes 278
E = mc2 and Conservation During Nuclear Reactions 280
Half-Life 281
Other Nuclear Reactions 282
Mass Defect, Binding Energy, and the Strong Nuclear Force 283
Practice Problems 285
Solutions to Practice Problems 289
Rapid Review 293
Step 5 Build Your Test-Taking Confidence
The AP Physics 2 Practice Exams 297
Taking the Practice Exams 297
Test-Taking Strategies 298
AP Physics 2 Practice Exam 1: Section 1 (Multiple Choice) 301
AP Physics 2 Practice Exam 1: Section 2 (Free Response) 314
AP Physics 2 Practice Exam 1: Solutions: Section 1 (Multiple Choice) 319
AP Physics 2 Practice Exam 1: Solutions: Section 2 (Free Response) 323
How to Score Practice Exam 1 332
AP Physics 2 Practice Exam 2: Section 1 (Multiple Choice) 335
AP Physics 2 Practice Exam 2: Section 2 (Free Response) 348
AP Physics 2 Practice Exam 2: Solutions: Section 1 (Multiple Choice) 353
AP Physics 2 Practice Exam 2: Solutions: Section 2 (Free Response) 358
How to Score Practice Exam 2 365
AP Physics 2 Practice Exam 3: Section 1 (Multiple Choice) 369
AP Physics 2 Practice Exam 3: Section 2 (Free Response) 384
AP Physics 2 Practice Exam 3: Solutions: Section 1 (Multiple Choice) 390
AP Physics 2 Practice Exam 3: Solutions: Section 2 (Free Response) 396
How to Score Practice Exam 3 403
Words of Encouragement 404
Appendix
Constants 407
AP Physics 2 Equations 408
