Head First Physics: A learner's companion to mechanics and practical physics (AP Physics B - Advanced Placement)

Whether you're struggling to pass the AP Physics B exam, fighting a headache from your college physics course, or just want to understand how the world around you really works, Head First Physics will give you what you need to master algebra-based mechanics and practical physics. Designed for the way your brain works instead of a text-heavy approach that puts you to sleep, this book offers a multi-sensory learning experience and encourages a deeper understanding of the material.

Hey! You want to pass, understand and ...yes...even enjoy physics, so...
Learn Physics the Head First way...

Physics textbooks or exam prep books usually present you with all the facts you might need to know, in a quick-fire overwhelming way. In Head First Physics, the pace is deliberately slower to give you space to explore and make your own discoveries. For example, you'll spend a chapter solving clues in a treasure hunt competition--as you go along you'll find out for yourself how vectors work, and how they help you to win! The interactivity and self-teaching style is a huge contrast to the usual textbook method of listing every possible "fact" about vectors as quickly as possible.

In Head First Physics, it's the exploration that makes things stick—and makes the physics easier to learn. You're immersing yourself in the scenario and taking part rather than "reading along and nodding" from the "outside" like you would for most books.

One area in particular where exploration is key is in the "crossover" between math and physics. Many students say that they can "use" equations or mathematical relationships in simple problems where it's possible to substitute values from the question into equations given on a sheet. But more complicated problems can be a real struggle, with students not knowing where to start, not knowing which values or equations to use, and feeling stuck in an "I don't get it" rut.

Overcome Past Learning Struggles...

In Head First Physics, you spend a lot of time building solid foundations and working out the "simple" equations for yourself. For example, you spend a chapter working out how to defend a castle--and by the end, you really understand how trigonometry works. And after implementing a training schedule for a thoroughbred hamster, radians and circular motion are no longer a mystery. The relationships between the math and the physics are clear when you go on to apply what you've learned to other areas, such as forces or orbits.

Spending time on the foundations gives you a new depth of understanding, far beyond "find an equation, plug in some values." Faced with a more complicated problem, you'll be able to spot the places where you can break it down into simpler problems that you already know how to do.