Reddit reviews Physics for Scientists and Engineers

You can learn the math from Khan Academy (and a bit of the physics). Alongside that two good introductory textbooks are University Physics and Physics For Scientists And Engineers. Those two books will each cover everything you would learn in a first year university program. You can find them for a few bucks on abebooks but it's worth getting the newer editions because the modern physics section in the older ones is pretty thin.

Hello! I have the 6th edition of this textbook, it's a uni introductory course textbook. Typically uni physics will go into more math than H2 i.e. involve more calculus. PM me if you're interested!

I looked at the free pages on Amazon and it does seem a bit wordier than the physics books I remember. It could just be the chapter. Maybe it reads like a book; maybe it's incredibly boring :/

If money isn't an issue (or if you're resourceful and internet savvy ;) you can try the book by Serway & Jewett. It's fairly common.

http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Scientists-Engineers-Raymond-Serway/dp/1133947271

As for DE, this book really resonated with me for whatever reason. Your results may vary.

http://www.amazon.com/Course-Differential-Equations-Modeling-Applications/dp/1111827052/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372632638&sr=1-2&keywords=differential+equations+gill

If your issue is with the technical nature of textbooks in general, then you'll either have to deal with it or look for some books that simplify/summarize the material in some way. The only example I can come up with is:

http://www.amazon.com/Div-Grad-Curl-All-That/dp/0393925161/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372632816&sr=1-1&keywords=div+grad+curl

Although Div, Grad, Curl, and all That is intended for students in an Electromagnetics course (not Physics 2), it might be helpful. It's an informal overview of Calculus 3 integrals and techniques. The book uses electromagnetism in its examples. I don't think it covers electric circuits, which are a mess of their own. However, there are tons of resources on the internet for circuits. I hope all this was helpful :)

The books others have suggested here are all great, but if you've never seen physics with calculus before, you may want to begin with something more accessible. Taylor and Goldstein are aimed at advanced undergraduates and spend almost no time on the elementary formulation of Newtonian mechanics. They're designed to teach you about more advanced methods of mechanics, primarily the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations.

Therefore, I suggest you start with a book that's designed to be introductory. I don't have a particular favorite, but you may enjoy Serway & Jewett or Halliday & Resnick.

Many of us learned out of K&K, as it's been something of a standard in honors intro courses since the seventies. (Oh my god, a new edition? Why?!) However, most of its readers these days have already seen physics with calculus once before, and many of them still find it a difficult read. You may want to see if your school's library has a copy so you can try before you buy.

If you do enjoy the level of K&K, then I strongly encourage you to find a copy of Purcell when you get to studying electricity and magnetism. If you are confident with the math, it is far and away the best book for introductory E&M—there's no substitute! (And personally, I'd strongly suggest you get the original or the second edition used. The third edition made the switch to SI units, which are not well-suited to electromagnetic theory.)

By the way: if you don't care what edition you're getting, and you're okay with international editions, you can get these books really cheaply. For instance: Goldstein, S&J, K&K, Purcell.

Finally, if you go looking for other books or asking other people, you should be aware that "analytical mechanics" often means those more advanced methods you learn in a second course on mechanics. If you just say "mechanics with calculus", people will get the idea of what you're looking for.

pardon, I meant this book https://www.amazon.com/Physics-Scientists-Engineers-Raymond-Serway/dp/1133947271

As far as I've seen, and can infer, it does not delve into Lagrangian mechanics. [I am still reading the book]. It more or less aims for a good basis in physics.

I have heard DJ Griffith's book requires a bit of advanced calculus. so I fear I may need to delve more into calculus before that.
I will check those two in due time :)

many thanks for the recommendations!

Physics for Scientists and Engineers explains things quite well and has a lot of problems to work on. Nice examples too.

http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Scientists-Engineers-Raymond-Serway/dp/1133947271

Last I checked this was the book they were using: http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Scientists-Engineers-Raymond-Serway/dp/1133947271/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419726345&sr=8-1&keywords=physics+for+scientists+and+engineers+serway

Problem with "Smart Physics" the book is a joke, it doesn't explain jack. They force you to watch pre lectures that don't teach you anything, they force you to be in class for clicker questions. Smart Physics barely has any problems or any examples so as the other person said you can't practice. Look online and you will not find a single positive thing about "Smart Physics". First time I saw that book I thought it was the one they were using for non scientists and engineer because it has no rigor or substance to it.

That time I wasted watching those useless videos and time I wasted in class I could have spent reading a real book but because of the system I had to sit in class.

i can vouch for Serway & Jewett. It can be used for either of the four AP Physics very efficiently and explains things fairly well

I'm flabbergasted by your counselor's response. I mean, that's their job. Counselor's in my building set those up every year... complain?

As for books, it's you call, but I like Serway and Jewett. For review I've heard good things about Barron's.

Your one really difficult part is going to be lab experiments. That's going to be hard.