AP Physics

There are four Advanced Placement (AP) Physics courses administered by the College Board as part of its Advanced Placement program: the algebra-based Physics 1 and Physics 2 and the calculus-based Physics C: Mechanics and Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism. All are intended to be at the college level. Each AP Physics course has an exam for which high-performing students may receive credit toward their college coursework.

History

AP courses were first administered by the College Board in the 1955–1956 school year, with AP Physics being one of the ten courses. As college and university physics courses use different levels of mathematics, in 1969, the single AP Physics course was split into AP Physics B and AP Physics C. AP Physics B served as an algebra-based course for life science and medical students, whereas AP Physics C served as a calculus-based course for physical science and engineering students. AP Physics A, which would have served as a concept-based course with little to no mathematics, was also planned, but it was never materialized, as credit would not offered for a college-level physics course without mathematics.

AP Physics B and AP Physics C both covered five major content areas: mechanics, fluids and thermal physics, electricity and magnetism, waves and optics, and atomic and nuclear physics. After just four years of being administered, in 1973, AP Physics C was further split into mechanics- and electricity and magnetism-based courses, leaving out the other content areas entirely. In 2014, AP Physics B was discontinued and split into AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2, with the former covering mechanics, some electricity, and waves, and the latter covering the other content areas. The units covering electricity and waves were later removed from AP Physics 1 in 2021.

Before 2006, students who took the AP Physics C exam paid only once and were given the choice of taking either one or two parts of the exam. Since then, the exam was split into two, with the mechanics exam administered right before the electricity and magnetism exam. After AP Physics B was discontinued in 2014, the calculator policy for all AP Physics exams was also changed so that calculators are now permitted on both the multiple-choice and free-response sections, as they were previously permitted on only the latter.

In February 2024, the College Board made revisions to the four AP Physics courses and exams that will take effect in the 2024–2025 school year. For the courses, the unit covering fluids will be moved from AP Physics 2 to AP Physics 1, and more in-depth content will be added to AP Physics 2 to compensate, although no major content changes will occur in the AP Physics C courses. For all four exams, the same format will be used, with 80 minutes for 40 multiple-choice questions and 100 minutes for 4 free-response questions (mathematical routines, translation between representations, experimental design and analysis, and qualitative/quantitative translation), totaling 180 minutes (3 hours). Previously, the AP Physics C exams were the shortest AP exams with 90 minutes each, which is why they can be taken back-to-back in the same window, but with the revisions now doubling the duration of these exams, taking them in the same window is no longer possible.

AP Physics 1 and 2

AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 were introduced in 2015, replacing AP Physics B. The courses were designed to emphasize critical thinking and reasoning as well as learning through inquiry. They are algebra-based and do not require any calculus knowledge.

AP Physics 1

AP Physics 1 covers Newtonian mechanics, including:

• Unit 1: Kinematics
• Unit 2: Dynamics
• Unit 3: Circular Motion and Gravitation
• Unit 4: Energy
• Unit 5: Momentum
• Unit 6: Simple Harmonic Motion
• Unit 7: Torque and Rotational Motion

Until 2020, the course also covered topics in electricity (including Coulomb's Law and resistive DC circuits), mechanical waves, and sound. These units were removed because they are included in AP Physics 2.

AP Physics 2

AP Physics 2 covers the following topics:

• Unit 1: Fluids
• Unit 2: Thermodynamics
• Unit 3: Electric Force, Field, and Potential
• Unit 4: Electric Circuits
• Unit 5: Magnetism and Electromagnetic Induction
• Unit 6: Geometric and Physical Optics
• Unit 7: Quantum, Atomic, and Nuclear Physics

AP Physics C

From 1969 to 1972, AP Physics C was a single course with a single exam that covered all standard introductory university physics topics, including mechanics, fluids, electricity and magnetism, optics, and modern physics. In 1973, the College Board split the course into AP Physics C: Mechanics and AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism. The exam was also split into two separate 90-minute tests, each equivalent to a semester-length calculus-based college course. Until 2006, both exams could be taken for a single fee; since then, a separate fee is charged for each exam.

The two Physics C courses can be combined to create a year-long Physics C course that prepares students for both exams.

AP Physics C: Mechanics

Main article: AP Physics C: Mechanics

AP Physics C: Mechanics covers Newtonian mechanics, including:

• Unit 1: Kinematics
• Unit 2: Newton’s Laws of Motion
• Unit 3: Work, Energy, and Power
• Unit 4: Systems of Particles and Linear Momentum
• Unit 5: Rotation
• Unit 6: Oscillations
• Unit 7: Gravitation

AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism

Main article: AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism

AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism covers electricity and magnetism, including:

• Unit 1: Electrostatics
• Unit 2: Conductors, Capacitors, Dielectrics
• Unit 3: Electric Circuits
• Unit 4: Magnetic Fields
• Unit 5: Electromagnetism

AP Physics B

Main article: AP Physics B

Until 1969, only a single AP Physics course existed. In 1969, it was split into AP Physics B and AP Physics C, each having its own exam. AP Physics B was equivalent to an introductory algebra-based college course in physics. The course did not use calculus.

AP Physics B was divided into five different sections:

• Newtonian mechanics
• Fluid mechanics and thermal physics
• Electricity and magnetism
• Waves and optics
• Atomic and nuclear physics

In 2014, AP Physics B was replaced by AP Physics 1 and 2.

AP Physics A

Designed concurrently with AP Physics B and AP Physics C, AP Physics A was supposed to be a conceptual version of AP Physics B, employing little to no mathematics. AP Physics A never proceeded past the development stage, as colleges would not offer credit for the course.