Your AP Physics 1 Resource Center
Overview of AP Physics 1
AP Physics 1 is a college-level course offered by the College Board to high school students who are interested in studying the fundamentals of physics. It was opted by 162,000 students in 2023 as it is one of the preferred AP courses. According to surveyed data of class alumnae, the pass rate for the AP Physics 1 exam was 45% in 2023 and the difficulty rating for the AP Physics 1 exam was 7.7 out of 10. The course delves into topics like kinematics, dynamics, circular motion, waves, and basic electrical circuits.
Course content
Unit 2: Dynamics
You’ll revisit the concepts you worked with in Unit 1 to explore force, which is the interaction of an object with another object.
- Systems
- The gravitational field
- Contact forces
- Newton’s First Law
- Newton’s Third Law and free-body diagrams
- Newton’s Second Law
- Applications of Newton’s Second Law
Unit 3: Circular Motion and Gravitation
You’ll build on your understanding of motion and force as you study more complex models of motion, such as the circular path of a satellite orbiting a planet.
- Vector fields
- Fundamental forces
- Gravitational and electric forces
- Gravitational field/acceleration due to gravity on different planets
- Inertial vs. gravitational mass
- Centripetal acceleration vs. centripetal force
- Free-body diagrams for objects in uniform circular motion
Unit 4: Energy
You’ll learn the definitions of and relationships between energy, work, and power.
- Open and closed systems: Energy
- Work and mechanical energy
- Conservation of energy, the work–energy principle, and power
Unit 5: Momentum
You’ll explore the relationship between force, time, and momentum and learn to use the law of conservation of momentum to analyze physical situations.
- Momentum and impulse
- Representations of changes in momentum
- Open and closed systems: momentum
- Conservation of linear momentum
Unit 6: Simple Harmonic Motion
You’ll use the tools, techniques, and models you’ve learned in previous units to analyze a new type of motion: simple harmonic motion.
- Period of simple harmonic oscillators
- Energy of a simple harmonic oscillator
Unit 7: Torque and Rotational Motion
You’ll explore the motion of an object rotating around an axis and you’ll study torque, the measure of a force that can cause rotational motion.
- Rotational kinematics
- Torque and angular acceleration
- Angular momentum and torque
- Conservation of angular momentum
Exam Date
AP Physics 1 Exam
Will be conducted on
Fri, May 17, 2024 | 8 AM Local
AP Physics 1 Exam Guide
AP Physics 1 is a college-level course offered by the College Board to high school students who are interested in studying the fundamentals of physics. It was opted by 162,000 students in 2023 as it is one of the preferred AP courses. According to surveyed data of class alumnae, the pass rate for the AP Physics 1 exam was 45% in 2023 and the difficulty rating for the AP Physics 1 exam was 7.7 out of 10. The course delves into topics like kinematics, dynamics, circular motion, waves, and basic electrical circuits.
Explore more in AP Physics 1
AP Physics 1 Course Resources
AP Physics 1 Course
The College Board website offers a variety of extra resources to help AP Physics 1 students succeed on the exam. These resources include the AP Physics 1 Course at a Glance, the AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, the AP Physics 1 Scoring Guidelines, AP Physics 1 Equations Tables, and more. To help students prepare for the AP Physics 1 exam, we have provided links to these extra resources below.
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AP Physics 1 Course at a Glance
Excerpted from the AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, the Course at a Glance document outlines the topics and science practices covered in the AP Physics 1 course, along with suggestions for sequencing. The Course at a Glance was updated in the fall of 2021 to reflect the reduced scope of the course.
Link
AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based Course and Exam Description
This is the core document for this course. Unit guides clearly lay out the course content and skills and recommend sequencing and pacing for them throughout the year. The CED was updated in the fall of 2021 to reflect the reduced scope of the course and now covers Unit 1 (Kinematics) through Unit 7 (Torque and Rotational Motion).
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