Mr. Niedziela

mniedziela@springvillegi.org

AP Physics

AP Physics 1 Exam

Students will be prepared to take the AP Physics 1 exam in early May offered by College Board here at the high school.  The results of this exam will not factor into the students' average in this course.  Students will, however, take the NY State Regents Exam as their final exam for this course.

Classroom Policy

The AP Physics course represents one semester of college physics.  It is a relatively difficult exam and a considerable amount of study outside of class is required.  Homework will be given several times a week, and late work will be penalized up to 50% of the original grade.  Online assignments at the WebAssign.net and AP Classroom website are common.

Grading Policy

I grade using percentages, and Tests comprise 50% of the student's grade.  Two or more tests are given each quarter.  Final test grades reflect a curve relative to the difficulty of the test and similar to College Board grading of the AP Physics 1 Exam.

Topics

In the past few years, the topics covered has changed slightly.  As a result, each year the College Board, AP Physics 1 website should be checked.  In general, the topics covered are:

  Kinematics

  Dynamics and Uniform Circular Motion including non-uniform circular motion and orbits

  Work, Energy, Momentum, and Impulse

  Rotational Motion, including rotational kinematics, rotational dynamics and torque, rotational energy, and angular momentum

  Simple Harmonic motion including pendulums and springs

  Waves

  Electrostatics

  DC Currents

Physics (aka Regents Physics)

Regents Physics Exam

All students will take the NY State Regents Physics Exam for their final exam.  A passing grade of 65% or higher is required to get NYS Regents credit for this course.  The exam is in June.

Classroom Policy

Late work will be penalized up to 50% of the original score.  Students must complete all Laboratory assignments (regardless of absence or other circumstances) in order to take the final exam.  

Grading Policy

This course uses percentages, and test account for 40% of the student's grade.

Topics (as of 2024)

  Kinematics

  Dynamics, Gravitation, and Circular Motion

  Energy, Work, Impulse, and Momentum

  Simple Harmonic Motion

  Waves

  Electrostatics

  Magnetism

  DC Circuits

  Modern Atomic Physics

Google Classroom

Students can find a majority of the homework and Laboratory assignments at Google Classroom, organized by week.

It is the student's responsibility to check Google Classroom when absent and complete missed work.  

Make-up Tests

I only give make-up tests in the case of a missed test due to illness or other unavoidable circumstances.  I do not give make-up tests to compensate to for a student's poor test grade.  

Extra Help

I encourage all students to come during the school day or after school for extra help; for any reason.  I typically run special review sessions for AP physics students after school on Tuesday and Thursday starting in March.  Students can attend some or all; they can arrive late or leave early.  These sessions are extra help aimed at helping the students obtain the highest possible score on the AP Physics 1 Exam.