The Exams

P1 - Largely Mechanics (conceptual emphasis, lots of mathematical reasoning but little calculation)

• Kinematics

• Forces/Newton's Laws

• Momentum and Impulse

• Energy

• Simple Harmonic Motion

• Rotation

• Gravitation and orbits

• center of mass (likely will be largely conceptual)

• inertial/gravitational mass

• systems (not new, but increased emphasis)

• Electric charge (no polarization)

• Electric force

• Simple circuits (only one parallel branch, no capacitors)

• 1-d Waves (incl. standing waves)

• Increased emphasis on constructing wave diagrams, incl. wave-front diagrams.

50 Multiple Choice Questions 90 Minutes, 5 Free Response Questions 90 Minutes, Calculator and Equation sheet allowed on all.

P2 - 2nd Semester topics (same conceptual emphasis as P1)

• Electric charge, force, field

• Electric potential and potential energy

• Capacitance

• DC Circuits

• Magnetism 

• Induction

• Fluids 

• Thermo 

• Geometric Optics

• Physical Optics

• Special Relativity (as background)

• Quantum and Atomic Physics

• Nuclear Physics

50 Multiple Choice Questions 90 Minutes, 4 Free Response Questions 90 Minutes, Calculator and Equation sheet allowed on all.

Notes about the Multiple Choice questions on P1 and P2

• very few (if any) "recall" questions

• increased conceptual complexity, very few (if any) single concept problems

• there are 5 multiple correct  questions on each test "2 or more choices are correct"

Notes about the Free Response questions on P1 and P2

• One short answer question that asks for a paragraph-length explanation

• One qualitative-quantitative translation question

• One experimental design question

Science Practices - expect increased emphasis on:

• INQUIRY, INQUIRY, INQUIRY

• Lab skills 25% lab time (before it was 20%)

• expectation that students can

  • design an experiment

  • refine a scientific question

  • evaluate a data set in light of a scientific question

  • investigate claims

  • and more

• multiple representations

• uncertainty - relative uncertainty, standard deviation . . .

• scientific reasoning

• scientific questioning

• data analysis

AP Physics C

Mechanics

• Kinematics

• Forces/Newton's Laws

• Momentum and Impulse

• Energy

• Simple Harmonic Motion

• Rotation

• Gravitation and orbits

• Applications of calculus

Electricity and Magnetism

• Electric charge, force, field

• Gauss's Law

• Electric potential and potential energy

• Capacitance

• DC Circuits, including RC

• Magnetism

• Biot-Savart and Ampere's Law 

• Induction

• Faraday's Law

• RL and LC Circuits

• Electromagnetic Waves and Maxwell's Equations

Both C exams, 35 multiple choice questions in 45 minutes, 3 free response questions in 45 minutes

• A calculator and equation table allowed on all parts of exam.

• much greater calculation proficiency is expected than in P1 and P2