Advanced Placement (AP) Physics 1: Algebra Based (also known as AP Physics 1) is a year-long introductory

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

course administered by the

College Board The College Board, styled as CollegeBoard, is an American not-for-profit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an asso ...

as part of its

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

program. It is intended to proxy a one-semester algebra-based university course in

mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

. Along with AP Physics 2, the first AP Physics 1 exam was administered in 2015.

History

The heavily computational AP Physics B course served as the College Board's algebra-based offering for four decades. As part of the College Board's redesign of science courses, AP Physics B was discontinued; therefore, AP Physics 1 and 2 were created with guidance from the National Research Council and the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

. The course covers the material of a first- semester

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

course offered at American universities that use best practices of physics pedagogy. The first AP Physics 1 classes had begun in the 2014–2015 school year, with the first AP exams administered in May 2015. In its first five years, AP Physics 1 covered forces and motion, conservation laws, waves, and electricity. As of 2021, AP Physics 1 includes mechanics topics only. In February 2024,

announced that there would be changes in curricula for their AP Physics classes for the 2025 exams. For AP Physics 1, this added fluids to the list of topics covered on the exam, now the last unit of the curriculum. Previously, this topic was covered as the first unit of AP Physics 2. In the revised curriculum, fluids cover 10-15% of the AP Physics 1 exam. College Board made other minor changes to the curriculum, such as providing equations for simple harmonic motion, connections between rotational and translational motion, and learning objectives related to power.

Curriculum

AP Physics 1 is an algebra-based, introductory college-level physics course that includes mechanics topics such as motion, fluids, force, momentum, energy, harmonic motion, and rotation. The College Board published a curriculum framework that includes eight big ideas on which AP Physics 1 is based. Questions for the exam are constructed with direct reference to items in the curriculum framework. Student understanding of each topic is tested regarding multiple skills—that is, questions require students to use quantitative, semi-quantitative, qualitative, and experimental reasoning in each content area. The content of AP Physics 1 overlaps significantly with that of AP Physics C: Mechanics. However, AP Physics 1 is algebra-based and lacks calculus-based concepts in AP Physics C: Mechanics. Another difference is that AP Physics C: Mechanics does not cover fluids, while AP Physics 1 does.

Exam

Science Practices Assessed

Multiple Choice and Free Response Sections of the AP Physics 1 exam are also assessed on scientific practices. Below are tables representing the practices assessed and their weighting for both parts of the exam

Score distributions

The exam score distributions since 2015 are as follows: This AP course has the lowest average score and the lowest proportion of students scoring 5 out of all current AP subjects.

References