Different+Types+of+AP+Phyiscs


 * Advanced Placement (AP) Physics** collectively refers to four [|College Board] [|Advanced Placement Program] courses and exams covering various areas of [|physics] . Each course culminates in an exam for which high-performing students may receive some credit towards their college coursework, depending on which college or university they attend.


 * [|AP Physics 1] ** and ** [|AP Physics 2] **, starting in the fall of 2014 are new courses are designed to emphasize critical thinking and reasoning as well as learning through inquiry. [|[3]] Different sections include: [|Newtonian Mechanics] , [|Electricity] and [|Magnetism] ; [|Fluid Mechanics] and [|Thermal Physics] ; [|Waves] and [|Optics] ; and [|Atomic] and [|Nuclear Physics] . The course 1 & 2 is equivalent to a one-year college course that includes a laboratory component, suitable for pre-med and other non-science or engineering majors. The course was non-calculus-based, utilizing [|algebra] and basic [|trigonometry] to solve various physics problems. It was supposed to be equivalent to an introductory algebra-based college course in physics. [|[1]] **AP Physics 1** covers the same Newtonian mechanics including rotational mechanics, as well as an introduction to electricity (Coulomb's Law and simple DC circuits), and mechanical waves and sound. **AP Physics 2** covers everything else t - thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, optics, electricity and magnetism and modern physics. [|[4]]

** [|AP Physics C: Mechanics] ** studies [|Newtonian mechanics]. Methods of [|calculus] are used wherever appropriate in formulating physical principles and in applying them to physical problems which is why most schools recommend that the student have completed or be concurrently enrolled in a calculus class.[// [|citation needed] //]It is supposed to be equivalent to an introductory [|college] course in mechanics for physics or engineering majors. This course, taken along with courses covering other areas, such as Electricity and Magnetism, Waves, Thermodynamics, and Modern Physics can help prepare students for the [|SAT Subject Test in Physics], also administered by [|College Board].

** [|AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism] ** studies [|electricity] and [|magnetism]. Methods of [|calculus] are used wherever appropriate in formulating physical principles and in applying them to physical problems. It is supposed to be equivalent to an introductory college course in electricity and magnetism for [|physics] majors. This course, taken along with courses covering other areas, such as Mechanics, Waves, Thermodynamics, and Modern Physics can help prepare students for the [|SAT Subject Test in Physics], also administered by [|College Board]. The two AP Physics C courses are often combined to make a unified Physics C course that prepares for both exams, though each may be a separate course. In the former scenario, Electricity and Magnetism is typically taught second, as it requires much of the knowledge gained in the Mechanics course. When only one Physics C course is offered, it is typically Mechanics, and this in combination with the fact that many schools do not complete their unified Physics C courses before the exam date is the probable explanation for more students taking the Mechanics exam than the Electricity and Magnetism exam.

From Wikipedia 8/20/14