Course

Course Summary

Credit Type:

Exam

ACE ID:

CBAP-0038

Organization's ID:

Organization:

College Board Advanced Placement^® (AP^®) Examinations

Location:

Nationally; Internationally

Length:

3 hours

Dates Offered:

Credit Recommendation & Competencies

Level	Credits (SH)	Subject
Lower-Division Baccalaureate	4	Physics II

Examinees must score 3 or higher. Credit may be granted as 4 semester hours in algebra-based General Physics II OR 3 semester hours in algebra-based General Physics II AND 1 semester in algebra-based General Physics Lab.

Description

Objective:

This examination is an algebra-based, introductory college-level physics course. Students cultivate their understanding of Physics through inquiry-based investigations as they explore topics such as fluid statics and dynamics, thermodynamics with kinetic theory, PV diagrams, and probability; electrostatics; electrical circuits with capacitors, magnetic fields, electromagnetism, physical and geometric optics; and quantum, atomic, and nuclear physics. This course requires 25 percent of the instructional time spent in hands-on laboratory work, emphasizing inquiry-based investigations that allow students to apply science practices.

Skills Measured:

The skills measured include principles of fluids, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism, optics, and topics in modern physics. The course is based on seven Big Ideas, encompassing core scientific principles, theories, and processes that cut across traditional boundaries and provide a broad way of thinking about the physical world. The following are Big Ideas: Objects and systems have properties such as mass and charge. Systems may have internal structures. Fields existing in space can be used to explain interactions. Forces can describe the interactions of an object with other objects. Interactions between systems can result in changes in those systems. Changes that occur as a result of interactions are constrained by conservation laws. Waves can transfer energy and momentum from one location to another without the permanent transfer of mass and serve as a mathematical model for describing other phenomena. The mathematics of probability can be used to describe the behavior of complex systems and to interpret the behavior of quantum mechanical systems.

Instruction & Assessment