Wikipedia

AP Physics 1

Advanced Placement (AP) Physics 1: Algebra Based[8] (also known as AP Physics 1) is a year-long introductory physics course administered by the College Board as part of its Advanced Placement program. It is intended to proxy a one-semester algebra-based university course in mechanics. Along with AP Physics 2, the first AP Physics 1 exam was administered in 2015.

History

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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.[9] The course covers the material of a first-semester university undergraduate physics course offered at American universities that use best practices of physics pedagogy.[10] 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.[11] As of 2021, AP Physics 1 includes mechanics topics only.[12]

In February 2024, College Board 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.[13]

Curriculum

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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.[14]

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.

Units Exam Weighting
Kinematics 10-15%
Force and Translational Dynamics 18-23%
Work, Energy and Power 18-23%
Linear Momentum 10-15%
Torque and Rotational Dynamics 10-15%
Energy and Momentum of Rotating Systems 5-8%
Oscillations 5-8%
Fluids 10-15%

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

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Section Questions Time Exam Weighting
Section I: Multiple Choice 40 MCQ 1 hour 20 minutes 50%
Section II: Free Response 4 FRQ 1 hour 40 minutes 50%

Science Practices Assessed

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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

Section 1: Multiple Choice
Science Practice Exam Weighting
2. Translation Between Representations 55-75%
3. Experimental Design and Analysis 25-35%
Section 2: Free Response
Science Practice Exam Weighting
1. Mathematical Routines 20-35%
2. Translation Between Representations 30-40%
3. Experimental Design and Analysis 35-45%

Score distributions

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The exam score distributions since 2015 are as follows:

Score 2015[15] 2016[16] 2017[17] 2018[18] 2019[19] 2020[20] 2021[21] 2022[22] 2023[23] 2024[24]
5 5.0% 4.6% 5.4% 5.2% 6.2% 8.8% 6.9% 7.9% 8.8% 8.0%
4 13.6% 14.0% 16.2% 15% 17.8% 17.9% 16.3% 17.0% 18.3% 18.0%
3 20.7% 21.2% 20.3% 19.5% 20.6% 24.8% 18.9% 18.3% 18.5% 20.0%
2 29.8% 30.2% 29.1% 29.1% 29.3% 26.5% 26.4% 27.1% 28.0% 27.0%
1 31.0% 30.0% 29.0% 31.2% 26.1% 21.9% 31.4% 29.6% 26.4% 27.0%
% of Scores 3 or Higher 39.2% 39.8% 41.9% 39.7% 44.6% 51.6% 42.1% 43.3% 45.6% 46.0%
Mean 2.32 2.33 2.40 2.34 2.49 2.65 2.41 2.47 2.55 2.53
Standard Deviation 1.19 1.17 1.21 1.21 1.22 1.25 1.27 1.29 1.29 1.28
Number of Students 171,074 169,304 170,447 170,653 161,071 149,488 136,238 144,526 159,582 -

This AP course has the lowest average score and the lowest proportion of students scoring 5 out of all current AP subjects.[25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Advanced Placement A&P to Launch in Fall 2024". Human Anatomy and Physiology Society. 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  2. ^ "Director, AP Anatomy & Physiology". Illinois Job Link. 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  3. ^ "AP for all sophomores? This school is doing it". School News Network. 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  4. ^ "Introducing AP Business Principles/Personal Finance". College Board. 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  5. ^ "AP Business Principles/Personal Finance" (PDF). College Board. 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  6. ^ "Career Kickstart Cybersecurity Pilots". College Board. 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  7. ^ "AP World History: Ancient" (PDF). College Board. 2018. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  8. ^ "AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based Course – AP Central | College Board". apcentral.collegeboard.org. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  9. ^ "AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 | Advances in AP". Archived from the original on 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
  10. ^ Jacobs, Greg (23 January 2016). "What does a 5 on the AP Physics 1 Exam mean? It still means an A, but read on..." Jacobs Physics. Greg Jacobs. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  11. ^ Jacobs, Greg (25 July 2011). "Jacobs Physics: AP Physics 1 and 2 Redesign (as it stands now) and Honors Physics I". Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  12. ^ "The Course". AP Physics 1: The Course. The College Board. 10 July 2006. Archived from the original on 2020-12-18. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  13. ^ "AP Physics Revisions for 2024-25". Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  14. ^ "AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based" (PDF). collegeboard.org. Winter 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  16. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  17. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  18. ^ "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  19. ^ "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  20. ^ "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  21. ^ "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  22. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  23. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  24. ^ "AP Physics 1 - Algebra Based - Compare Score Distributions Across Years". www.totalregistration.net. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  25. ^ "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS, AP Exams - May 2017" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
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