Advanced Placement (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.
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.[1] The course covers the material of a first-semester university undergraduate physics course offered at American universities that use best practices of physics pedagogy.[2] 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.[3] As of 2021, AP Physics 1 includes mechanics topics only.[4]
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.[5]
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.[6]
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.
| Section | Questions | Time | Exam Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section I: Multiple Choice | 40 MCQ | 1 hour 20 minutes | 50% |
| Section 2: Free Response | 4 FRQ | 1 hour 40 minutes | 50% |
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
| Science Practice | Exam Weighting |
|---|---|
| 2. Translation Between Representations | 55-75% |
| 3. Experimental Design and Analysis | 25-35% |
| Science Practice | Exam Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Mathematical Routines | 20-35% |
| 2. Translation Between Representations | 30-40% |
| 3. Experimental Design and Analysis | 35-45% |
The exam score distributions since 2015 are as follows:
| Score | 2015[7] | 2016[8] | 2017[9] | 2018[10] | 2019[11] | 2020[12] | 2021[13] | 2022[14] | 2023[15] | 2024[16] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | - |
| Standard Deviation | 1.19 | 1.17 | 1.21 | 1.21 | 1.22 | 1.25 | 1.27 | 1.29 | 1.29 | - |
| 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.[17]
