AP Physics Essentials

Unlike some other courses you may have taken, there are no required labs for AP Physics 1. However, since there is an experimental design FRQ on every exam (except 2020), knowing how to properly perform a laboratory experiment is vital to your success in the course. The CollegeBoard expects about 25% of your class time do be done performing some sort of lab activities, and colleges may request to see evidence of this before accepting your AP credit.

Tips and practice for creating and interpreting graphs

This stream discusses what the paragraph-length response question on the AP Physics 1 exam looks like, the criteria for earning points and what to avoid, and a strategy for developing responses. Several examples are worked through, and a few general tips are given.

Browse slides from the stream 'Paragraph-length Responses.'

Practice designing and describing experiments for EDQs

Derivations of the following: projectile range, projectile height, friction force on an incline, acceleration down an incline, maximum incline angle, acceleration of a pulley-system, Kepler's third law, and the period of a binary-star system.

I cover lots of kinematics tips in this one. Derivations of some kinematics equations and some tricks that I've picked up as a student. Also a lot of dimensional analysis and percent error practice. This would be useful to watch if you want to use kinematics equations better. Also, I go over this really good trick when seeing drop questions.

Browse slides from the stream 'Measurement & Error Analysis.'

Overview of measurement & error analysis in physics. Topics discussed: - dimensions vs units - scalars vs vectors - definition of error - why error analysis is important - precision vs accuracy - indeterminate vs systematic error - when/how to calculate percent error & percent difference - reporting absolute vs relative error - example of why analyzing error matters

Description of the typical structure of how a physics problem is set up and how situations are analyzed in physics

In this video, the AP Physics 1 test is explained as well as several questions are answered about the AP program. First, the Advanced Placement program is described and several reasons are given as to why a student should do well in an AP course. The apstudents.collegeboard.org website is detailed and visited. The test time and date are given along with the specific information about the MC and FRQ sections. The AP Classroom website is introduced and students are encouraged to inquire their teachers about how it will be used in their classrooms. The difference between memorization and true learning is emphasized and students are encouraged to start now to prep for the exam in May.