AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based

AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based

Have you ever been curious as to why some objects float while others sink? Why it’s easier to balance on a bicycle when it’s moving fast? Or why it may seem like you’re moving backward when a car passes you on the highway? In AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based, you’ll learn about kinematics, dynamics, and energy through hands-on laboratory work to investigate and answer questions such as these.

College Board

Unit 1 Kinematics

You’ll be introduced to the study of motion.

Scalars and vectors in one dimension
Displacement, velocity, and acceleration
Representing motion
Reference frames and relative motion
Vectors and motion in two dimensions

Unit 2 Force and Translational Dynamics

You’ll revisit the concepts you worked with in Unit 1 to explore force, which is the interaction of an object with another object.

Systems and center of mass
Forces and free-body diagrams
Newton’s Third Law
Newton’s First Law
Newton’s Second Law
Gravitational force
Kinetic and static friction
Spring forces
Circular motion

Unit 3 Work, Energy, and Power

You’ll learn the definitions of and relationships between work, energy, and power.

Translational kinetic energy
Work
Potential energy
Conservation of energy
Power

Unit 4 Linear Momentum

You’ll explore the relationship between force, time, and momentum and learn to use the law of conservation of momentum to analyze physical situations.

Linear momentum
Change in momentum and impulse
Conservation of linear momentum
Elastic and inelastic collisions

Unit 5 Torque and Rotational Dynamics

You’ll use the tools, techniques, and models you’ve learned in previous units to analyze bodies that rotate, and what causes those rotations.

Rotational kinematics
Connecting linear and rotational motion
Torque
Rotational inertia
Rotational equilibrium and Newton’s First Law in rotational form
Newton’s Second Law in rotational form

Unit 6 Energy and Momentum of Rotating Systems

You’ll explore the energy and momentum of an object rotating around an axis and you’ll connect those concepts to their linear analogs.

Rotational kinetic energy
Torque and work
Angular momentum and angular impulse
Conservation of angular momentum
Rolling
Motion of orbiting satellites

Unit 7 Oscillations

You’ll use all the tools, techniques, and models you’ve learned in previous units to analyze a new kind of motion: simple harmonic motion.

Defining simple harmonic motion (SHM)
Frequency and period of SHM
Representing and analyzing SHM
Energy of simple harmonic oscillators

Unit 8 Fluids

You’ll explore the behavior and motion of materials that can change shape and analyze how that behavior interacts with other objects.

Internal structure and density
Pressure
Fluids and Newton’s laws
Fluids and conservation laws