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AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism
A second semester of calculus-based college physics: electric fields and Gauss's law, potential, capacitors, circuits, magnetic fields and induction.
Unit names: AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism course page and Course at a Glance (College Board, revised course effective 2024-25), unit list, read October 16, 2026.
Unit 8 Electric Charges, Fields, and Gauss's Law
15–25% of multiple choice- Charge, Conductors and Charging
- Coulomb's Law
- Adding Electric Forces
- The Electric Field
- Fields of Several Charges and Field Lines
- Charges in a Uniform Field
- Charge Densities
- The Field of a Charged Rod
- Fields of a Ring and a Disk
- Electric Flux
- Gauss's Law
- Gauss's Law with Spherical Symmetry
- Gauss's Law for Lines and Planes
Covers official topics 8.1–8.6.
8 mixed questions, with the steps after eachUnit 9 Electric Potential
10–20% of multiple choice- Electric Potential Energy
- Energy of a System of Charges
- Electric Potential and Voltage
- Equipotentials and Field Strength
- Potential from the Field
- Potentials of Charge Distributions
- Field from Potential
- Energy Conservation for Moving Charges
Covers official topics 9.1–9.3.
8 mixed questions, with the steps after eachUnit 10 Conductors and Capacitors
10–15% of multiple choice- Conductors in Electrostatic Equilibrium
- Connecting Conductors
- Capacitors
- Capacitance from Geometry
- Energy Stored in a Capacitor
- Energy Stored in the Electric Field
- Capacitors in Series and Parallel
- Dielectrics
Covers official topics 10.1–10.4.
8 mixed questions, with the steps after eachUnit 11 Electric Circuits
15–25% of multiple choice- Electric Current
- Current Density and Drift Velocity
- Resistance and Resistivity
- Resistance of Tapered Conductors
- Power in Resistors
- Resistors in Series
- Resistors in Parallel
- Series-Parallel Combinations
- Kirchhoff's Loop Rule
- Kirchhoff's Junction Rule
- EMF and Internal Resistance
- Multi-Loop Circuits
- Charging a Capacitor
- Discharging and Energy in RC Circuits
Covers official topics 11.1–11.8.
8 mixed questions, with the steps after eachUnit 12 Magnetic Fields and Electromagnetism
10–20% of multiple choice- Magnetic Fields and Their Sources
- Magnetic Force on a Moving Charge
- The Lorentz Force
- Charges Circling in a Magnetic Field
- Velocity Selectors and Mass Spectrometers
- The Hall Effect
- Force on a Current-Carrying Wire
- Torque on a Current Loop
- Fields of Wires and Solenoids
- The Biot–Savart Law
- Fields of Loops and Arcs
- Ampère's Law
- Fields Inside Wires, Solenoids and Toroids
Covers official topics 12.1–12.4.
8 mixed questions, with the steps after eachUnit 13 Electromagnetic Induction
10–20% of multiple choice- Magnetic Flux That Changes
- Faraday's Law with Calculus
- Lenz's Law
- Motional EMF
- Generators
- Induced Electric Fields
- Induced Currents and Magnetic Forces
- Self-Inductance
- RL Circuits
- Energy in Inductors and Magnetic Fields
- LC Oscillations
Covers official topics 13.1–13.6. The course's last unit (AC circuits, displacement current, Maxwell's equations and electromagnetic waves) goes beyond AP Physics C.
8 mixed questions, with the steps after each