Your Guide to the 2024 AP Physics 2 Exam

We know that studying for your AP exams can be stressful, but Fiveable has your back! We created a study plan to help you crush your AP Physics 2 exam. This guide will continue to update with information about the 2024 exams, as well as helpful resources to help you do your best on test day. Unlock Cram Mode for access to our cram events—students who have successfully passed their AP exams will answer your questions and guide your last-minute studying LIVE! And don't miss out on unlimited access to our database of thousands of practice questions.

Format of the 2024 AP Physics 2 Exam

Going into test day, this is the exam format to expect:

• • Section 1: Multiple Choice (50% of score)- - 50 questions in 1 hour and 30 minutes
• • Section 2: Free Response (50% of score)- - 4 questions in 1 hour and 30 minutes- Experimental Design (1 question)- Qualitative/Quantitative Translation (1 question)- - Short Answer (2 questions)

When is the 2024 AP Physics 2 Exam and How Do I Take It?

**The exam is on paper, in school, on Friday, May 17, 2024, at 12:00 PM your local time. **

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How Should I Prepare for the Exam?

• • First, download the AP Physics 2 Cheatsheet PDF - a single sheet that covers everything you need to know at a high level. Take note of your strengths and weaknesses!
• • We've put together the study plan found below to help you study between now and May. This will cover all of the units and essay types to prepare you for your exam. Pay special attention to the units that you need the most improvement in.
• • Study, practice, and review for test day with other students during our live cram sessions via Cram Mode. Cram live streams will teach, review, and practice important topics from AP courses, college admission tests, and college admission topics. These streams are hosted by experienced students who know what you need to succeed.

Pre-Work: Set Up Your Study Environment

Before you begin studying, take some time to get organized.

🖥 Create a study space.

Make sure you have a designated place at home to study. Somewhere you can keep all of your materials, where you can focus on learning, and where you are comfortable. Spend some time prepping the space with everything you need and you can even let others in the family know that this is your study space. 

📚 Organize your study materials.

Get your notebook, textbook, prep books, or whatever other physical materials you have. Also create a space for you to keep track of review. Start a new section in your notebook to take notes or start a Google Doc to keep track of your notes. Get yourself set up!

📅 Plan designated times for studying.

The hardest part about studying from home is sticking to a routine. Decide on one hour every day that you can dedicate to studying. This can be any time of the day, whatever works best for you. Set a timer on your phone for that time and really try to stick to it. The routine will help you stay on track.

🏆 Decide on an accountability plan.

How will you hold yourself accountable to this study plan? You may or may not have a teacher or rules set up to help you stay on track, so you need to set some for yourself. First set your goal. This could be studying for x number of hours or getting through a unit. Then, create a reward for yourself. If you reach your goal, then x. This will help stay focused!

🤝 Get support from your peers. 

There are thousands of students all over the world who are preparing for their AP exams just like you! Join Rooms 🤝 to chat, ask questions, and meet other students who are also studying for the spring exams. You can even build study groups and review material together! 

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2024 AP Physics 2 Study Plan

💧 Unit 1: Fluids

The very first unit of AP Physics 2 begins with a look at fluids. In the first-year physics course, we mostly looked into the kinematics, dynamics, and interactions of solids. We often ignored the internal aspects of the system and considered the object as ideal and non-deformable. We begin this course by looking at fluids, which consist of gases and liquids, and their interactions🌪️

📚Definitely read these study guides:

• • 1.0 Unit 1 Overview: Fluids
• • 1.1 Fluid Systems
• • 1.2 Density
• • 1.3 Pressure and Forces
• • 1.4 Fluids and Free-Body Diagrams
• • 1.5 Buoyancy
• • 1.6 Conservation of Energy in Fluid Flow
• • 1.7 Conservation of Mass Flow Rate in Fluids

🔥 Unit 2: Thermodynamics 

Now we turn our attention towards energy ✨You are probably already familiar with many types of energies like kinetic, potential, and gravitational. In this unit, we will introduce the idea of thermal energy. We will learn about heat, pressure, and volume. Gases will finally get a chance to shine, and solids and liquids will get some rest. Without thermodynamics, we would not have refrigerators or air conditioners. So, it is safe to say that it is a very important topic to study🤓

📚Definitely read these study guides:

• • 2.0 Unit 2 Overview: Thermodynamics
• • 2.1 Thermodynamic Systems
• • 2.2 Pressure, Thermal Equilibrium, and the Ideal Gas Law
• • 2.3 Thermodynamics and Forces
• • 2.4 Thermodynamics and Free-Body Diagrams
• • 2.5 Thermodynamics and Contact Forces
• • 2.6 Heat and Energy Transfer
• • 2.7 Internal Energy and Energy Transfer
• • 2.8 Thermodynamics and Elastic Collisions: Conservation of Momentum
• • 2.9 Thermodynamics and Inelastic Collisions: Conservation of Momentum
• • 2.10 Thermal Conductivity
• • 2.11 Probability, Thermal Equilibrium, and Entropy

⚡️ Unit 3: Electric Force, Field, and Potential 

In a general physics course, there are 2 broad topics that you cover: Mechanics️ and Electromagnetism. In between, or in other classes, you might also learn about thermodynamics, fluids, sound, waves, optics, modern physics, etc. In AP Physics 2, you're supposed to learn a lot about electromagnetism 🔋 along with fluids, thermodynamics, optics, and modern physics. Electromagnetism is an incredibly important topic in Physics. That's why we will break it down and learn about it in 3 units: electricity, circuits, and magnetism.

📚Definitely read these study guides: 

• • 3.0 Unit 3 Overview: Electric Force, Field, and Potential
• • 3.1 Electric Systems
• • 3.2 Electric Charge
• • 3.3 Conservation of Electric Charge
• • 3.4 Charge Distribution — Friction, Conduction, and Induction
• • 3.5 Electric Permittivity
• • 3.6 Introduction to Electric Forces
• • 3.7 Electric Forces and Free-Body Diagrams
• • 3.8 Describing Electric Force
• • 3.9 Gravitational and Electromagnetic Forces
• • 3.10 Vector and Scalar Fields
• • 3.11 Electric Charges and Fields
• • 3.12 Isolines and Electric Fields
• • 3.13 Conservation of Electric Energy

💡 Unit 4: Electric Circuits

Electric Charge is a property of matter that causes it to feel a force in an electromagnetic field. The electric charge must be conserved. The entire topic of current and circuits is based upon the principle of conservation of charge. We learned about the charge and its conservation in the last unit. In this unit, we will focus more on current and how it relates to conservation of charge. There are 2 other important quantities used along with voltage to describe the features of a circuit: current and resistance

📚Definitely read these study guides:

• • 4.0 Unit 4 Overview: Electric Currents
• • 4.1 Definition and Conservation of Electric Charge
• • 4.2 Resistivity and Resistance
• • 4.3 Resistance and Capacitance
• • 4.4 Kirchhoff's Loop Rule
• • 4.5 Kirchhoff's Junction Rule and the Conservation of Electric Charge

🧲 Unit 5: Magnetism and Electromagnetic Induction

Welcome to Unit 5! Here we'll take a look at how magnets work, as well as investigate the relationship between electricity and magnetism. This topic is the foundation of most of our modern world. It allows us to create electricity, use electric motors, and make speakers, computers, and cell phones all work.

📚Definitely read these study guides:

• • 5.0 Unit 5 Overview: Magnetism and Electromagnetic Induction
• • 5.1 Electric Fields and Forces
• • 5.2 Magnetic Permeability and Magnetic Dipole Moment
• • 5.3 Electromagnetic Induction
• • 5.4 Monopole and Dipole Fields
• • 5.5 Magnetic Fields and Forces
• • 5.6 Magnetic Forces
• • 5.7 Forces Review
• • 5.8 Magnetic Flux

🔍 Unit 6: Geometric and Physical Optics

Waves! If you’ve taken AP Physics 1, chances are that you’re pretty familiar with the subject. In Physics 2, Unit 6 focuses on electromagnetic waves, primarily light (which, yes, is technically considered both a wave and a particle). For this unit, we’ll mainly explore the different ways light can be thought about and modeled.

📚Definitely read these study guides:

• • 6.0 Unit 6 Overview: Geometric and Physical Optics
• • 6.1 Waves
• • 6.2 Electromagnetic Waves
• • 6.3 Periodic Waves
• • 6.4 Refraction, Reflection, and Absorption
• • 6.5 Images From Lenses and Mirrors
• • 6.6 Interference and Diffraction

⚛️ Unit 7: Quantum, Atomic, and Nuclear Physics

You made it to the very last unit of AP Physics 2. Congrats!

 📚Definitely read these study guides:

• • 7.0 Unit 7 Overview: Quantum, Atomic, and Nuclear Physics
• • 7.1 Systems and Fundamental Forces
• • 7.2 Radioactive Decay
• • 7.3 Energy in Modern Physics
• • 7.4 Mass-Energy Equivalence
• • 7.5 Properties of Waves and Particles
• • 7.6 Photoelectric Effect
• • 7.7 Wave Functions and Probability

Check this out!   

The Ultimate AP Physics 2 Exam Guide