AP Physics C: E&M study guide
AP Physics C: E&M · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism is a College Board Advanced Placement course and exam equivalent to a semester-long, introductory calculus-based college physics course. It is intended for students who have already taken a calculus-based Newtonian mechanics course such as AP Physics C: Mechanics (or its equivalent) and who have taken or are concurrently taking calculus. The AP Physics C: E&M study guide has 6 sections and about 1,963 words.
01Electric Charges, Fields, and Gauss's Law
Coulomb's law gives the force between point charges, F = kq 1q 2 r/r^2 . The electric field is defined as force per unit positive test charge, E = F/q 0 , so a point charge produces E = k q /r^2 pointing away from positive charge and toward negative charge.
337 words, about 2 min02Electric Potential
Electric potential is potential energy per unit charge, V = U/q , and is a scalar, which makes it far easier to superpose than the field: V = kq i/r i . The field and potential are linked by E = - V , so V = - E d s .
328 words, about 2 min03Conductors and Capacitors
In electrostatic equilibrium, the electric field inside a conductor is zero, excess charge resides on the surface, and the field just outside is perpendicular to the surface with magnitude / 0 . Charge concentrates at sharp points.
348 words, about 2 min04Electric Circuits
Ohm's law V = IR applies to ohmic resistors. Kirchhoff's rules govern any network: the junction rule (charge conservation) and the loop rule (energy conservation, V = 0 ).
293 words, about 1 min05Magnetic Fields and Electromagnetism
A moving charge experiences F = q v B , and a current-carrying wire experiences F = I L B . The force is always perpendicular to both velocity and field, so it does no work and changes direction, not speed.
316 words, about 2 min06Electromagnetic Induction
Magnetic flux is B = B d A = BA . Faraday's law states that induced emf equals the negative rate of change of flux: = -d B/dt .
341 words, about 2 min