AP Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism Roadmap

Introduction to electric charge including types of charge, polarization, and methods of charging objects.

Coulomb's law for electrostatic forces and the concept of electric fields from point charges.

Analysis of charged particle motion in uniform electric fields and superposition of fields from multiple charges.

Calculating electric fields from continuous charge distributions using integration techniques.

The concept of electric flux and the fundamental statement of Gauss's law.

Applying Gauss's law to find electric fields for symmetric charge distributions.

Gauss's law applications to concentric spherical shells and coaxial cable configurations.

Advanced Gauss's law applications for planar geometries and non-uniform charge distributions.

Electric potential energy of charge systems and the concepts of potential and voltage.

Calculating potential differences using line integrals and work-energy relationships.

Properties of conductors in electrostatic equilibrium and equipotential surfaces.

Fundamental concepts of capacitance, parallel plate capacitors, and energy storage.

Analysis of capacitors in series and parallel configurations and changing plate separation.

The effects of dielectric materials on capacitance and dielectric strength concepts.

Fundamental concepts of electric current, drift velocity, resistance, and resistivity.

Kirchhoff's junction and loop rules for analyzing complex circuits.

Techniques for analyzing circuits using equivalent resistance and Kirchhoff's rules.

Maximum power transfer theorem and analysis of bridge circuit configurations.

Conceptual understanding of how capacitors charge and discharge in RC circuits.

Mathematical analysis of charging and discharging capacitors and time constant concepts.

The magnetic force on moving charged particles and the right-hand rule.

Motion of charged particles through combined electric and magnetic fields.

Magnetic forces on current-carrying wires and torque on current loops in magnetic fields.

Direction and magnitude of magnetic fields produced by moving charges.

Using the Biot-Savart law to calculate magnetic fields from current elements.

Introduction to Ampere's law and its application to current-carrying wires.

Applying Ampere's law to wires, coaxial cables, and non-uniform current distributions.

Magnetic fields inside solenoids and toroids using Ampere's law.

Superposition of magnetic fields and forces between current-carrying wires.

The concept of magnetic flux and its calculation for uniform and non-uniform fields.

Faraday's law relating changing magnetic flux to induced EMF.

Using Lenz's law to determine the direction of induced currents.

Motional EMF from moving conductors and the physics of electric generators.

Electric fields induced by changing magnetic fields and their non-conservative nature.

Self-inductance, mutual inductance, and energy storage in magnetic fields.

Transient behavior of RL circuits including time constants and energy dissipation.

Oscillatory behavior of LC circuits and energy exchange between capacitors and inductors.