AP Physics 2's Overhaul: Fluids Moved to Physics 1, and What Else Changed
Updated: 4 days ago
The AP Physics 2 exam was significantly updated, with fluids moved to AP Physics 1 and greater emphasis placed on waves, optics, and other revised content. These changes mean students using older AP Physics 2 study materials may be preparing for topics that are no longer part of the exam. EduShaale’s AP Physics 2 overhaul guide explains what changed, which topics moved or were revised, and how students should adjust their preparation to match the current exam.
Serious About Your AP Scores? Let’s Get You There
From understanding concepts to scoring 4s and 5s, EduShaale’s AP coaching is built for results — with personalised learning, small batches, and exam-focused strategy.
2024-25 School year College Board's AP Physics overhaul took effect, first tested in May 2025 | +20 pts AP Physics 1's 3-or-higher pass rate jump in one year: 47.3% (2024) to 67.3% (2025) | Unit 8 Fluids' new address -- the final unit of the redesigned AP Physics 1 course | May 2027 The next confirmed exam-format change, affecting MCQ count and section timing |
8 units AP Physics 1's new unit count, up from seven, now that Fluids has joined the course | 7 units AP Physics 2 still has seven units overall -- Optics split in two absorbed the loss of Fluids | 40 -> 42 The MCQ count path: 50 questions before 2025, 40 from 2025, 42 from May 2027 | 19.8% AP Physics 1's 2025 five-rate -- nearly double the 10.2% rate under the old exam a year earlier |
Table of Contents
The Headline Change: Fluids Leaves AP Physics 2 for AP Physics 1
AP Physics 1's Side of the Rebalancing: Seven Units Become Eight
The Exam Format, Then and Now: MCQs, FRQs, and Timing Through May 2027
The Data: How AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 Scores Actually Moved
What This Means If You Are Taking AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, or Both
The Full Timeline: From the 2024 Course Audit to the May 2027 Exam
Introduction
In 2024, roughly 47 in every 100 AP Physics 1 students scored a 3 or higher. A year later, roughly 67 in every 100 did. Nothing about the underlying physics changed between those two exams -- gravity still accelerates objects at 9.8 m/s², and Newton's laws did not get easier to apply. What changed was the exam College Board built around that physics, and the effects reached every unit in both AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2.
The headline change, and the one most students search for, is straightforward: Fluids left AP Physics 2 and became the eighth and final unit of AP Physics 1. Treated as a one-line curriculum swap, though, that headline misses most of what actually happened. College Board rebuilt the exam format for both courses, folded a full treatment of waves into AP Physics 2, split its Optics unit in two, added blackbody radiation and Compton scattering to the Modern Physics unit, and -- as of the 2026-27 school year -- has already confirmed a second round of exam-format changes that takes effect with the May 2027 administration.
This guide works through every documented AP Physics 2 change alongside its AP Physics 1 counterpart, cross-checked against College Board's own AP Central course pages, course-and-exam-description clarifications, and eleven years of official score distribution data. You will find the complete unit-by-unit breakdown for both courses, the exact exam-format numbers for the periods through 2024, 2025-26, and May 2027 onward, an explanation -- grounded in minutes-per-question arithmetic, not guesswork -- for why AP Physics 1's scores jumped so much further than AP Physics 2's, and what all of it means depending on where you currently sit in the AP Physics sequence.
1. The Headline Change: Fluids Leaves AP Physics 2 for AP Physics 1
Fluids was Unit 1 of AP Physics 2 for as long as the algebra-based AP Physics 1/2 sequence has existed in its modern form. Starting with the 2024-25 school year -- meaning the May 2025 exam was the first to reflect it -- College Board removed Fluids from AP Physics 2 entirely and made it Unit 8 of AP Physics 1, the closing unit in a newly expanded eight-unit sequence. This is confirmed directly on College Board's own AP Physics revisions page, which states plainly that fluids are no longer part of AP Physics 2 and have moved to AP Physics 1.
| Before (through May 2024) | After (May 2025 onward) |
Course | AP Physics 2: Algebra-Based | AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based |
Unit number | Unit 1 -- opened the course | Unit 8 -- closes the course |
Exam weighting | Part of the old seven-unit Physics 2 sequence | 10%-15% of the AP Physics 1 multiple-choice section |
Sits alongside | Thermodynamics, circuits, optics, modern physics | Rotational dynamics, oscillations, momentum |
Core topics tested | Hydrostatic pressure, buoyancy, the continuity equation, Bernoulli's equation | Same core topics -- content itself is unchanged |
The Fluids content itself is largely untouched: hydrostatic pressure, buoyancy, the continuity equation, and Bernoulli's equation are still the four pillars of the unit. What changed is context. In its old home, Fluids opened AP Physics 2 with no dependency beyond a general AP Physics 1 (or equivalent) background. In its new home, Fluids closes AP Physics 1 immediately after Torque and Rotational Dynamics and Oscillations, so students now meet pressure and buoyancy problems right after building fluency with force, torque, and energy reasoning -- and exam questions increasingly draw on that adjacency, blending buoyant force with Newton's second law or connecting fluid flow rate to conservation principles covered two units earlier.
Key insight: Fluids did not get harder or easier -- its exam-day context changed. AP Physics 1 students now reach Fluids as the capstone unit after a full mechanics sequence, so questions can lean on force diagrams and energy methods that AP Physics 2 students, who met Fluids in isolation, never had to draw on. |
2. AP Physics 2 Changes: The Complete Unit-by-Unit Breakdown
Losing Fluids is the single most-searched item on the list, but it is one of six documented changes to the course. Taken together, these AP Physics 2 changes affect what is taught, how the units are sequenced, and even how they are numbered. In full, College Board's own course-change documentation lists the following for AP Physics 2:
Fluids removed. Unit 1 is gone; its content now lives in AP Physics 1.
A full treatment of waves added. Mechanical waves, standing waves, sound waves, and the Doppler effect now receive complete coverage in AP Physics 2 -- this material was previously housed in AP Physics 1.
Optics split into two units. The old Unit 6, Geometric and Physical Optics, is now two separate units: Geometric Optics, and Waves, Sound, and Physical Optics.
Units renumbered starting at 9. AP Physics 2's units now run 9 through 15, sequent to AP Physics 1's eight units, so the two-course family reads as one continuous 15-unit sequence.
Circuits treated more comprehensively. The Electric Circuits unit picks up additional depth, including expanded RC circuit coverage.
Blackbody radiation and Compton scattering added. Both topics join the Modern Physics unit, connecting thermodynamics to quantum and nuclear content.
Science practices uncoupled from specific learning objectives. Any learning objective can now be tested with any science practice, which widens the pool of question types College Board can write against the same content.
Old AP Physics 2 (Units 1-7) mapped to the new AP Physics 2 (Units 9-15)
Old unit (through May 2024) | New unit (May 2025 onward) | Weighting |
Unit 1: Fluids | Moved to AP Physics 1 -- Unit 8 | n/a |
Unit 2: Thermodynamics | Unit 9: Thermodynamics | 15%-18% |
Unit 3: Electric Force, Field, and Potential | Unit 10: Electric Force, Field, and Potential | 15%-18% |
Unit 4: Electric Circuits | Unit 11: Electric Circuits (more comprehensive) | 15%-18% |
Unit 5: Magnetism and Electromagnetic Induction | Unit 12: Magnetism and Electromagnetism | 12%-15% |
Unit 6: Geometric and Physical Optics | Unit 13: Geometric Optics | 12%-15% |
(split from old Unit 6, plus waves moved in from Physics 1) | Unit 14: Waves, Sound, and Physical Optics | 12%-15% |
Unit 7: Quantum, Atomic, and Nuclear Physics | Unit 15: Modern Physics (+ blackbody radiation, Compton scattering) | 12%-15% |
Read the table row by row and a clear pattern emerges: five of the old seven units carry straight across with only a number change (Thermodynamics, Electric Force/Field/Potential, Circuits, Magnetism, Modern Physics), one unit left the course completely (Fluids), and one unit doubled into two (Optics, which also absorbed the waves content that used to live in AP Physics 1). Net effect: AP Physics 2 still has seven units. It traded a unit that opened the course for a fuller, better-sequenced treatment of waves and optics -- content did not shrink, it moved and, in the case of waves and circuits, expanded.
3. AP Physics 1's Side of the Rebalancing: Seven Units Become Eight
AP Physics 1 gained a unit -- moving from seven to eight -- and Fluids is only part of the story on this side of the family too. Alongside the new Unit 8, College Board added specific learning objectives connecting rotational and translational motion, introduced learning objectives that explicitly reference power (as distinct from work and energy), and added equations of motion for objects undergoing simple harmonic motion. As with AP Physics 2, the science practices were also uncoupled from specific learning objectives, widening the range of question types examiners can write against each topic.
Unit | Topic | Exam weighting (MCQ) |
Unit 1 | Kinematics | 10%-15% |
Unit 2 | Force and Translational Dynamics | 18%-23% |
Unit 3 | Work, Energy, and Power | 18%-23% |
Unit 4 | Linear Momentum | 10%-15% |
Unit 5 | Torque and Rotational Dynamics | 10%-15% |
Unit 6 | Energy and Momentum of Rotating Systems | 5%-8% |
Unit 7 | Oscillations | 5%-8% |
Unit 8 | Fluids | 10%-15% |
Two units -- Force and Translational Dynamics, and Work, Energy, and Power -- carry the largest weighting on the exam at 18%-23% each, together accounting for more of the multiple-choice section than any other pairing. Kinematics, Linear Momentum, Torque and Rotational Dynamics, and the new Fluids unit each sit in the 10%-15% band, while Energy and Momentum of Rotating Systems and Oscillations are the lightest units at 5%-8%. For a student building a study plan, that weighting distribution -- not the order units appear in a textbook -- should decide where the hours go.
Practical note: Fluids is not a throwaway final unit. At 10%-15% of the multiple-choice section, it carries the same weighting as Kinematics or Linear Momentum -- skipping it or leaving it for the final week of revision costs real points. |
4. Why College Board Restructured Both Courses
College Board's own explanation, published alongside the change, is direct: after launching AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 in their algebra-based form, the organisation received feedback from teachers on how to improve and clarify the course frameworks, and used that feedback to align content and skills across all four AP Physics courses while providing clearer, more sequential frameworks for teachers and students.
That word -- sequential -- explains the Fluids move better than any single topic-level justification does. Placing Fluids at the end of AP Physics 1, right after rotational dynamics and oscillations, lets it function as a capstone application of force, energy, and pressure reasoning rather than an isolated opening unit with no natural mechanics lead-in. On the Physics 2 side, folding in a complete treatment of waves and splitting Optics into two units gives that course a more even spread of seven substantial units instead of one oversized combined unit, and lines the course up more closely with how a second-semester, algebra-based college physics course is typically sequenced.
This was not a two-course adjustment. College Board revised the course-and-exam-description language, multiple-choice question counts, and free-response formats for all four algebra- and calculus-based Physics courses in the same cycle: AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C: Mechanics, and AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism. The two Physics C courses saw no major content changes, but their exams changed structurally in a way worth knowing about if your household is weighing Physics C alongside Physics 1 or 2: both Physics C exams grew from a shared, half-length testing session into full, independently scheduled exams, with multiple-choice questions rising from 35 to 40 (and section time from 45 to 80 minutes) and free-response questions rising from 3 to 4 (with section time from 45 to 100 minutes).
The Fluids placement specifically also mirrors how most introductory college physics sequences are actually taught. Fluids is a mechanics topic at heart -- pressure, buoyancy, and flow all follow directly from force and energy concepts -- and closing a mechanics-focused first course with it, rather than opening a second, electricity-and-magnetism-focused course with it, keeps each course's internal logic tighter. AP Physics 2 gains a comparable benefit: a complete waves unit sits naturally beside optics, since both are wave-behaviour topics, whereas the old framework split simple wave concepts into Physics 1 while leaving sound, optics, and the Doppler effect in Physics 2.
Need this mapped onto an actual study plan? EduShaale's 1-on-1 AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 coaching is built around the current, post-2025 unit sequence and exam format -- not a leftover 2023 syllabus. Book a free strategy session.
5. The Exam Format, Then and Now: MCQs, FRQs, and Timing Through May 2027
AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 have shared an identical exam structure at every stage of this timeline -- the difference between the two courses has only ever been content, never format. Three distinct formats now exist depending on which exam year you are looking at:
Era | MCQ count | MCQ time | FRQ count (Physics 1 / Physics 2) | FRQ time |
Through May 2024 | 50 | 90 min | 5 / 4 | 90 min |
May 2025 - May 2026 | 40 | 80 min | 4 / 4 | 100 min |
May 2027 onward | 42 | 85 min | 4 / 4 | 95 min |
A few details are easy to miss inside those numbers. First, AP Physics 2's free-response section already had four questions before 2025 -- one experimental design question, one qualitative/quantitative translation question, and two short-answer questions -- so its FRQ count never changed; only the four question types were standardised to the same four categories now used across all AP Physics exams (Mathematical Routines, Translation Between Representations, Experimental Design and Analysis, and Qualitative/Quantitative Translation). AP Physics 1, by contrast, dropped from five FRQs to four. Second, both exams eliminated multiselect MCQs (the 'select two correct answers or earn nothing' format), which by itself removed one of the more punishing question styles on the old exam.
Why AP Physics 1 gained so much more breathing room than AP Physics 2
The clearest way to see the difference is minutes available per free-response question, since that is the section where students historically lose points to rushed, incomplete written justifications rather than to a lack of physics knowledge.
Course | Old FRQ pace | 2025-26 FRQ pace | Change |
AP Physics 1 | 90 min / 5 Qs = 18.0 min/Q | 100 min / 4 Qs = 25.0 min/Q | +39% more time per question |
AP Physics 2 | 90 min / 4 Qs = 22.5 min/Q | 100 min / 4 Qs = 25.0 min/Q | +11% more time per question |
The arithmetic behind the score jump: AP Physics 1 did not just gain 10 extra FRQ minutes -- it gained those minutes while also dropping an entire question, so time-per-question rose 39%. AP Physics 2 gained the same 10 minutes but kept all four questions, so its time-per-question rose only 11%. That gap lines up closely with the score data in Section 6: AP Physics 1's pass rate jumped 20 percentage points in a single year, while AP Physics 2's moved by roughly 2. The redesign gave Physics 1 students a structurally bigger relief valve on the section where rushed writing costs the most points. |
The May 2027 change is a smaller recalibration by comparison. MCQ pace moves from 2.00 to 2.02 minutes per question -- effectively flat -- and FRQ pace moves from 25.0 to 23.75 minutes per question, a modest tightening rather than the dramatic loosening students experienced between 2024 and 2025. Students preparing for the May 2027 exam and beyond should expect a exam that feels close to the current one, not a repeat of the 2025 overhaul.
6. The Data: How AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 Scores Actually Moved
College Board publishes official score distributions for every AP exam every year. Lined up against the redesign timeline, the AP Physics 1 numbers show one of the largest single-year swings of any AP subject in recent memory, while AP Physics 2's numbers moved by a smaller but still meaningful margin.
AP Physics 1 score distribution, 2022-2026
Year | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 or higher | Mean score |
2026 (preliminary) | 19% | 24% | 25% | 15% | 17% | 68% | -- |
2025 (new exam) | 19.8% | 24.7% | 22.9% | 13.4% | 19.2% | 67.3% | 3.12 |
2024 (old exam) | 10.2% | 17.9% | 19.2% | 26.1% | 26.6% | 47.3% | 2.59 |
2023 (old exam) | 8.8% | 18.3% | 18.5% | 28.0% | 26.4% | 45.6% | 2.55 |
2022 (old exam) | 7.9% | 17.0% | 18.3% | 27.1% | 29.6% | 43.2% | 2.47 |
AP Physics 2 score distribution, 2022-2026
Year | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 or higher | Mean score |
2026 (preliminary) | 20% | 29% | 23% | 21% | 7% | 72% | -- |
2025 (new exam) | 21.8% | 28.8% | 22.0% | 20.2% | 7.2% | 72.6% | 3.38 |
2024 (old exam) | 19.1% | 18.0% | 33.4% | 22.9% | 6.6% | 70.5% | 3.20 |
2023 (old exam) | 16.5% | 18.5% | 34.9% | 23.8% | 6.4% | 69.8% | 3.15 |
2022 (old exam) | 16.3% | 18.1% | 35.3% | 24.1% | 6.3% | 69.7% | 3.14 |
AP Physics 1's transformation is the more dramatic of the two by a wide margin. Its pass rate rose from 47.3% to 67.3% -- a 20 percentage point jump in one testing cycle -- while its five-rate nearly doubled, from 10.2% to 19.8%, and its mean score rose from 2.59 to 3.12. Historically, AP Physics 1 carried one of the lowest pass rates of any mainstream AP exam; the 2025 redesign closed a large part of that gap in a single year, and the 2026 preliminary data (68% at 3 or higher) shows the improvement held rather than reverting.
AP Physics 2's movement is smaller on the headline pass rate -- 70.5% to 72.6%, roughly 2 percentage points -- but the shift inside that number is worth noticing. The percentage of students scoring a 4 jumped from 18.0% to 28.8%, nearly 11 points, while the percentage scoring a 3 fell from 33.4% to 22.0%. In plain terms: a large block of students who would have scored a 3 under the old exam scored a 4 under the new one. AP Physics 2 was already a comparatively strong-performing AP exam before the redesign, which left it less room to move than AP Physics 1 had -- but the internal shift from 3s to 4s is a meaningful, measurable effect of the new format.
7. What This Means If You Are Taking AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, or Both
If you are already partway through the AP Physics sequence
Nothing about a course you are already enrolled in changes mid-year -- the CED your teacher is using reflects whichever framework was in place when the school year started. What matters is making sure your own study materials match that framework: a mid-2026-27 AP Physics 1 student should be studying an eight-unit course that includes Fluids as Unit 8, and an AP Physics 2 student should be working from the seven-unit, Units 9-15 framework with a full waves treatment and a split Optics unit.
If you are self-studying either course
Self-study candidates carry the most risk from this change, because there is no teacher implicitly correcting an outdated syllabus. Before building a self-study plan, confirm three things directly against College Board's current AP Physics 1 or AP Physics 2 course-and-exam-description PDF: the unit list and numbering, the current MCQ and FRQ counts for the exam year you are sitting, and the four current FRQ question types. All three are common places where an older guide, video series, or textbook silently gives you the pre-2025 picture.
If your prep materials predate 2025
A prep book, problem set, or video series published before the 2024-25 revision will very likely place Fluids inside AP Physics 2, reference a 50-question multiple-choice section, and describe five free-response questions for AP Physics 1 rather than four. None of that makes the underlying physics content wrong -- force diagrams and Bernoulli's equation have not changed -- but it does mean the unit map, the pacing guidance, and the FRQ practice format need to be treated as reference material rather than a current syllabus. Cross-check any pre-2025 resource against the unit tables in Sections 2 and 3 of this guide before building a study calendar around it.
If you have not decided between AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, or AP Physics C
This guide focuses on what changed and why, not on which course is the right fit for your goals -- that decision depends on your calculus background, target major, and current school offerings, and deserves its own dedicated comparison.
EduShaale's AP Physics 1 vs 2 vs C decision guide walks through the difficulty breakdown, calculus requirements, and college-credit value of all four AP Physics exams side by side, using the current post-2025 format covered here.
If you are a parent checking whether a school's programme is current
Parents comparing schools or evaluating a syllabus circular have a quick, concrete check available: ask whether the AP Physics 1 syllabus lists eight units ending in Fluids, and whether AP Physics 2 lists seven units numbered 9 through 15 with a dedicated Waves, Sound, and Physical Optics unit. A syllabus still describing AP Physics 2 as opening with Fluids, or AP Physics 1 as a seven-unit course, is working from the pre-2025 framework and has not yet been updated to the version College Board has required since the 2024-25 school year.
8. Myths About the New AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2
A curriculum change this large generates its own misconceptions, usually from students working off partial information or outdated search results. Six are common enough to address directly.
Myth: "Fluids got easier because it moved to Physics 1." Reality: The Fluids content itself -- hydrostatic pressure, buoyancy, the continuity equation, Bernoulli's equation -- is unchanged. What changed is sequencing: it is now taught after rotational dynamics and oscillations rather than in isolation, which can make it feel more connected but does not reduce what is tested. What to do: Study Fluids with the same weighting discipline you would give any 10%-15% unit -- do not treat it as a light finale. |
Myth: "AP Physics 2 is now an easier, shorter course because it lost a unit." Reality: AP Physics 2 still has seven units. Losing Fluids was offset by splitting Optics into two units and adding a full waves treatment, plus a more comprehensive circuits unit and two new modern-physics topics. Total content did not shrink. What to do: Do not skip or lightly review the Waves, Sound, and Physical Optics unit on the assumption the course got lighter -- it now carries content that used to live entirely in AP Physics 1. |
Myth: "The May 2027 change is another major overhaul like 2025." Reality: The 2026-27 update is described by College Board as a set of minor clarifications, and the arithmetic backs that up: MCQ pace moves from 2.00 to 2.02 minutes per question, and FRQ pace moves from 25.0 to 23.75 minutes per question. No unit content or exam weighting changes accompany it. What to do: Prepare for May 2027 using the current unit maps in Sections 2 and 3 -- only the question count and section timing shift, not what is tested. |
Myth: "My AP Physics 1 or 2 prep book from 2023 still works fine." Reality: A 2023 resource will place Fluids in the wrong course, reference a 50-question MCQ section, and (for Physics 1) describe five FRQs instead of four. The physics itself is still correct, but the unit map, pacing, and FRQ format are not. What to do: Use pre-2025 materials for content review only, and pace every practice section using the current numbers in Section 5, not the numbers printed in the book. |
Myth: "Since Fluids moved out, AP Physics 2 students never need it again." Reality: Fluids-specific equations -- buoyancy, continuity, Bernoulli's equation -- will not appear on the AP Physics 2 exam. But the underlying pressure-and-force intuition still resurfaces in Thermodynamics, where gas pressure, volume, and force-per-area reasoning follow similar logic. What to do: AP Physics 2 students do not need to relearn Fluids, but a five-minute refresher on pressure-as-force-per-area before starting Thermodynamics pays off. |
Myth: "The exam runs shorter overall now than it used to." Reality: Total testing time has stayed fixed at exactly three hours (180 minutes) across all three formats covered in this guide -- 90 plus 90 before 2025, 80 plus 100 from 2025-26, and 85 plus 95 from May 2027. Only the internal split between the multiple-choice and free-response sections has moved. What to do: Plan your exam-day pacing around the section split for your specific year, not around an assumption that the overall exam got shorter -- it did not. |
9. The Full Timeline: From the 2024 Course Audit to the May 2027 Exam
When | What happened |
March 2024 | The AP Course Audit opens for 2024-25; schools begin reauthorising AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, and both AP Physics C courses under the revised frameworks. |
June 2024 | AP Summer Institutes begin training teachers on the revised course-and-exam descriptions. |
July 2024 | AP Classroom is updated on a rolling basis with new progress checks, topic questions, AP Daily videos, and question-bank items aligned to the revised courses. |
Fall 2024 | Teachers begin implementing the revised curricula in classrooms for the first time. |
May 2025 | First exams under the new framework: Fluids appears in AP Physics 1 for the first time, both exams move to 40 MCQs, and the new four-part FRQ structure is used for the first time. |
Summer 2025 | Cut scores for the redesigned AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 exams are established through standard setting. |
October 2025 | Course-and-exam-description clarifications and corrections are implemented, including sample free-response formatting adjustments for accessibility and a more scaffolded Experimental Design and Analysis question. |
Summer 2026 | Further course-and-exam-description language updates are planned, primarily around how Progress Checks are described in AP Classroom. |
2026-27 school year | Additional minor clarifications are published; the multiple-choice question count and section timing are updated for both AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2. |
May 5-6, 2027 | First exams under the new 42-question, 85-minute MCQ section and 95-minute, 4-question FRQ section (AP Physics 1 on May 5, AP Physics 2 on May 6). |
Ready to Start Your AP Journey?
EduShaale’s AP Coaching Program is designed for students aiming for top scores (4s & 5s). With expert faculty, small batch sizes, personalized mentorship, and a curriculum aligned to the latest AP format, we help you build deep conceptual clarity and exam confidence.
Subjects Covered: AP Calculus, AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP Biology,
AP Economics & more
📞 Book a Free Demo Class: +91 90195 25923
🌐 www.edushaale.com/ap-coaching
Free Diagnostic Test: testprep.edushaale.com
10. Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Did College Board really move Fluids from AP Physics 2 to AP Physics 1?
A: Yes. College Board's AP Physics revisions documentation states directly that Fluids is no longer part of AP Physics 2 and is now Unit 8 of AP Physics 1. The change took effect with the 2024-25 school year, meaning the May 2025 exam was the first to test Fluids under AP Physics 1 rather than AP Physics 2.
Q: When exactly did the AP Physics 2 changes take effect?
A: The revisions took effect with the 2024-25 school year. The AP Course Audit for the revised frameworks opened in March 2024, teachers began implementing the new curriculum in classrooms in fall 2024, and the first exams reflecting every change discussed in this guide -- Fluids' move, the new unit numbering, and the restructured exam format -- were administered in May 2025.
Q: Is AP Physics 2 easier now that it lost the Fluids unit?
A: Not by unit count -- AP Physics 2 still has seven units. The Optics unit split into two (Geometric Optics, and Waves, Sound, and Physical Optics), the course gained a full waves treatment that used to live in AP Physics 1, circuits coverage became more comprehensive, and Modern Physics picked up blackbody radiation and Compton scattering. Score data shows AP Physics 2's pass rate moved only modestly (70.5% to 72.6%), which is consistent with a course that redistributed content rather than shrinking it.
Q: How many units does AP Physics 1 have now?
A: Eight: Kinematics; Force and Translational Dynamics; Work, Energy, and Power; Linear Momentum; Torque and Rotational Dynamics; Energy and Momentum of Rotating Systems; Oscillations; and Fluids. That is up from seven units before the 2024-25 revision.
Q: How many units does AP Physics 2 have, and why does the numbering start at 9?
A: AP Physics 2 has seven units, numbered 9 through 15: Thermodynamics, Electric Force/Field/Potential, Electric Circuits, Magnetism and Electromagnetism, Geometric Optics, Waves/Sound/Physical Optics, and Modern Physics. The numbering starts at 9 because College Board now numbers AP Physics 2's units sequentially after AP Physics 1's eight units, treating the two courses as one continuous 15-unit family rather than two separately numbered courses.
Q: Did the number of questions on the AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 exams change?
A: Yes, twice. Before 2025, both exams used 50 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes. From May 2025 through May 2026, both use 40 multiple-choice questions in 80 minutes. Free-response questions dropped from 5 to 4 for AP Physics 1 (AP Physics 2 was already at 4 and did not change its FRQ count), and FRQ section time rose from 90 to 100 minutes for both courses.
Q: What is changing for the May 2027 AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 exams?
A: Both exams move to 42 multiple-choice questions in 85 minutes and keep 4 free-response questions, now in 95 minutes rather than 100. College Board describes this as a minor clarification rather than a content change -- no units, topics, or weightings shift alongside it.
Q: Do AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 scores show the redesign actually helped students?
A: The official data says yes, and unevenly. AP Physics 1's pass rate rose from 47.3% (2024) to 67.3% (2025), and its five-rate nearly doubled, from 10.2% to 19.8%. AP Physics 2's pass rate rose more modestly, from 70.5% to 72.6%, though the share of students scoring a 4 specifically jumped from 18.0% to 28.8%.
Q: Why did AP Physics 1's scores improve more than AP Physics 2's?
A: The clearest explanation is pacing. AP Physics 1's free-response time-per-question rose 39% (from 18.0 to 25.0 minutes) because the section both gained 10 minutes and dropped an entire question. AP Physics 2's FRQ count never changed, so its time-per-question rose only 11% (from 22.5 to 25.0 minutes) -- a real but much smaller relief on the section where rushed writing typically costs students the most points.
Q: Can I still use an AP Physics 1 or AP Physics 2 prep book published before 2025?
A: Use it for content review, not for pacing or format guidance. A pre-2025 resource will place Fluids in AP Physics 2 rather than AP Physics 1, reference a 50-question multiple-choice section, and, for AP Physics 1, describe five free-response questions instead of four. Pair any older material with the current unit tables and exam-format numbers in this guide.
Q: Do I need to take AP Physics 1 before AP Physics 2?
A: College Board does not enforce AP Physics 1 as a formal prerequisite in every school's course audit, but AP Physics 2 assumes mechanics fluency -- force, energy, and momentum reasoning -- that AP Physics 1 (or an equivalent introductory physics course) builds. In practice, the large majority of schools and self-study candidates sequence Physics 1 before Physics 2 for this reason.
Q: Does the Fluids move affect AP Physics C: Mechanics or AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism?
A: Not in content -- neither Physics C course gained or lost topics in this revision cycle. Their exam format did change, though, in the same cycle as Physics 1 and 2: both Physics C exams grew from a shared half-length session into full, independently scheduled exams, with MCQs rising from 35 to 40 and FRQs from 3 to 4.
Q: Will AP Physics 2 change again soon after May 2027?
A: Nothing beyond the confirmed May 2027 exam-format update is currently published on College Board's AP Central pages as of this guide's writing. College Board updates these pages on a rolling basis, so students planning several years ahead should check apcentral.collegeboard.org directly closer to their exam date.
Q: Where can I verify these changes directly with College Board?
A: Start with the AP Physics Revisions for 2024-25 page on AP Central, then the individual AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 course pages, which list the current unit tables and any posted clarifications. Full links are in the References section below.
Q: Is the AP Physics 1 or AP Physics 2 exam actually shorter now than it used to be?
A: No -- total testing time has held constant at exactly three hours (180 minutes) through every format change discussed in this guide: 90 plus 90 minutes before 2025, 80 plus 100 minutes from 2025-26, and 85 plus 95 minutes from May 2027. Only the split between the multiple-choice and free-response sections has shifted, not the overall exam length.
11. EduShaale -- Expert AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 Coaching
EduShaale coaches both AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 against the current, post-2025 unit sequence and exam format covered in this guide -- not a leftover pre-2025 syllabus.
Current-format diagnostic: Every new student starts with a diagnostic mapped to the live unit numbering -- Fluids as Physics 1's Unit 8, or the renumbered Units 9-15 for Physics 2 -- so your study plan reflects the exam you will actually sit.
FRQ pacing built around the new timing: With AP Physics 1's free-response section now averaging 25 minutes per question, we drill the written-justification habits that convert that extra time into rubric points, rather than teaching students to rush as the old format required.
Unit-by-unit priority coaching: Sessions are weighted to match the official exam-weighting tables in this guide -- more time on Force and Translational Dynamics and Work, Energy, and Power for Physics 1 students; more time on Thermodynamics, Electric Force and Field, and Circuits for Physics 2 students.
Physics 1, Physics 2, or both: Many students take the two courses in successive years. We track what was covered in Physics 1 and use it deliberately when teaching Physics 2 topics that build on the same mechanics reasoning.
Free AP Physics diagnostic assessment -- testprep.edushaale.com
Free 60-minute strategy session
Live online 1-on-1 AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 coaching
WhatsApp +91 9019525923 | edushaale.com | info@edushaale.com
EduShaale's core observation: Students who move fastest through the new AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 format are the ones who treat the extra free-response time as writing time, not thinking time. The redesigned exam rewards a complete, correctly justified answer to fewer questions -- rushing through four FRQs the way you once rushed through five leaves the section's biggest point gains on the table. |
12. References & Resources
Official College Board Resources
EduShaale AP Physics Resources
(c) 2026 EduShaale | edushaale.com | info@edushaale.com | +91 9019525923
AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 are courses administered by, and AP is a registered trademark of, College Board, which was not involved in the production of and does not endorse this guide.
All curriculum, exam-format, and score data referenced in this guide are sourced from College Board's official AP Central and AP Students publications as of August 2026. Exam details are subject to change; verify current specifications at apcentral.collegeboard.org before finalising a study plan.
This guide is for educational purposes only.
Comments