AP Physics Learning Activities

Description:   Explore the factors affecting the electrical resistance of conductive modeling dough.

Description:   Through a conductor, students investigate Ohm's Law, the factors that affect electrical currents, and the resistance coding system.

Description:   Use Bernoulli’s Principle to predict the landing spot of a stream of water leaking from a bucket.

Description:   Use a calorimetric technique to determine the temperature of a Bunsen burner flame.

Description:   In the Hooke's Law and Conservation of Energy experiment, students investigate the spring constant of a launching mechanism and use the information to determine its landing position.

Description:   Analyze the displacement of an object with constant velocity and an object that is accelerating.

Description:   Study rays refracting through various transparent media, then determine the focal length of a lens.

Description:   Investigate the path of a horizontally-launched projectile and then predict where the ball will land. In this experiment, a ball rolled horizontally off a table allows students to measure the launch velocity and reinforces the idea that horizontal velocity remains constant, while the vertical velocity increases. The kit includes a curved ramp, steel and wooden balls, plumb line, C-clamp, golf ball, stopwatch, calipers, and a catch cup. Required but not included are a meterstick and a photogate system.

Description:   Measure the wavelength and threshold voltage of an LED and calculate Planck’s constant.

Description:   Observe how charges affect one another and propose an explanation in terms of charge distribution.

Description:   Determine the internal resistance of a battery, and find an unknown resistor in a complex circuit.

Description:   Determine the landing position of a ball launched horizontally from the top of a table.

Description:   The Circular Motion Lab features two entertaining experiments.

Description:   Working with a model of a ladder, students determine the coefficient of friction necessary to keep the ladder in static equilibrium.

Description:   With Video Investigation

Description:   Create maps of equipotential lines and the electric fields that exist between two charged surfaces.