SAT / PSAT
SAT / PSAT Prep
History & Social Science
AP World History AP US History AP European History AP Human Geography AP US Government & Politics AP Psychology AP Macroeconomics AP Microeconomics
English
AP English Language & Composition AP English Literature & Composition
Math & Computer Science
AP Calculus AB/BC AP Precalculus AP Statistics AP Computer Science A AP Computer Science Principles
Sciences
AP Biology AP Chemistry AP Environmental Science AP Physics 1 AP Physics 2
World Languages & Arts
AP Spanish Language AP Art History AP Music Theory Start studying →
Unit 2 · Electric Force, Field, & Potential Unit Hub Flashcards Cheat Sheet Essentials Visual Review MC Practice FRQ Practice
Unit 2 · 15–18% of Exam

Electric Force, Field, & Potential

The physics of charges at rest. Coulomb's law governs the force between charges, electric fields describe the influence a charge has on the space around it, and electric potential energy and potential let you track energy without dealing with forces and vectors directly.

7 topics
6 study resources
College Board aligned
100% free
← Back to AP Physics 2

Choose your study tool

Six ways to master Unit 2 — pick whichever fits how you like to study.

Flashcards
25 interactive flashcards covering every key term from Unit 2. Tap to flip, shuffle, and use keyboard arrows.
Open flashcards →
Cheat Sheet
A one-page visual summary of Unit 2 — every key topic, term, and theme on a single screen.
Open cheat sheet →
Essentials
The big ideas plus a searchable glossary of every vocabulary term you need to know for the exam.
Open essentials →
Visual Review
A slide-by-slide walkthrough of Unit 2 with diagrams of field lines, equipotential surfaces, and capacitors.
Open visual review →
MCQ Practice
35 multiple-choice questions in College Board exam style — with full explanations of every answer.
Start practice →
FRQ Practice
A free-response question with model answers showing exactly how each part earns its point on the exam.
Start FRQ →

Topics in Unit 2

Seven topics from the College Board CED, in order.

Topic 2.1
Electric Charge & Electric Force
Coulomb's law, the inverse-square relationship, and how it compares to Newton's law of gravitation.
Topic 2.2
Conservation of Electric Charge & the Process of Charging
Conservation of charge, charging by friction, conduction, and induction.
Topic 2.3
Electric Fields
Force per unit charge, field lines, and the field created by point charges and charge distributions.
Topic 2.4
Electric Potential Energy
Energy stored in the configuration of charges; work done moving a charge through a field.
Topic 2.5
Electric Potential
Potential energy per unit charge, equipotential surfaces, and the relationship between field and potential.
Topic 2.6
Capacitors
Storing charge and energy on parallel plates; capacitance, charge, voltage, and stored energy.
Topic 2.7
Conservation of Electric Energy
Applying energy conservation to charges moving through electric fields and potential differences.

About Unit 2

Unit 2 builds the electrostatics foundation for the rest of AP Physics 2. You'll learn how Coulomb's law describes the force between any two charges — strikingly similar in form to Newton's law of gravitation — and how that force gives rise to an electric field that fills the space around any charge, ready to push or pull on whatever charge enters it.

This unit ties with Unit 1 and Unit 3 as the highest-weighted unit on the exam at roughly 15–18% of the AP Physics 2 exam. Everything in Unit 3 (circuits) depends on the potential and energy concepts introduced here.

Note: the College Board's revised Course and Exam Description numbers the AP Physics 2 units 9–15, continuing from AP Physics 1's units 1–8 — so this unit appears there as Unit 10: Electric Force, Field, and Potential, with topics 10.1–10.7. We number it Unit 2 since it's the second unit of the Physics 2 course.

Up next
Unit 3: Electric Circuits
Start Unit 3 →