Preparing for the PRAXIS II Physics: Content Knowledge (0265) Exam

Those who are interested in teaching middle or high school physics may be required by their licensing state to pass the PRAXIS II Physics: Content-Knowledge (0265) before receiving a valid teacher’s license.

The exam, which consists of 100 multiple choice questions, contains five sections, each dealing with a different aspect of physics. Section one concerns concepts in modern physics; section two deals with thermodynamics and heat; section three with wave and optics; section four with magnetism and electricity; and section five regards mechanics.

To study for the PRAXIS II Physics: Content-Knowledge (0265) Exam, teachers should review these general topics:

Specific modern physics’ questions on the PRAXIS II Physics: Content-Knowledge (0265) Exam concern the Michelson-Morley experiment, Lorentz transformations, de Broglie's hypothesis, the Bohr model, and Rutherford scattering, among other topics.

●      lab safety,

●      data manipulation,

●      science history,

●      natural resources,

●      disposable consumer products,

●      energy production,

●      instructional materials in the physics classroom,

●      equipment calibration,

●      error analysis,

●      drawing conclusions,

●      scientific notation,

●      measurement systems, and

●      scientific theories.

The thermodynamics and heat portion of the PRAXIS II Physics: Content-Knowledge (0265) Exam deals with temperature and the laws of thermodynamics, the Carnot cycle, entropy, absolute zero, thermal expansion, thermocouples, kinetic molecular theory, and vaporization, as well as other concepts. Snell's law, refraction, reflection, inference, harmonics, air columns, the Doppler effect, polarization, resonance, natural frequencies, longitudinal and transverse waves, Rayleigh scattering, Snell's law, transmission, and wavelength are among the ideas tested in the exam’s waves and optics section.

The magnetism and electricity portion of the exam pertains to a variety of topics, including electromagnetic induction, generators, batteries, Ohm's law, inductance, series and parallel circuits, Kirchhoff's rules, Coulomb's law, Gauss's law, electrical forces, conduction, induction, and electrical energy potential. Finally, the mechanics part of the PRAXIS II Physics: Content-Knowledge (0265) Exam covers Bernoulli's principle, Archimedes' principal, Pascal's law, Kepler's laws of orbits, Newton's law of orbital motion and universal gravitation, Hooke's law, and Galilean relativity, as well as other concepts.