The Department of Physics at Acharya Prafulla Chandra College was established in 1961. Initially, it offered the Pre University (later renamed as Higher Secondary) and B.Sc. General courses. The B.Sc. Physics Honours course was introduced in 1994. Finally, in the year 2009, the post graduate programme (M.Sc.) in Physics was started. Until 2009, the department offered courses under the University of Calcutta. In 2009, West Bengal State University became the affiliating university for the postgraduate course and for the undergraduate courses, both honours and general. However, for the post graduate programme, the department enjoys academic autonomy.

 The department has three classrooms, undergraduate and postgraduate general laboratories and a computer laboratory. Seminars and webinars are organized from time to time. The department encourages students and teachers to participate in seminars and conferences and there are many contributions to conferences and seminars in the state from students and teachers of the Department of Physics at Acharya Prafulla Chandra College