AP EXAM DATE: Friday, May 16, 2025 - 8:00 AM
Last Day to Register for Exam: TBD
AP Physics 1 Formula Sheet (2024 version)
Register on AP Classroom (Instructions)
Join Codes:
1A: 37N7NY
1B: 6LMPYG
2A: XMNW62
4A: MJDAP6
Topics Covered Approximate Weight Corresponds to Level
Unit 1: Kinematics 10-15% 1-3
Unit 2: Force and Translational Dynamics 18-23% 4, 8, 9
Unit 3: Work, Energy, and Power 18-23% 5
Unit 4: Linear Momentum 10-15% 6
Unit 5: Torque and Rotational Dynamics 10-15% 7, 8
Unit 6: Energy and Momentum of Rotating Systems 5-8% 8, 9
Unit 7: Oscillations 5-8% 10
Unit 8: Fluids 10-15% 11
Test Format
Multiple Choice Section: 80 minutes, 40 questions
Free Response Section: 100 minutes, 4 questions
Questions vary in length
Question types will include: Mathematical Routines, Translation Between Representations, Experimental Design and Analysis, Qualitative/Quantitative Translation
Note: Many of these tips are adapted from the "5 Steps to a 5" study guide by Greg Jacobs
What to Bring
Pencils
Calculator (though don't expect to need it that much!)
Ruler/straightedge
General
The exam is 3 hours long. Make sure you are well rested on test day.
The AP Physics 1 Exam is NOT just about numbers and equations! You will have to WRITE and give explanations and defend your answers.
There are three major mathematical skills that you need to develop in AP Physics 1:
Solve or rearrange algebraic equations for a single variable
Calculate and interpret the slope and area of a graph
Use the trigonometry functions sine, cosine, and tangent
You will need to be familiar with lab equipment and procedures, and you will be asked to describe an experiment that could be used to answer a scientific question
The AP Physics 1 Exam will stress "quantitative reasoning"
You only need about 70% of the available points to earn a top score. There are many opportunities for partial credit; try for as much as you can get
Multiple Choice Section (40 Questions, 80 Minutes)
There is no penalty for guessing. Answer every question.
Practice your time management. Do not let yourself get stuck on one problem for 10 minutes.
The questions are NOT arranged in order of increasing difficulty.
Free Response Section (4 Questions, 100 Minutes)
General
Annotate your equations with words. If you need to find the horizontal component of an object's velocity, but use "sine" instead of "cosine", you may still get a point if you write down that you are attempting to find the horizontal component.
Explain your thinking process. This can sometimes earn you partial credit
Do not write more than a few sentences for any question.
Cross out any mistakes with a single line.
Put UNITS on every numerical answer
Feel free to answer questions out of order
You can draw graphs, diagrams, or other figures as part of your answer
Mathematical Routines (MR) Problem (10 points, suggested time 20-25 minutes)
College Board Description: The Mathematical Routines (MR) question assesses students’ ability to use mathematics to analyze a scenario and make predictions about that scenario. Students will be expected to symbolically derive relationships between variables, as well as calculate numerical values. Students will be expected to create and use representations that describe the scenario, either to help guide the mathematical analysis (such as drawing a free-body diagram) or that are applicable to the scenario (such as sketching velocity as a function of time).
For AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2, the MR question will ask students to make a claim or prediction about the scenario and use appropriate physics concepts and principles to support and justify that claim. The justification is expected to be a logical and sequential application of physics concepts that demonstrates a student’s ability to connect multiple concepts to each other.
Translation Between Representations (TBR) Problem (12 points, suggested time 25-30 minutes)
College Board Description: The Translation Between Representations (TBR) question assesses students’ ability to connect different representations of a scenario. Students will be expected to create a visual representation that describes a given scenario. Students will derive equations that are mathematically relevant to the scenario. Students will draw graphs that relate quantities within the scenario. Finally, students will be asked to do any one of the following:
Justify why their answers to any two of the previous parts do/do not agree with each other.
Use their representations, mathematical analysis, or graph to make a prediction about another situation and
justify their prediction using that reasoning or analysis.
Use their representations, mathematical analysis, or graph to make a prediction about how those representations would change if properties of the scenario were altered and justify that claim using consistent reasoning or analysis.
Experimental Design and Analysis (LAB) Problem (10 points, suggested time 25-30 minutes)
College Board Description: The Experimental Design and Analysis (LAB) question assesses students’ ability to create scientific procedures that can be used with appropriate data analysis techniques to determine the answer to given questions. The LAB question can roughly be divided into two sections: Design and Analysis. In the Design portion of the LAB question, students will be asked to develop a method by which a question about a given physical scenario could be answered. The experimental procedure is expected to be scientifically sound: vary a single parameter, and measure how that change affects a single characteristic. Methods must be able to be performed in a typical high school laboratory. Measurements must be made with realistically obtainable equipment or sensors. Students will be expected todescribe a method by which the collected data could be analyzed in order to answer the posed question, by either graphical or comparative analyses.
Students will then be given experimental data collected in order to answer a similar, but not identical, question to what was asked in the Design portion of the question. Students will be asked to use the data provided to create
and plot a graph that can be analyzed to determine the answer to the given question. For instance, the slope or intercepts of the line may be used to determine a physical quantity or perhaps the nature of the slope would answer the posed question.
There is not one single correct answer
Don't overthink it. A valid solution is often fairly simple
Pay attention to the labs you do throughout the year
Qualitative-Quantitative Translation (QQT) Problem (8 points, suggested time 15-20 minutes)
College Board Description: The Qualitative/Quantitative Translation (QQT) question assesses students’ ability to connect the nature of the scenario, the physical laws that govern the scenario, and mathematical representations of that scenario to each other. Students will be asked to make and justify a claim about a given scenario, as well as derive an equation related to that scenario. Finally, students will be asked to do any one of the following:
Justify why their answers to any of the previous parts do/do not agree with each other.
Use their representations or mathematical analysis to make a prediction about another situation and justify their
prediction using that reasoning or analysis.
Use their representations and mathematical analysis to make a prediction about how those representations would change if properties of the scenario were altered and justify that claim using consistent reasoning or analysis.
While students may not be directly assessed on their ability to create diagrams or other representations of the system to answer the QQT, those skills may still help students to answer the QQT. For instance, some students may find that drawing a free-body diagram is useful when determining the acceleration of a system. However, the student will earn points for the explanation and conclusions that diagram indicates (or perhaps the derivation that results from the diagram), rather than for creating the diagram itself.
It may be helpful to skip the first section that asks for a description and start with the calculation. Then, you may be able to go back and answer the first part.