AP Physics 1 · Free-Response Questions
Right answer on an FRQ.
Full marks?
Here is a student’s response to one of our FRQs. Would an AP reader give it all 3 points?
The 600 kg tractor tows a 1200 kg trailer, and both are speeding up. Is F₂, the trailer’s pull on the tractor, greater than, less than or equal to F₁, the tractor’s pull on the trailer? Justify your answer.
F₂ = F₁. The tractor and the trailer pull on each other through the bar, so by Newton’s 3rd law the two pulls are equal.
Does the student earn all 3 points?
The answer is correct. The question is whether the reasoning is complete.
Inside every FRQ: the question, a model answer and the scoring guide. These pages are from the conical pendulum FRQ.
Topics are wired together.
Mind maps show you how.
The AP Physics 1 exam tests which idea drives which. Each mind map puts one topic on a page and shows what it connects to.
Gravity pulls only downward, so it changes only vᵧ. vₓ = v₀ cosθ stays the same for the whole flight.
Miss it: the ball "slows down sideways" and every horizontal answer is off.
A 3rd-law pair acts on two different objects, so the two forces never appear on the same free-body diagram.
Miss it: you cancel forces that can never cancel.
N sinθ supplies the centripetal force and mass cancels, so v = √(rg tanθ) on a frictionless bank.
Miss it: you expect a truck to need a different speed from a car.
Students rarely lose AP Physics 1 points because they never saw a topic. They lose them because they can't see how it connects to the next one.
Real pages from the bundle: projectile motion and Newton's first and third laws. There are 108 in all. Point at a page to bring it forward.Tap a page to bring it forward, and tap it again to open it.
See how every idea connects, one page at a time
- Units 1–2: Kinematics and Force & Translational Dynamics
- A mind map for every topic, plus illustrated Concept Busters
- Printable PDFs with lifetime access
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AP Physics 1 equations are not what they look like
The equation sheet gives you every formula. It never tells you when a formula applies, what it really means, or where it quietly breaks. That hidden condition is where AP Physics 1 marks are lost.
Total flight time is twice the time to the top.
ActuallyOnly if the ball lands at the height it was launched from. On uneven ground, that shortcut is wrong.
Double the pipe's radius and the speed halves.
ActuallyArea grows as r², so the speed drops to a quarter.
Use whichever angle the diagram shows.
Actuallyθ is the angle between the force and the line from the axis to where the force acts.
Students rarely lose AP Physics 1 points for forgetting an equation, because most are printed in front of them. They lose them by using it where it doesn't apply.
All 8 units · Fluids included
Real pages from the reference: Units 1, 3 and 5. There are 140 in all. Point at a page to bring it forward.Tap a page to bring it forward, and tap it again to open it.
Stop losing points to the condition you didn't check
- Every equation, with its condition and its trap
- Per-unit toolkits and a 9-page FRQ technique guide
- Lifetime access and free updates
AP Physics 1 · Algebra-based course
Start AP Physics 1 with three free modules
Each module opens with a free video lesson. Pick one and press play.
Watch freeModule 1 Free
Kinematics & Vectors
Motion in 1D and 2D: displacement, velocity and acceleration on straight-line and projectile paths, with vector components.
Start Module 1 →
Watch freeModule 2 Free
Dynamics & Forces
Free-body diagrams that solve real problems: static and kinetic friction, tension and centripetal acceleration.
Start Module 2 →
Watch freeModule 3 Free
Circular Motion
Uniform circular motion: how centripetal acceleration links net force, speed and radius on a curved path.
Start Module 3 →
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The Physics Survival Guide
11 hacks to solve problems faster, from how you read a chapter to how you practise. One page per tip.
Point at a tip to preview its page.
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