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PART I
INTRODUCTION
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Keys for Success on the AP Physics 1 Exam
Congratulations on your decision to take AP Physics 1. Taking an AP course, especially an AP science course, is a challenging endeavor. AP courses represent college-level classes that you take in high school, so they are supposed to be challenging. But with your hard work, the help of your teacher, and this test prep, you will be guided toward success on this exam and in college.
The information presented in this book is meant to prepare you for the AP Physics 1 exam, based on information currently available from the College Board. The exam will test your critical-thinking skills, your ability to explain and reason both qualitatively and quantitatively, and your ability to show that you have an enduring understanding of physics that will support future coursework in science.
Let’s take a look at the exam!
1. The Structure of the Exam
The AP Physics 1 exam consists of both multiple-choice and free-response questions.
Section I—Multiple Choice—90 Minutes
• 45 multiple-choice questions with only one correct answer
• 5 multiple-choice questions with two correct answers (you must choose both correct answers to get credit for the question)
Section II—Free-Response Questions—90 Minutes
There are 5 free-response questions on this section of the exam. These include:
• 1 experimental design question
• 1 quantitative/qualitative translation
• 3 short-answer questions
Each of the two sections of the exam is worth 50 percent of your score. The multiple-choice section is scored electronically and you are not penalized for guessing.
2. The AP Physics 1 Outline
The AP Physics 1 Curriculum Framework published by the College Board does not specifically state the units or topics that will be taught in a typical AP Physics 1 course. The Framework is instead organized around seven “Big Ideas” that will reoccur as themes.
The College Board is no longer publishing a topical breakdown for the AP Physics 1 exam, nor is it providing percentages of the exam that relate to each topic. We do, however, know that the following seven topics will be on the AP Physics 1 exam:
Kinematics
Forces, Circular Motion and Gravity
Work and Energy
Impulse and Momentum
Rotation, Torque, and Angular Momentum
Mechanical Waves, Sound, and Simple Harmonic Motion
Electrostatics and Circuits
AP Physics 1 will require less calculation and more written explanation than its predecessor, the AP Physics B exam. In fact, it will require far more explanation than any other standardized physics exam. There will be fewer topics and less math, but it will require you to have a deeper conceptual understanding of the physics topics. AP Physics 1 is not about getting the right number, but about knowing (and being able to explain) what the numbers mean. You have to remember that in physics class, every number has a real meaning and represents real phenomena!
3. Types of questions on the exam
The AP Physics 1 exam contains several types of questions:
a. Descriptive problems
A descriptive problem is similar to what you’ve seen in your AP Physics 1 class and in your textbook. A descriptive problem sets up a situation and then asks you to conceptually discuss the situation.
Example:
A lightbulb is connected to a battery. A second identical lightbulb is connected in series with the first. Which of the following happens to the current and the resistance in the circuit?
(A) Both increase
(B) Both decrease
(C) The current increases since the resistance decreases.
(D) The current decreases since resistance increases.
b. Calculation problems
Calculation problems should be familiar to you from your class and textbook. These are straightforward calculations based on your knowledge of the situation and the equations.
Example:
A 5 kg box is pulled vertically at a constant speed of 5m/s. If the box is pulled for 3 seconds, the power developed during this time is
(A) 25 watts
(B) 75 watts
(C) 83 watts
(D) 250 watts
c. Ranking tasks
Ranking tasks present you with several pictures of similar objects or situations, and you are asked to rank them based on some unknown quantity.
Example:
Three softballs are thrown at different angles and at different speeds as shown below. Rank the balls on the basis of their acceleration at the top of their trajectory.
(A) 1 > 2 > 3
(B) 3 > 2 > 1
(C) 1 = 2 = 3
(D) Accelerations are all zero at the top of the trajectory.
d. Semi-quantitative reasoning
Semi-quantitative reasoning questions ask you to solve problems that involve some algebra using only symbols. In a semi-quantitative reasoning problem, you might be asked to figure out how much further a car would skid before coming to a stop if it were going twice as fast on the same road. You’ll have to do some algebra to figure out what the relationship is between the initial velocity of the car and the skid distance for the car, and then see how increasing the initial velocity by a factor of two changes the skid distance. If you struggle with this kind of question, keep practicing! (It is okay to plug in numbers to test if you get stuck!)
Example:
A box of mass m slides off the edge of a horizontal table at speed v and lands a distance d from the edge of the table. A second identical box leaves the table at 3v and lands at:
(A) d
(C) 3d
(D) 9d
e. Experimental design
Experimental design questions set up a situation where an experimental procedure is needed to find a result. The answer choices will provide different ways to set up the required experiment. You must choose the experimental procedure that will get you the desired result. The best way to practice this kind of question is to get your hands on equipment and do lots of lab experiments yourself. By doing so, you’ll have an intuitive idea as to what will work and what won’t work.
Example:
An object of mass m is attached to a string of length l and is pulled back so that it is a height h above the lowest point. It is desired to determine what the speed v at the lowest point will be if the object is instead released from 2h. Which of the following procedures would accomplish that determination?
(A) Position a motion detector so that it will catch the entir...
