AP Physics 1 Study Guide

The course is built around mechanics. You start with kinematics (describing motion with position, velocity, and acceleration), add forces through Newton's three laws, and then learn two powerful conservation tools — energy and momentum — that let you solve problems without tracking every force at every instant.

The second half of the course re-tells that same story for rotation: torque plays the role of force, angular momentum plays the role of linear momentum, and rotational kinetic energy joins the energy bookkeeping. The course closes with oscillations (springs and pendulums) and fluids, which was added in the 2024–25 redesign after moving over from AP Physics 2. If you can see rotation as "the same physics with new symbols," the back half of the course gets dramatically easier.

Not every unit is worth the same on the exam. Roughly, the weighting looks like this:

• Force and Translational Dynamics — ~18%
• Work, Energy, and Power — ~18%
• Kinematics — ~12%
• Linear Momentum — ~12%
• Torque and Rotational Dynamics — ~12%
• Fluids — ~12%
• Oscillations — ~9%
• Energy and Momentum of Rotating Systems — ~7%

The takeaway: forces and energy together are over a third of the exam, and they underpin almost everything else. If your time is limited, get those rock-solid first — most rotation and momentum problems lean on the same free-body-diagram and conservation habits.

Physics 1 is a reasoning exam, not a recall exam. A study routine that works:

1. Draw first, solve second. For mechanics, a free-body diagram or a before/after sketch is usually 70% of the work. Train the habit until it's automatic.
2. Practice explaining, not just computing. The free-response section asks you to justify answers in words and connect representations (graphs, equations, diagrams). Talking through why is the skill being tested.
3. Work in mixed sets. Studying one unit at a time hides the real difficulty, which is choosing the right tool. Mixed practice forces that decision and is the fastest way to find your gaps.
4. Review with full solutions. Reading a worked explanation for a problem you missed — including why each wrong answer was tempting — is worth more than three new problems you get right.

• Confusing mass and weight, or forgetting that the normal force is not automatically equal to $mg$ on an incline or in an elevator.
• Sign errors in kinematics from not committing to a positive direction before plugging in.
• Reaching for kinematics when energy or momentum is faster — if a problem never asks about time, a conservation law is usually the shortcut.
• Treating rotational problems as brand new instead of mapping force→torque and mass→rotational inertia.
• Vague free-response justifications. "It goes faster" earns little; "net force is in the direction of motion, so it accelerates" earns the point.

Every unit below has a focused practice set with full written explanations and a rationale for every wrong choice, plus a worked-solutions page you can read straight through. Start with a unit you're shaky on, then take a mixed set across the whole subject to pressure-test your tool selection before exam day. It's free and needs no account.