AP Physics 1 practice test: free questions, exam format and 2027 date

Our daily AP Physics 1 paper has 8 original free-response questions worth 25 to 35 marks. Know the fit before you use it. About half its topics are AP Physics 1 content: kinematics and projectiles, forces and torque, work, energy and power, and momentum. The rest (circuits, waves, optics, the photoelectric effect, particle physics and materials) belong to AP Physics 2 or go beyond AP, so skip those questions or treat them as a head start.

Where to find a real AP Physics 1 practice test

• Past free-response questions: College Board posts recent AP Physics 1 free-response questions on AP Central, with scoring guidelines and sample student answers. On November 7, 2026, the page went back to 2023. College Board warns that, after the 2024-25 revision of the course, those questions do not completely align with the current exam, so the newest years are the closest match.
• AP Classroom: once you join your class section, your teacher can unlock progress checks with multiple-choice and free-response questions, and assign practice or released exam questions from the AP Question Bank.
• The Course and Exam Description: College Board calls this the core document for the course. It lists exactly what can be tested.
• Bluebook test preview: download College Board's Bluebook app and open the test preview to see how the digital exam looks before May. College Board says previews for most AP subjects are available now, with more coming in early 2027.
• A short daily practice test: the daily paper above, for 35 to 45 minutes of timed free-response practice.

For a full practice test, copy the real timing: 42 multiple-choice questions in 1 hour 25 minutes, a break, then 4 free-response questions in 1 hour 35 minutes.

AP Physics 1 exam format for 2027

It is a hybrid digital exam. You answer the multiple-choice questions and read the free-response questions in the Bluebook app, then handwrite your free-response answers in a paper booklet. You can use a four-function, scientific or graphing calculator on both sections, and Bluebook has a Desmos calculator built in. College Board provides equation sheets and reference tables, so you don't need to memorize every formula.

The four free-response questions are one of each type:

• Mathematical routines: solving a problem with equations.
• Translation between representations: moving between diagrams, graphs and equations.
• Experimental design and analysis: planning a lab and analyzing its data.
• Qualitative/quantitative translation: linking reasoning in words to equations.

That works out at about 2 minutes per multiple-choice question and about 24 minutes per free-response question.

AP Physics 1 units and how much each is worth

Units 2 and 3 together are up to 46% of the multiple-choice score, so forces and energy deserve the most practice. College Board recommends that you have finished geometry and are taking Algebra II at the same time. The tools: SUVAT, Projectile Motion, Force, Kinetic Energy, Work and Power, Momentum, Moments, Circular Motion, Pendulum and SHM, Density and Pressure.

AP Physics 1 practice test questions with answers

We wrote these five questions for this page. They rise in difficulty and cover the units worth the most. Use g = 9.8 m/s², cover the working, and try each one first.

1. Kinematics: a ball rolls off a table

Question: A ball rolls off a level tabletop 1.25 m high at 3.0 m/s. How far from the foot of the table does it land?

Split the motion. Vertically, it leaves the table with no vertical velocity and drops 1.25 m, which sets the time in the air:

Horizontally, nothing speeds it up or slows it down, so it travels 3.0 × 0.505 = 1.5 m. The horizontal speed has no effect on the time to fall. Try other launches in the Projectile Motion Calculator.

2. Forces: a scale in an elevator

Question: A 60 kg student stands on a bathroom scale in an elevator that accelerates upward at 1.5 m/s². What does the scale read?

Draw the free-body diagram: the normal force from the scale acts up and the weight acts down. Take up as positive and apply Newton's second law.

The scale reads 678 N, more than the 588 N it shows at rest, because it must push the student up harder to accelerate them. Subtracting a from g is the usual slip.

3. Energy: a ramp and a rough floor

Question: A block slides from rest down a frictionless curved ramp that starts 0.80 m above the floor. It then slides along a level floor where the coefficient of kinetic friction is 0.25. How far along the floor does it go before stopping?

All the gravitational potential energy it starts with is turned into thermal energy by friction on the floor. The work done by friction is the friction force times the distance.

The block slides 3.2 m. The mass cancels, so you didn't need it. AP questions often leave out a quantity on purpose to test whether you notice it doesn't matter.

4. Momentum: a car and a truck

Question: A 1,200 kg car moving at 15 m/s hits a stationary 1,800 kg truck, and they move off locked together. Find their speed just after the collision and the fraction of kinetic energy lost.

Momentum is conserved because there is no net external force during the collision.

Kinetic energy before is ½ × 1,200 × 15² = 135,000 J. After, it is ½ × 3,000 × 6.0² = 54,000 J. So 81,000 J is lost, which is 60%. Momentum is conserved in every collision of an isolated system, but kinetic energy is conserved only in an elastic one.

Now try one yourself. This collisions question comes from our Laws of Motion course. Answer it here and press Mark.

5. Torque: a plank on two supports

Question: A uniform plank 4.0 m long with a mass of 20 kg rests on a support at each end. A 50 kg painter stands 1.0 m from the left end. Find the force each support exerts.

The plank is in rotational equilibrium. Take torques about the left end, because the left support's force then has no lever arm and drops out. The plank's weight acts at its center, 2.0 m along.

It is also in translational equilibrium, so the two forces add up to the total weight, 70 × 9.8 = 686 N. That leaves 686 − 220.5 = 465.5 N on the left. To 3 significant figures, the left support pushes up with 466 N and the right with 221 N. The left one carries more because the painter is nearer to it, which is a quick check worth writing down. The Moments Calculator checks setups like this.

AP Physics 1 scores and the 2026 score distribution

AP exams are scored from 1 to 5. Each score is College Board's recommendation of how qualified you are for college credit, and the last column shows how AP Physics 1 students scored in 2026.

In 2026, 68% of students scored 3 or higher. Each college decides which scores earn credit or placement, so check the colleges on your list with College Board's AP credit policy search.

AP Physics 1 exam date 2027 and deadlines

• Exam: Wednesday, May 5, 2027, in the afternoon session. In the lower 48 states, Hawaii and Washington, D.C., afternoon exams start at 12 p.m. local time.
• Ordering deadline: November 13, 2026. You don't register on your own: your school's AP coordinator orders your exam, and your school may set an earlier date.
• Fee: $99 per exam in the US, US territories and Canada, and $129 elsewhere, for 2026-27. Exams ordered from November 14 to March 12 cost $40 more. College Board takes $37 off for students with significant financial need.
• Scores: released in July 2027.

Use the daily paper as a short timed practice test

1. Open today's AP Physics 1 paper with only a calculator and an equation sheet next to you.
2. Set the suggested time, 35 to 45 minutes depending on the marks. That is close to the time two AP free-response questions get.
3. Answer the mechanics questions in full. Where a question asks you to explain, write the reasoning in words as well as the equation, as the AP free-response section expects.
4. Mark your work against the mark scheme, then note the AP unit behind every lost mark. If forces keep costing you, go back through the Laws of Motion course before tomorrow's paper.

Common AP Physics 1 mistakes

• Mixing up mass and weight: mass is in kilograms; weight is the force mg, in newtons.
• Using the kinematic equations when acceleration changes: they only work for constant acceleration.
• Losing track of signs: pick a positive direction at the start and keep it for every quantity.
• Assuming kinetic energy is conserved in a collision: only momentum always is, as question 4 shows.
• Measuring torque from the wrong point: use the lever arm, measured at right angles from the pivot to where the line of the force passes.
• Writing only an equation when asked to explain: say which principle applies and why, then show the maths.

Read next

United States · APAP Physics 2 Practice Test: Free Questions and 2027 GuideFree AP Physics 2 practice test questions with worked answers on thermodynamics, circuits, optics and modern physics, plus the 2027 format and scores.