APFIVE AP Physics C: Mechanics Exam Info
Download PDFThe AP Physics C: Mechanics Exam will test your understanding of the scientific concepts covered in the course units, as well as your ability to use calculus when solving problems related to kinematics, linear momentum, and more.
This is a hybrid digital exam. You’ll complete multiple-choice questions and view free-response questions in the Bluebook testing app. You’ll handwrite your free-response answers in paper exam booklets.
Calculators are permitted for this exam. See AP Exams Calculator Policy for the list of calculators approved for this course.
Reference materials, such as equations sheets and reference tables, are available for this course. Go to Reference Information for Specific AP Exams to find reference materials for AP Physics C: Mechanics and exam day details.
AP Physics C: Mechanics Exam
This is the regularly scheduled date for the AP Physics C: Mechanics Exam.
Exam Components
Section 1: Multiple Choice
Questions are either discrete questions or question sets, in which you may be provided with a stimulus or a set of data and a series of related questions.
Section 2: Free Response
This section contains 4 free-response questions, one of each of the following types:
Mathematical routines
Translation between representations
Experimental design and analysis
Qualitative/quantitative translation
Skills You'll Learn
Creating representations that depict physical phenomena
Conducting analyses to derive, calculate, estimate, or predict
Describing experimental procedures, analyzing data, supporting claims
Units
Unit 1 – Kinematics
You’ll begin your study of motion and the quantities associated with the motion of an object: position, velocity, acceleration, and time.
Topics may include:
- Kinematics in one dimension
- Kinematics in two dimensions
On The Exam
10%–15% of multiple-choice score
Unit 2 – Force and Motion Dynamics
You’ll investigate Newton’s laws of motion, which describe the relationship among moving objects and the forces acting on them.
Topics may include:
- Center of mass
- Systems
- Newton’s laws of motion: first and second law
- Circular motion
- Newton’s laws of motion: third law
- Gravitation
On The Exam
20%–25% of multiple-choice score
Unit 3 – Work, Energy, and Power
You’ll learn to define and calculate work, energy, and power and become familiar with the principle of conservation as a foundational model of physics.
Topics may include:
- Work–energy theorem
- Forces and potential energy
- Conservation of energy
- Power
On The Exam
15%–25% of multiple-choice score
Unit 4 – Linear Momentum
You’ll be introduced to the concepts of impulse and momentum, and the conservation of linear momentum.
Topics may include:
- Impulse and momentum
- Conservation of linear momentum, collisions
On The Exam
10%–20% of multiple-choice score
Unit 5 – Torque and Rotational Motion
You’ll gain an in-depth comprehension of rotational motion by investigating torque and rotational statics, kinematics, and dynamics.
Topics may include:
- Torque and rotational statics
- Rotational kinematics
- Rotational dynamics and energy and Newton’s second law in rotational form
On The Exam
10%–15% of multiple-choice score
Unit 6 – Rotating Systems: Energy & Momentum
You’ll explore the energy and momentum of an object rotating around an axis and you’ll connect those concepts to their linear analogs.
Topics may include:
Rotational kinetic energy
Angular momentum
Rolling
Orbits
On The Exam
10%–15% of multiple-choice score
Unit 7 – Oscillations
You’ll use all the tools, techniques, and models you’ve learned in previous units to analyze a new kind of motion: simple harmonic motion.
Topics may include:
Periodic motion
Pendulums
Physical Pendulums
On The Exam
10%–15% of multiple-choice score