AP Physics C

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Year-End Review

We're done! We've covered all of the material—well, most of the material—that is going to be on the AP Exam at the beginning of May.

It's time to spend some time reviewing everything that we've covered, and learn a little about how the AP Exam will be administered.

Let's get started!

  1. Exam Details
  2. Review of Content

Exam Details

The AP Physics C Exams, 2026

Sunday, May 10. Pizza Review Session at Poly, 12pm - 4pm.

Optional gathering (on Mother's Day?!) for last-minute problem-solving, practice, pizza, and drinks.

The AP Physics C Mechanics exam will be offered Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at 12:00PM.

The Mechanics exam will last 3 hours:

  1. 80 minutes to answer 40 Multiple-Choice (MC) questions (4 options)
  2. 100 minutes to answer 4 Free-Response (FR) questions

The AP Physics C Electricity & Magnetism exam will be offered Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 12:00PM.

The E&M exam will last 3 hours:

  1. 80 minutes to answer 40 Multiple-Choice (MC) questions (4 options)
  2. 100 minutes to answer 4 Free-Response (FR) questions

On both exams, you will be asked to solve one each of four different types of questions. The descriptions of these questions (as given by College Board documents) may read as if they're very specifically focusing on one thing and not another, but most questions will involve just what we've been doing all along this year: applying math to solving problems, explaining (in words) why something is the way it is, and considering experimental design and/or sources of uncertainty.

Four FRQ Question Types

  1. Mathematical Routines
    This question will assess your ability to use math in analyzing a scenario and making predictions. You will be expected to draw free-body diagrams, sketch a graph of position vs time (for example), etc.
  2. Translation Between Representations
    This questions explores your ability to connect different representations of a scenario. You may derive relevant equations, draw graphs, justify why two related answers agree or disagree, make predictions about a similar situation based on your analysis, and/or consider how a result might change if the original scenario is altered in a specific way, and justify your reasoning.
  3. Experimental Design and Analysis
    This question assesses your ability to create a scientific procedure that can be used with appropriate analysis to answer a given question. Typically you'll be asked to design an experiment that could be performed in a high school physics lab, and then be given experimental data collected in a similar, hypothetical experiment, and asked to analyze the results, possibly using a graph of data.
  4. Qualitative/Quantitative Translation
    This last type of questions examines your ability to consider a scenario in terms of the physical laws and mathematical representations that govern that scenario. You might be asked to make a claim about the scenario, derive an equation related to the scenario, justify why two related answers agree or disagree, make predictions about a similar situation based on your analysis, and/or consider how a result might change if the original scenario is altered in a specific way, and justify your reasoning.

You don't need to consider which type of question you're being asked at any point on the exam. These descriptions are more important for the College Board as they design their exams.

The AP Physics C exams are offered in a hybrid format: you'll be taking the test on your laptop using the Bluebook application, as well as solving problems using pencil-and-paper. This is a relatively new format for the College Board, so we'll want to look at what that looks like, and get familiar with the tools you'll be using.

Review of Content