Your guide to the 2025 AP Physics C: Mechanics exam

We know that studying for your AP exams can be stressful, but Fiveable has your back! We created a study plan to help you crush your AP Physics C: Mechanics exam. This guide will continue to update with information about the 2025 exams, as well as helpful resources to help you do your best on test day. Unlock Cram Mode for access to our cram events—students who have successfully passed their AP exams will answer your questions and guide your last-minute studying LIVE! And don't miss out on unlimited access to our database of thousands of practice questions. 

Format of the 2025 AP Physics C: Mechanics Exam

• Section 1: Multiple Choice (50% of score)
  • 35 questions to complete in 45 minutes
• Section 2: Free Response (50% of score)
  • 3 questions to complete in 45 minutes

When is the 2024 AP Physics C Mechanics exam and how do I take it?

The exam date is Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at 12:00 PM, your local time—this will be a paper test at your school.

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How Should I Prepare for the Exam?

• First, download the AP Physics C: Mechanics Cheatsheet PDF , a single sheet that covers everything you need to know at a high level. Take note of your strengths and weaknesses!
• We've put together the study plan found below to help you study between now and May. This will cover all of the units and essay types to prepare you for your exam. Pay special attention to the units that you need the most improvement in.
• Study, practice, and review for test day with other students during our live cram sessions via Cram Mode. Cram live streams will teach, review, and practice important topics from AP courses, college admission tests, and college admission topics. These streams are hosted by experienced students who know what you need to succeed.

Pre-Work: Set Up Your Study Environment

Before you begin studying, take some time to get organized.

🖥 Create a study space.

Make sure you have a designated place at home to study. Somewhere you can keep all of your materials, where you can focus on learning, and where you are comfortable. Spend some time prepping the space with everything you need and you can even let others in the family know that this is your study space. 

📚 Organize your study materials.

Get your notebook, textbook, prep books, or whatever other physical materials you have. Also, create a space for you to keep track of review. Start a new section in your notebook to take notes or start a Google Doc to keep track of your notes. Get yourself set up!

📅 Plan designated times for studying.

The hardest part about studying from home is sticking to a routine. Decide on one hour every day that you can dedicate to studying. This can be any time of the day, whatever works best for you. Set a timer on your phone for that time and really try to stick to it. The routine will help you stay on track.

🏆 Decide on an accountability plan.

How will you hold yourself accountable to this study plan? You may or may not have a teacher or rules set up to help you stay on track, so you need to set some for yourself. First, set your goal. This could be studying for x number of hours or getting through a unit. Then, create a reward for yourself. If you reach your goal, then x. This will help stay focused!

AP Physics C: Mechanics 2024 Study Plan

🚗 Unit 1: Kinematics

Everybody can see motion! However, motion is more than just moving. Motion is made up of a few different parts. For example, how can you describe the position of your body in relation to time? How can you tell that an object is faster than another? These are some of the questions physicists ask when studying kinematics. This is a major part of the course as the rest of AP Physics C: Mechanics has some sort of foundation within this unit.

📖Read these Fiveable study guides:

• Unit 1 Overview
• Kinematics Overview and Motion in One Dimension
• Kinematics: Motion in Two Dimensions

🎥Watch these videos:

• AP Mechanics Kinematics Overview
• Course Overview + Unit 1 Review + FRQ Practice

🚀 Unit 2: Newton's Laws of Motion

Now that you understand motion, you ask yourself: what causes these things to move in the first place? A certain guy named Isaac Newton developed many theorems and laws that help explain how certain things move and stop. In this unit especially, you will need to learn how his three laws describe the relationship between an object's motion and the forces it interacts with. Plus, in this unit, you will get to know about how circular motion plays a role in movement. You will need a good understanding of this unit to successfully learn other units in this course.

📖Read these Fiveable study guides

• Unit 2 Overview
• Newton's Laws of Motion: First and Second Law
• Circular Motion
• Newton's Laws of Motion: Third Law

🎥Watch these videos from College Board:

• Newton's Laws of Motion: First and Second Law [Part 1]
• Newton's Laws of Motion: First and Second Law [Part 2]
• Circular Motion [Part 1]
• Circular Motion [Part 2]
• Newton's Laws of Motion: Third Law

🎢 Unit 3: Work, Energy, and Power

Energy is one of the biggest concepts in physics, and you can see it in every unit we've covered in the past and will cover in the future. Almost every FRQ can be at least partially tackled with energy!

📖Read these Fiveable study guides:

• Overview of Unit 3: Work, Energy, and Power
• Work-Energy Theorem
• Forces and Potential Energy
• Conservation of Energy
• Power

🎥Watch these videos from College Board:

• Work-Energy Theorem
• Forces and Potential Energy
• Conservation of Energy [Part 1]
• Conservation of Energy [Part 2]
• Power

🎳 Unit 4: Systems of Particles and Linear Momentum

Momentum, like energy, is a concept that can be easily applied in most physics scenarios, even when it isn't conserved. Momentum is easy to use to connect different units because it can be used to describe basically any system of objects in motion. 

📖Read these Fiveable study guides:

• Unit 4 Overview: Systems of Particles and Linear Momentum
• Center of Mass
• Impulse and Momentum
• Conservation of Linear Momentum and Collisions

🎥Watch these videos from College Board:

• Center of Mass
• Conservation of Linear Momentum, Collisions [Part 1]
• Conservation of Linear Momentum, Collisions [Part 2]

🚲 Unit 5: Rotation

This unit is allllll about objects that rotate! From a spinning record to a satellite, we can use this unit to describe the motion (or lack of) for these situations. Additionally, we will be making connections between this unit and previous units in ways such as demonstrating the analogs between translational and rotational kinematics.

📖Read these Fiveable study guides:

• Unit 5 Overview: Rotation
• Torque and Rotational Statics
• Rotational Kinematics
• Rotational Dynamics and Energy
• Angular Momentum and Its Conservation

🎥Watch these videos from College Board:

• Torque and Rotational Statics [Part 1]
• Torque and Rotational Statics [Part 2]
• Rotational Kinematics
• Rotational Dynamics and Energy [Part 1]
• Rotational Dynamics and Energy [Part 2]
• Angular Momentum and Its Conservation

🌊 Unit 6: Oscillations

Oscillations are seen everywhere, from the music we hear to the springs we play with, and even with some topics, we'll cover in electricity and magnetism 👀. In this unit, we'll cover some situations that involve simple harmonic motion and placing them in the context of units we have covered in the past.

📖Read these Fiveable study guides:

• Unit 6 Overview: Oscillations
• Simple Harmonic Motion, Springs, and Pendulums

🎥Watch these videos from College Board:

• Simple Harmonic Motion, Springs, and Pendulums [Part 1]
• Simple Harmonic Motion, Springs, and Pendulums [Part 2]

🪐 Unit 7: Gravitation

Gravitation may be the last and shortest unit, but you can see the applications of everything you've learned so far in this unit! From momentum to energy to forces, everything has accumulated to this point.   

📖Read these Fiveable study guides:

• Unit 7 Overview: Gravitation
• Gravitational Forces
• Orbits of Planets and Satellites

🎥Watch these videos from College Board:

• Gravitational Forces
• Orbits of Planets and Satellites

More Resources to look into:

• How to Get a 5 in AP Physics C: Mechanics
• Best AP Physics C: Textbooks and Prep Books