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Physics is often taught as a series of isolated concepts: kinematics, forces, energy. But the AP Physics 1 exam tells a different story. After analyzing the actual exam papers from 2022, 2024, and the recent 2025 administration, it is clear that the College Board treats this exam less like a math test and more like a logic puzzle.
For students preparing for the 2026 exam, the secret isn't just memorizing formulas—it is understanding the specific "language" of the test. By dissecting the opening questions and recurring patterns from past papers, we can decode exactly what is coming next.
The exam consistently opens with a "gatekeeper" question. These questions almost always test your ability to translate between a physical scenario and a graph (Position-Time, Velocity-Time, or Acceleration-Time). Let's look at the data.
Analysis: This is a classic "slope check." The question tests if you know that the slope of a position-time graph represents velocity. A straight diagonal line means constant slope, thus constant velocity.
Analysis: See the pattern? Just one year later, the concept is identical—relating Position to Velocity—but the format shifted from "Graph-to-Text" (2024) to "Table-to-Graph" (2025). The core skill (Concept Translation) remains the single most important skill for Question 1.
If you lay the papers side-by-side, you start to see "ghost" questions—problems that are functionally the same but dressed in different scenarios. This confirms that practicing with real past papers is the only way to "inoculate" yourself against exam surprises.
The College Board loves to test whether you know what is inside versus outside a system, particularly with Energy and Momentum.
The Takeaway: In both years, the key is identifying the "Earth" as part of the system. If Earth is included, gravity is an internal force, and potential energy is part of the system's total energy (often conserved). If you practiced the 2022 paper, the 2025 question was essentially a free point.
Another striking similarity appears in Center of Mass questions, which often trick students into over-calculating.
This question type appears repeatedly. The trick? The speed of the center of mass does not change in a closed system (no external forces), regardless of the collision type. Recognizing this "conservation of CoM velocity" principle allows you to answer in seconds without math.
Based on the major curriculum updates introduced in 2025, here is exactly what students must prepare for in 2026.
The biggest change in AP Physics 1 history occurred in 2025: Unit 8 (Fluids) was moved from AP Physics 2 to AP Physics 1. The 2025 papers were the first to test this, and they didn't hold back.
2026 Prediction: Expect at least 3-5 MCQs and likely one full FRQ part dedicated to Fluids. You must master Buoyancy (Archimedes' Principle) and Bernoulli’s Equation. If you are using prep books from 2023 or earlier, you are missing 15% of the exam.
In 2025, the College Board removed the "Multi-Select" (select two answers) section. The exam now consists of 40 single-select MCQs. This change generally favors the student, as it removes the "all or nothing" grading of the multi-selects. However, it means the single-select questions are now denser and require sharper conceptual clarity.
Both 2024 and 2025 exams featured heavy "Experimental Design" questions. You aren't just solving for X; you are explaining how to measure X.
Study Tip: Don't just do problems. Write out lab procedures for finding g, friction coefficients, and spring constants. Know your equipment (photogates, motion sensors) inside and out.
Physics is not about memorizing variables; it is about recognizing relationships. The data from 2022 through 2025 proves that the College Board recycles specific types of logic, if not the exact questions.
Practicing with authentic past papers gives you three distinct advantages:
Don't gamble on generic simulations. Train with the real thing.
Get the Ultimate AP Physics 1 2026 Study BundleVideo resource: AP Physics 1 Exam Review (2025): Unit 8 Fluids - This video provides a targeted review of the newly added Fluids unit, directly addressing the major curriculum shift discussed above.
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