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By Lawrence, AP Content Analyst at AllSatPapers · Cross-year archive: 2022, 2024, 2025 (U.S. & International), 2026 (U.S. & International–Asia)
Two versions of AP Physics 1 were administered in May 2026 — the U.S. paper and the International (Asia) paper — and placed side by side, they tell one unmistakable story: the redesigned exam has stabilized. Both papers run 40 single-correct MCQ plus 4 FRQ. Both open with rotation or energy graphing. Both carry a heavy fluids block. And both draw visibly on the 2025 item pool — most dramatically in the U.S. paper, where roughly 11 of 40 multiple-choice questions are recycled nearly verbatim from the 2025 U.S. exam.
This combined analysis of the 2026 AP Physics 1 exam draws on every full-text paper in our archive — the old-format 2022 International paper and 2024 U.S./Asia papers, the new-format 2025 U.S. and International papers, and both 2026 versions — to give you real sample questions with question numbers, a documented map of what repeats and how often, and a preparation strategy built on evidence rather than folklore. If you are searching for AP Physics 1 past papers or AP Physics 1 practice questions that match the exam as it actually exists in 2026, read on.
| Era / Paper | Section I | Section II | Signature features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 International (old format) | 50 MCQ / 90 min; last 5 are multi-select "select two answers" (numbered 131+) | 5 FRQ / 90 min (Q1, 4, 5 short 7-pt; Q2, 3 long 12-pt) | Zero fluids items; rotation cluster at Q36–40, 42; paragraph-justification FRQ 1 |
| 2024 U.S. & Asia (old format) | 50 MCQ / 90 min incl. multi-select (Q131 torque) | 5 FRQ / 90 min | U.S. FRQ 3 hinged-beam force diagram; FRQ 4 Planet X paragraph argument |
| 2025 U.S. & International (new format) | 40 MCQ, single-correct (IDs 1214–1253 / 3333–3372) | 4 FRQ (1254–1257 / 3373–3376) | Fluids arrives: 5 MCQ + a fluids FRQ on each version |
| 2026 U.S. & International–Asia (new format) | 40 MCQ, single-correct | 4 FRQ ("Version L" on the Asia paper) | U.S.: ~11 recycled 2025 items. Asia: 6 fluids MCQ + fluids FRQ 3 |
The first questions of the two 2026 versions show the blueprint in miniature: the U.S. paper opens on SHM energy graphing, the International paper on angular-momentum scaling — different surfaces, same two pillars (energy and rotation) that have anchored every paper since 2022.
"A block attached to a horizontal spring oscillates in simple harmonic motion. The graph shown represents the elastic potential energy U of the block-spring system as a function of time t.
At which of the following times is the kinetic energy of the block equal to zero?
A. tA B. tB C. tC D. tD (times labeled on the graph)"
What it tests: energy conservation read straight off a graph — no calculation, just the discipline to know that maximum U means zero K. It is the same skill the 2025 U.S. paper tested in item 1219's energy bar charts (recycled in 2026 as Q9) and that the International version tests at FRQ 2's SHM bar charts.
"In Scenario 1, a disk with rotational inertia I1 about its central axle rotates with constant angular speed. The magnitude of the angular momentum of the disk about its axle is L1.
In Scenario 2, a different disk, with rotational inertia 2I1 about its central axle, rotates with the same constant angular speed as the disk in Scenario 1.
Which expression is equal to the magnitude of the angular momentum of the disk in Scenario 2 about its axle?
A. ½L1 B. L1 C. 2L1 D. 4L1"
What it tests: one-line proportional reasoning on the course's most heavily weighted unit. Note for comparison that the U.S. paper's Q2 is a rotational-inertia computation (spheres on a rod, I = Σmr2). Both versions put rotation within the first two questions — just as 2024 U.S. opened with a torque graph at Q2 and 2025 U.S. front-loaded angular momentum at item 1220.
Pattern 1 — The 2025 format reset is the dividing line in every archive. Before 2025: 50 MCQ in 90 minutes, with the last five items multi-select ("two of the suggested answers will be correct… begin with number 131," per the 2022 paper's directions), and 5 FRQ. From 2025 onward: 40 single-correct MCQ and 4 FRQ, on both versions, with identical architecture in 2026. Any study material still built around 50-question sections or multi-select strategy is training you for an exam that no longer exists.
Pattern 2 — Question-bank recycling is measurable, not mythical. Between the 2025 U.S. exam and the 2026 U.S. paper we count ~11 reused MCQ: energy bar charts (1219 → Q9), books-chair-student angular momentum (1220 → Q7), SHM expressions (1223 → Q11), impulse ball bounce (1226 → Q12), gravitational force vectors (1231 → Q18), ramp dissipation (1233 → Q19), sticking-collision center of mass (1232 → Q20), gauge-pressure depth (1238 → Q24), fluid mass in a cylinder (1241 → Q30), equilateral-triangle displacements (1246 → Q31), and the square-to-circle pipe (1248 → Q35). Across versions, the 2026 Asia paper recycles subtypes from 2025 International: buoyancy with a spring scale (3345 → Q5/Q14), continuity (3354 → Q23), Torricelli efflux (3368 → Q33), fluid-density experiment (FRQ 3375 → FRQ 3).
Pattern 3 — Fluids: zero to anchor. 2022: zero fluids questions. 2024 (sampled): none. 2025: five MCQ + one FRQ per version. 2026: four MCQ on the U.S. paper, six MCQ plus FRQ 3 on the Asia paper. Every recurring subtype — gauge pressure/depth, fluid mass from geometry, continuity, efflux, buoyancy — now appears somewhere every single year.
Pattern 4 — Rotation is the heaviest topic every year, on every version. 2022: Q16, 36–40, 42, 45 + FRQ 2. 2024 U.S.: Q2, 131 + FRQ 3. 2025 U.S.: seven items (1220, 1224, 1228, 1234, 1236, 1243, 1245). 2025 Intl: seven items (3335, 3340, 3343, 3344, 3351, 3352, 3367) + FRQ 3374. 2026 U.S.: five + FRQ 44. 2026 Asia: seven + FRQ 1.
Pattern 5 — The rubric language never changes. "Draw and label the forces (not components)… a distinct arrow starting on, and pointing away from, the point at which the force is exerted" — 2022 FRQ 1(a), 2024 U.S. FRQ 3(a), 2025 Intl 3374, 2026 Asia FRQ 1 Ai. "Begin your derivation by writing a fundamental physics principle or an equation from the reference information" — 2025 U.S. 1254/1257, 2026 U.S. FRQ 41/42/44, 2026 Asia FRQ 1/2/4. And a relative-motion/frames item appears every recent year: 2025 U.S. 1251 and 2026 Asia Q16 are both set on trains.
| Year | Question | Topic | Difficulty | Pattern observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 Intl | Q1 | Kinematics: center-of-mass speed of two cars | Easy | Old 50-MCQ format opener; COM reasoning persists at 2026 U.S. Q20 |
| 2024 U.S. | Q1 | Work: sign of work lifting a block, "provides a valid justification" | Medium | Justification stems persist: 2025 U.S. 1237/1244/1249; 2026 U.S. Q10/17/25/34 |
| 2025 U.S. → 2026 U.S. | 1238 → Q24 | Fluids: gauge pressure vs. depth | Medium | Verbatim recycling — same ρ = 900 kg/m3, same 2.0 × 104 Pa, same choices |
| 2025 U.S. → 2026 U.S. | 1248 → Q35 | Fluids: continuity square→circle pipe | Medium | Verbatim recycling; answer 4v/π both years |
| 2025 Intl → 2026 Asia | 3368 → Q33 | Fluids: Torricelli efflux speed | Medium | Same v = √(2gh) skill, new container geometry |
| 2025 U.S. → 2026 Asia | 1251 → Q16 | Kinematics: relative motion on a train | Medium | Frames item every recent year, on alternating versions |
| 2022 → 2026 Asia | FRQ 1(a) → FRQ 1 Ai | Rotation: force-diagram rubric | Medium | "Forces (not components)" wording identical across four years |
| 2025 U.S./Intl → 2026 | 1256 / 3375 → U.S. FRQ 43, Asia FRQ 3 | Experimental design with linear graph | Hard | One design FRQ per paper, four years running |
| 2025 Intl → 2026 U.S. | 3376 → FRQ 44 | Qualitative paragraph justification | Hard | "Qualitative reasoning beyond referencing equations" scored every year |
| 2025 U.S. → 2026 Asia | 1257 → FRQ 3 | Fluids FRQ | Hard | Buoyancy derivation (2025 U.S.) → continuity/Bernoulli experiment (2026 Asia) |
"Person A and Person B are riding on a train that is moving to the left at a constant speed, as shown. Person A is running to the left at a constant speed relative to the train, and Person B is standing at rest relative to the train. Person C is standing at rest relative to the ground.
Which of the following claims about the motion of the people relative to each other is correct?
A. Person A is moving faster relative to Person C than Person A is moving relative to Person B.
B. Person A is moving faster relative to Person B than Person A is moving relative to Person C.
C. Person C is at rest relative to Person B.
D. Person B is at rest relative to Person A."
Analysis: the 2026 Asia paper asks the same family at Q16 — three students running inside a moving train car, comparing speeds relative to an observer on a bridge. When the same scenario returns on the opposite version one year later, that is the item bank talking. Frames of reference is a small topic with a guaranteed seat on the exam.
"A container is filled with water to a depth of 24 m. A hole is made in the left side of the container 4.0 m above the ground, allowing water to exit the hole, as shown.
What is the approximate speed of the water exiting the hole at the instant shown?
A. 6.0 m/s B. 9.0 m/s C. 20 m/s D. 22 m/s"
Analysis: 2026 Asia Q33 repeats the efflux setup with sloped-wall geometry; 2025 U.S. 1253 extended the same Bernoulli reasoning to a pipe changing height. One conservation-of-energy line — pressure head converting to speed — covers all three. Fluids numerics are deliberately formula-forward; they reward drilled fluency and punish hesitation.
"A sphere attached to the end of a light string that makes an angle with the vertical is released from rest…
(a) The dots below represent the sphere at times t1 and t2. On each dot, draw and label the forces (not components) exerted on the sphere at the corresponding time. Each force must be represented by a distinct arrow starting on, and pointing away from, the dot."
Analysis: this 2022 question also carried the old format's paragraph-length response ("In a clear, coherent paragraph-length response that may also contain figures and/or equations, justify your ranking") — the direct ancestor of the new format's "qualitative reasoning beyond referencing equations" parts. The old five-FRQ paper and the new four-FRQ paper are built from the same DNA.
"Consider the general case where a block of mass m and volume V is completely submerged in a fluid of density ρ.
Starting with Newton's second law, derive an expression for the initial upward acceleration a of the block when the block is released from rest. Express your answer in terms of m, V, ρ, and physical constants, as appropriate. Begin your derivation by writing a fundamental physics principle or an equation from the reference information."
Analysis: 1257 is the complete new-format FRQ in miniature: Scenario 1 vs. Scenario 2 framing, a qualitative force argument, a derivation launched by the mandatory boilerplate, and a consistency check between the two. The 2026 Asia fluids FRQ 3 keeps the architecture and swaps the physics (continuity + projectile instead of buoyancy). Learn the skeleton once; every year's FRQ set uses it.
Predicted difficulty: both 2026 versions are calibrated to 2025 levels — deliberately, given the shared item pool. The genuinely hard 10% of each paper concentrates in the same places every year: multi-object rotation (2026 U.S. Q36 sliding-plus-rotating disk; 2026 Asia FRQ 1), static equilibrium reasoning (2026 U.S. Q25), graph-to-quantity conversions (2025 Intl 3350), and the paragraph-justification FRQ parts where students who only practiced equations lose points they never saw coming.
The unified priority list, by observed cross-year weight:
Study hacks the archive supports:
Five years of papers, two versions, one conclusion: AP Physics 1 is the most predictable it has ever been — for students who study the exam as it actually is. The format is settled (40 + 4). The topic hierarchy is settled (rotation, energy, momentum, then the fluids block that simply did not exist before 2025). The FRQ archetypes and their rubric sentences are settled, word for word, across four years. And the item pool turns over slowly enough that 2026's U.S. paper shared a quarter of its multiple-choice section with 2025's. Every one of those claims above carries a question number you can check. The students who earn 5s are rarely the ones who studied the most pages; they are the ones who practiced with the most realistic material — the real papers — until the exam felt like a review session. That option is open to you right now.
Real 2022–2026 U.S. & International papers · full MCQ + FRQ sets · every question cited in this guide.
Meta description: Complete deep analysis of the 2026 AP Physics 1 U.S. and International exams — real sample questions, cross-year comparison tables (2022–2026), the 40-MCQ/4-FRQ format, documented question recycling, fluids and rotation weighting, and expert preparation strategies with authentic AP Physics 1 past papers.
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