Introduction

Most people think AP® Physics C: Mechanics is one of the toughest AP® courses. It includes complex calculus, mind-bending concepts, and a huge collection of equations that you’ll need to memorize. However, with the right study guide and the best resources, AP® Physics shouldn’t intimidate you.

We’ve created this study guide to review all the essential ideas in AP® Physics C: Mechanics. This way, you won’t waste any time on material that won’t be tested. Plus, we’ve scoured the web and found the best resources for AP® Physics so you don’t have to look for them. With enough motivation and the right material, anyone can do well on the AP® Physics C: Mechanics exam and learn valuable problem-solving skills along the way.

To get more tips on acing the AP® Physics C: Mechanics exam, check out these 5 Steps to Tackling AP® Physics C Multiple Choice.

What You will Need for this One-Month AP® Physics C: Mechanics Study Guide

If you don’t have the right materials, it will be difficult to score well on the AP® Physics exam. We’ve collected a set of the best courses, books, and websites for understanding AP® Physics C. Our study guide is based on the resources listed below, so make sure you have a way to use them. If you can’t get access to any one of these, try to find a substitute so you can follow along with the study guide.

Albert.io AP® Physics C: Mechanics questions. The Albert.io system has hundreds of problems to hone your understanding, and it tracks your progress to improve your study. The physics questions test both your knowledge of the content and your ability to solve difficult physics problems. It’s a perfect way to improve your chances of acing the AP® Physics C: Mechanics test.

Plenty of practice tests. If you don’t practice, you cannot possibly get prepared before test day. One of the best places to find practice tests is College Board’s AP® Central for AP® Physics C: Mechanics. This central website includes a full online practice exam, a multiple-choice exam, and all of the official free response questions since 2003. One incredible resource is the 2012 Released Practice Exam, which includes both multiple-choice and free-response sections.

Flashcard site like Quizlet or flashcard app like Anki. You could also use paper index cards, but those are quite a bit harder to make and study. Anki is great because it uses spaced repetition algorithms to remind you to study at the best possible times.

An AP® Physics C: Mechanics review book like the Princeton Review. There are two main options when you’re choosing a review book for AP® Physics C. The Princeton Review book is somewhat less thorough, but it only covers content that will be tested. It will take less time to complete, but it still goes over everything on the AP® exam. Princeton is great if you need a review, not a full course. In contrast, Barron’s book for AP® Physics: C covers a lot of material that isn’t tested, but it is very thorough. Choose your book based on your needs. In this guide, we’ll be referencing the Princeton Review, but you can relate our advice to whatever review book you’re using. If you need help deciding, check out this article.

Physics I: Classical Mechanics on MIT OpenCourseWare. This introductory course is completely free to use and is accessible to high school students. It is a phenomenal resource for acing the AP® exam. If you want to complete the entire class, it would be an excellent way to prepare for the AP® Physics: C Mechanics test. But in this one-month study guide, we’ll just reference specific areas of the course. Since you’ll be looking at this class so often, we would recommend making it a bookmark right now. If you have extra time and you want to review, just hit the bookmark and start watching lectures.

AP® Physics C: Mechanics equation sheet with diagrams and review. This is no ordinary equation sheet. It includes every relevant equation on the AP® test, but it also contains helpful images, diagrams, and figures. It also describes essential concepts that will almost certainly be tested on the exam. You should print this out and use it constantly in the next month. Pin it up on your wall if you want, and look at it almost every day. It is a great reference tool for remembering equations and ideas when you’re studying.

The website LearnAPPhsics.com. While we will not be using this resource constantly, it is a great way to practice physics. The website includes practice questions for every major section of the AP® Physics course. It also allows you to sign up for an email list, which will send you an AP® Physics practice question every day. Completing a practice question every day is one of the best ways to brush up on physics and ensure you’re ready for the AP® test.

Viren’s Videos: Free AP® Physics Review. An experienced AP® Physics teacher created this site, and it includes a ton of videos for reviewing the entire course. The videos are organized by topic, and there is a video on almost every major topic in AP® Physics C: Mechanics.

Extra Resources for AP® Physics C: Mechanics

You probably will not need these resources to pass the test, and you don’t need them to use this study guide. But we might reference these resources at some point, and they will be very useful on the AP® Physics test. Since most of them are free, you can use them as an extra way to enhance your study and increase your understanding of physics.

A physics textbook. A textbook will allow you to gain a deeper, more mathematical understanding of mechanics. One very solid textbook is Physics for Scientists and Engineers. If you want to follow the MIT course’s syllabus, they recommend using University Physics With Modern Physics. For more textbook options, you can check out the College Board Textbook Suggestions for AP® Physics C: Mechanics.

The Mechanical Universe Lecture Series by the California Institute of Technology. While these lectures are fairly old, they are still remarkably relevant. They teach the basic content of AP® Physics in an interesting but very comprehensive way. We recommend using them to enhance your study, but it is probably not necessary to watch every video in this entire playlist.

The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Richard Feynman is one of the most influential physicists of the last century, and his introductory lectures are available for free online. By itself, that is pretty amazing. This resource is mainly for students who are already familiar with most of the AP® Physics C content, and just want to expand their knowledge and increase their understanding.

AP® Physics C Interactive Lessons by Monterey Institute of Technology. A few of these lessons are slightly outdated or oversimplified, but overall, this is a perfect way to combine the processes of learning and practicing your AP® Physics skills. Right after you learn the concept in a lecture, you review the concept with interactive questions or activities.

How to Use the AP® Physics C: Mechanics Study Guide

Your study is determined by how prepared you currently are. If you feel very prepared, for example, you will not spend time reviewing concepts. Instead, you will focus on answering sample questions and practicing. Before you start using this study guide, you might want to take a diagnostic test. For example, there’s a diagnostic test at the beginning of the Princeton Review book.

Once you’ve taken the test, grade it to determine your score. If you got a 4 or 5, you’re very prepared. However, remember that practice tests are easier than the real exam. You should keep reviewing until the test. If you got a 3, you’re somewhat prepared. If you got a 1 or 2, you’re not very prepared, and you should use this study guide to improve your score before the test.

If you don’t feel prepared at all: Learning the content well enough for the exam will require extra diligence. Depending on your situation, you need to study about 10 to 15 hours a week. Do not skip any of the readings or practice tests. Do everything in this study guide until you can describe all of the major concepts in AP® Physics without help. Take as many practice tests as you can, and use them to decide what you should study the most. Use this study guide to make your study time efficient, so you don’t waste any of your valuable hours on material you don’t need to know.

If you’re somewhat prepared: This guide is an efficient and comprehensive way to strengthen your problem-solving skills and fill the gaps in your knowledge of AP® Physics. Again, this category is mostly for people who scored around a three on the diagnostic exam. If you haven’t taken a practice test yet, but you feel confident in your general understanding of physics, this category is probably for you too. Since you already know most of the course’s concepts, you don’t need to learn any new material. When this study guide tells you to learn a new concept, just skim over the reading or lecture to review the concept. Your focus should be on practice problems. Instead of reading a textbook or review book, just take plenty of practice exams and answer tons of sample questions. You should study about 10 hours a week in the five weeks before the exam. Every day, practice several physics problems or answer a few AP® questions.

If you’re very prepared: You probably know who you are. You might have already taken physics before, and maybe you already know a lot about the subject. You might have scored a five on a few practice exams, or maybe you just feel very confident in your knowledge of AP® Physics C: Mechanics. No matter which situation you’re in, you mostly need to focus on practicing. Even if you’re a pro, there are probably a few gaps you need to fill in. The AP® test is filled with difficult types of problems and very specific conceptual questions, so it is important to know what’s ahead of you. This study guide will make sure you know all the content you need to confidently knock off the AP® exam and walk out with a five. You should spend at least five hours a week studying for the test in the month before the exam.

There are a few things you should be doing nearly every day this month, regardless of how prepared you are. First, you need to make a deck of flashcards for reviewing and memorizing key ideas in AP® Physics. Since AP® Physics C: Mechanics is a very math-based course with dozens of equations, you should make sure to add equations to your flashcards. Otherwise, you will forget them when you need them most. Second, you should be taking notes throughout the course. Use your notes to keep track of what you know and what you need to study. Nearly every day, you should review your notes and practice your flashcards to keep the material fresh in your mind.

There are a few main ideas the CollegeBoard wants you to understand for the AP® test:

1. Kinematics – This is essentially the study of simple motion in a one-dimensional space. Questions involving kinematics make up about 18% of the average AP® exam. When you’re studying kinematics, you don’t have to worry about most forces, air resistance, or any of the more complex ideas in physics. This unit also includes vectors, displacement, velocity, and acceleration. If you feel rusty on any of those concepts, make sure you go back and study kinematics.
2. Newton’s laws of motion – Newton’s three main laws of motion are some of the most important ideas in physics, and you can’t do very well on the AP® exam if you don’t understand them. Questions involving Newton’s laws make up about 20% of the average AP® exam. The three laws are also crucial to comprehending some other ideas in AP® Physics and classical mechanics, so you need to focus on getting a solid grasp of this unit.
3. Work, energy, and power – This unit involves a more in-depth analysis of the concepts of force and energy, and the material you learn in this unit is vital in solving all kinds of problems. Questions involving work, energy, and power make up about 14% of the average AP® exam. This unit includes potential energy, the conservation of energy, the work-energy theorem, and more. Make sure to review this unit if any of those concepts sound unfamiliar to you.
4. Systems of particles, linear momentum – The concept of momentum is what Newton used to derive most of his laws of motion, so understanding this unit is essential. You’re probably confused about what ‘systems of particles’ means, but that’s just a different term for problems involving center of mass. Questions involving momentum and center of mass make up about 12% of the average AP® exam. The three top ideas in this unit are momentum, center of mass, and impulse. Make sure you have a solid comprehension of those concepts.
5. Circular motion and rotation – This is one of the more difficult units in AP® Physics, but with this study guide, you should be able to ace all the rotational mechanics questions. Questions involving circular motion and rotation make up about 18% of the average AP® exam. Make sure you remember angular momentum, torque, and how to solve problems involving circular motion.
6. Oscillations and gravitation – At this point, the AP® Physics course starts to get into some fascinating concepts like the physics of space and the mechanics of the solar system. This unit includes Newton’s law of gravity, pendulums, springs, orbits of satellites and planets, and simple harmonic motion. Questions involving oscillations and gravitation make up about 18% of the average AP® exam.

We based this guide on a study schedule of six days a week and two hours a day. If you don’t need to review certain ideas, feel free to skip over them. You get a break at the end of each week. However, even on your rest day, you may want to skim over your notes and test yourself on a few flashcards.

If you miss a day, try to catch up the next day. Don’t cram, as it will not be effective in the end.

Week 1

Day 1

We’ll start off this month of studying by making sure you understand what you’re going up against on the AP® Physics C: Mechanics test. By the end of the day, you should know what concepts will be tested and what you need to review for the AP® exam.

Read pages 13 through 25 of the AP® Physics C Course Description. This description includes a full outline of everything you need to know on the AP® test. Every time you see a word or concept that you are unfamiliar with, write it down in your notes. You’ll want to come back to these concepts later in the month to review them.

After you’ve finished reading, go to page 40 of the Course Description. This part of the description includes ten practice multiple-choice questions and three practice free-response questions. Set aside some time to answer all of these questions. Go to a place where you won’t be interrupted. Treat this like a real practice exam.

After you finish the test, grade your answers. What do you already know? What do you need to learn? Make sure to write down any key ideas that you don’t understand.

Hopefully you’re excited to get started! Get some rest today. For the remainder of this guide, we’ll be solving hard problems, learning complex ideas, and practicing your test-taking skills.

Day 2

Vectors are one of the most important concepts in physics. A vector is a type of unit that has both direction and magnitude. For example, velocity is a vector. This means that velocity has a direction, like north or south, and a magnitude, like five meters per second. In contrast, length is not a vector. It doesn’t make sense to say that “five feet” has a direction – it’s only a quantity. Since length is not a vector, we call it a scalar quantity.

Now, open up your Princeton Review book. Skip to Part V: Content Review for the AP® Physics Exam. Don’t worry about any of the parts that come before this, as we’ll be reading them later on. Now, go to Chapter 4: Vectors. Read the entire chapter. Remember to take notes and make flashcards for important ideas.

To finish off the day, go to Albert.io’s AP® Physics C: Mechanics review. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the system. Then, start answering the questions in the Kinematics section. You should finish about 20 questions from the Motion in One Dimension section.

Day 3

Today we’re going to be using a lot of material from the introductory physics class on MIT OpenCouseWare that we mentioned in the resources. Make this course a bookmark on your browser.

Open up the Introduction to Mechanics module, and skip to Kinematics. Watch all the lecture excerpts in this section. Take notes and make flashcards while you’re watching. After all the lectures are over, download the slides and read through them all. Going through the material twice will help solidify the concepts in your mind.

Then, work through the problem set.

Once you finish, go back to Albert.io and work through some more kinematics problems. Try to finish all of Motion in One Dimension, and answer a few of the questions from Motion in Two Dimensions.

Day 4

Start off your study session by finishing the Motion in Two Dimensions section on Albert.io. Then, open up Princeton Review and flip to Chapter 5: Kinematics. Most of this material should be review, but you want to make sure you have it down. Once you’re done reading the entire chapter, take the Chapter 5 drill. If you did badly, go back and review the chapter. When you finish, read through the summary of the chapter.

Congratulations! You’ve now learned virtually everything you need to know about kinematics for the AP® exam. Take a few minutes to review your flashcards and notes, and then we’ll get started on the next topic.

The next major unit is Newton’s Laws of Motion. Since most of your study session for today has already been used up, we’ll just introduce you to the concept of force today. Go to MIT OpenCourseWare and open the Newton’s Laws module. Watch the first lecture, on Newton’s First, Second, and Third Laws. Remember to take notes and make flashcards!

Day 5

We already introduced you to Newton’s three laws, so today we’re going to jump into this concept and analyze it with a little more depth.

Start by heading over to Khan Academy’s videos on Newton’s Laws of Motion. Watch all the videos in this entire section. Between every subset of videos, there are some conceptual practice problems. Answer these problems until you can get five correct in a row.

Then, start answering all of the problem set questions in the Newton’s Laws module from MIT OpenCourseWare. Then, we’re going to use Albert.io and some other resources to test your problem-solving ability.

When you’re done answering all the problem set questions, go to Albert.io and work on some of the problems in the Newton’s Laws of Motion section. Don’t worry about answering them all. Just get as many done as you can in whatever time you have left.

Day 6

Before we begin, here’s a quick preview of what’s coming next in this guide. In exactly two weeks, we’re going to be taking your first real AP® Physics practice test. You need to know and review all of the basic concepts in AP® Physics before that test.

Open your copy of the Princeton Review book and turn to Chapter 6: Newton’s Laws. Read through the entire chapter, take notes, and add to your pile of flashcards. When you finish, take a 5-minute break to refresh your mind. Then, come straight back and finish the Chapter 6 drill. Read the chapter summary to review the most important ideas.

Start by finishing most of the questions in the Newton’s Laws of Motion section on Albert.io. You should complete all of the Static Equilibrium questions and most of the Dynamics of a Single Particle questions.

Congratulations on making it through the first week!

Day 7

It’s been a tough week! In the last six days, you’ve learned or reviewed about 38% of the material that will be tested on the AP® exam. Don’t worry, you’ll have time to review this later on. Take a break to catch your breath. Catch up on your sleep and exercise. Over your rest day, try to find some time to review all your notes and flashcards.

Week 2

Day 8

We’ll start this week by introducing you to the ideas of work and energy. Go to Khan Academy’s review of work and energy. Watch all the videos in this series and answer all the practice problems until you’re proficient.

Once you’re done watching these videos, you need to understand an important mathematical concept: the scalar product or dot product. If you don’t already know how to perform these operations with scalars, watch Scalar Products Part 1 and Scalar Products Part 2 from Viren’s videos.

Now, head over to Albert.io and start answering questions in the Work, Energy, and Power section. You only need to work on questions from Work and Work-Energy. Try to finish between 20 and 30 problems, using all of your remaining study time.

Day 9

Now that you’ve been thoroughly introduced to work, energy, and power, we’re going to review what you’ve already learned in more depth. We’ll also add a few additional concepts.

Open your Princeton Review book to Chapter 7: Work, Energy, and Power. Make sure to take notes and continue adding flashcards to your deck. When you’re done with the chapter, complete the Chapter 8 drill. Read the summary of the chapter to solidify what you’ve learned.

To review what you already have learned and to practice answering multiple-choice questions from the AP® exam, go to Learn AP® Physics: Work and Energy. Don’t worry about any of the videos. Just scroll down to the multiple-choice questions and start answering them. Finish all of the multiple-choice questions.

Finally, go to Albert.io and start answering questions from the Work, Power, and Energy section. Try to complete as many problems as possible in the time you have left.

Day 10

We have already learned most of the material you need to know for work, power, and energy. But we still need to practice problems and review the most important concepts.

Start your review by going to Viren’s videos on Work, Energy, and Power. Don’t try to watch all the videos. Only watch the videos on concepts you need to review. Then, look at all four parts of the Unit D Review videos. These are fairly short, so it should only take about 40 minutes.

Once you’re finished watching the videos, spend the entire remainder of your study session on Albert.io. Answer as many questions as you can from the Work, Energy, and Power section.

Give yourself some kind of reward, because you’re now done with 52% of the material on the AP® Physics C: Mechanics exam! You’re about halfway done, and you only have three big ideas left. After that, it’s just a lot of review and practice.

Day 11

The next major idea in AP® Physics is Momentum and Systems of Particles.

To introduce yourself or refresh yourself on the concept of momentum, watch all of Khan Academy’s videos on Momentum and Impulse. Answer the practice problems until you are proficient.

Use the rest of the time today to review your notes and practice your flashcards. If you finish that, just go to Albert.io and answer as many practice questions as you can.

Day 12

You already know that energy is conserved in any closed system. That’s one of the most important ideas in physics and all of science. But did you know that momentum is also conserved? Yes, the initial momentum for any closed system is always equal to the final momentum. To learn more about this, watch the Conservation of Momentum video from Mechanical Universe.

Then, pull out your Princeton Review book and flip to Chapter 8: Linear Momentum. Read through the entire chapter, making sure to take notes, highlight, and make flashcards for any ideas you think are important. When you’re done, do the Chapter 8 Drill. Finally, read the chapter summary.

Use any remaining time to answer questions from the Systems of Particles and Linear Momentum section on Albert.io. Focus on questions about Impulse and Momentum and Conservation of Momentum. Don’t worry about the Center of Mass section for now.

Day 13

Today is about reviewing and practicing what you’ve learned about momentum, impulse, collisions, and center of mass.

Start by answering all of the multiple-choice questions from Learn AP® Physics C: Momentum. If you get a question wrong, make sure to mark it down and review why you chose the incorrect answer. One of the most important study methods is finding your weaknesses, so you should be constantly writing your mistakes down as you complete practice questions.

We’ve kind of skipped over an important type of problem in AP® Physics: center of mass. To learn this concept, watch the Khan Academy videos on center of mass. Complete all of the practice problems you need to become proficient. This section is very short, so it should only take you about 15 to 20 minutes.

Spend the rest of today’s study session working on problems from Albert.io. Focus on the Center of Mass questions, but remember to finish the other two sections from this unit as well.

Day 14

Have a reinvigorating rest day! We’re about halfway through the month. In the last 13 days, we’ve already completed our review of 64% of the material on the AP® Physics C: Mechanics exam. If you’ve already made it this far, great work!

Week 3

Day 15

At the end of this week, you will take your first real AP® Physics C: Mechanics practice test. We still have two units to go, so we’ll quickly learn the concepts from those units. This week will be very intense, but try to keep up so you can perform as well as possible on the practice exam.

The second-to-last big idea you need to learn is Circular Motion and Rotation. Start learning this by going immediately to your Princeton Review book. You should know the routine by now. Just go to Chapter 9: Rotational Motion, read the entire chapter and do the Chapter 9 drill. Then, review the chapter summary.

When you’re finished reading the chapter from the Princeton Review, start on the questions about Circular Motion and Rotation from Albert.io. Try to get through at least 30 questions today, but do as many as you can.

Day 16

We’ve skipped over most of the sections of the physics class on MIT OpenCouseWare, but now we’re going to go back so you can build a more solid foundation in circular rotation. Go to Rotational Motion. Watch all the lecture videos. All of the clips are fairly short, so it should only take about 30 minutes.

When you’re finished watching and taking notes on the lectures, complete all of the problem set questions. After these are completed, open up the answer keys and see how you did.

Then, open the Circular Motion module. This module is primarily about centripetal force and acceleration, and applications of what you’ve learned about circular motion. For this section, you don’t need to answer the problem set questions.

Go back to Albert.io and work on finishing all the questions in the Circular Motion and Rotation section. If you don’t complete them all, don’t worry about it.

Day 17

Now we need to move onto the final big idea in this AP® Physics C: Mechanics review – oscillations and gravitation. This is a very fun and interesting unit for most people, so it’s a perfect way to finish off our content review. We’ll split our review into two sections: today we’ll learn about gravitation, and tomorrow we’ll learn about oscillations.

Read Chapter 10: Laws of Gravitation in your copy of the Princeton Review book. When you’re done reading, finish the Chapter 10 drill and review the chapter summary.

Then, to review and expand your knowledge of the content, watch these two Youtube videos on Universal Gravitation and Planetary Orbits.

Practice everything you’ve learned about gravitation and orbits by answering all the AP® Physics C: Mechanics multiple-choice practice questions about gravitation on Learn AP® Physics. There aren’t very many problems, so this should only take you about 20 minutes.

Spend the remainder of the time answering all the Albert.io questions on Newton’s law of gravity and the Orbits of Planets and Satellites.

Day 18

You’re almost done with your entire AP® Physics C: Mechanics review! Start your study session by opening your Princeton Review book and flipping to Chapter 11: Oscillations. Read the entire chapter, complete the chapter drill, and review the chapter summary. Some of the ideas in oscillations are tough to understand, so make sure to write down or make a flashcard for anything you don’t get.

Finally, answer all of the Learn AP® Physics oscillatory motion questions. These are real practice questions, so they should show you how well you know oscillations.

Use the rest of your study session to answer the Albert.io questions on Simple Harmonic Motion, Mass on a Spring, and Pendulums and Other Oscillations. If you don’t finish them all, don’t worry about it.

Day 19

This is your final review day before your first AP® Physics C: Mechanics practice exam! Use your time as wisely as possible.

First, go back to the Princeton Review book and re-read all of the chapter summaries. If you don’t understand a concept in the summary, go back to the chapter and read about the concept again.

Then, do a full review of all the notes you’ve taken so far. Quiz yourself on all of your flashcards. Analyze your progress and see what you need to review.

Open up Albert.io and see which sections you still need to finish. You should be mostly done, but we don’t expect you to have completed every question by now. Try to answer as many questions as you can in the time you have left.

Finally, open up the AP® Physics C course description and skim through the outline. Make sure you haven’t missed anything important, and look back at the sample questions again. When you’re done with that, find a random AP® Physics C free response section and work through one of the problems. You can find free response practice tests at the AP® Central for AP® Physics C: Mechanics.

Day 20

Today we’ll be focused entirely on finishing a full AP® practice exam. Open up your Princeton Review book and go to the section called Practice Test 2. This test includes both multiple-choice and free response, and you should complete both sections. Remember, you have 45 minutes to answer all 35 questions in the multiple-choice section and 45 minutes for the 3 questions in the free response section.

Find a quiet, isolated place where you can just focus on the test. Time yourself as you work through the exam. Set aside about 2 hours and 30 minutes to finish and grade the test.

After you are finished, take a break for about 15 minutes. Then go back to the exam and check your answers. Review all the answers you got wrong and try to understand why.

Grade your practice test and review all the answers you got wrong. Use the answer explanations, the rest of your Princeton Review book, and the other resources in this study guide to understand why you made these mistakes.

What did you get? How much have you improved in the last two weeks? Use your score to analyze your progress so far. Next week, we’ll take another practice exam.

Day 21

Have a good rest day! There are only nine days left until the end of the month, but you have made a ton of progress. In the last two weeks, you have reviewed all of the AP® Physics course material, completed most of the Albert.io questions, and dramatically improved your understanding of physics. Take some time to rest from the intensity, and avoid worrying about the exam.

Week 4

Day 22

The AP® exam is getting closer and closer, but you have already equipped yourself with virtually everything you need to get the score you want. However, you’re probably starting to lose your grasp of some of the concepts you have reviewed in the last two weeks. We’re going to use this week to get back up to speed and ensure that your skills are polished enough for the AP® exam.

First of all, we need to make sure that you’ve finished everything on Albert.io. Go back and finish any sections that you haven’t completed yet.

The Albert.io system tracks your progress and analyzes your accuracy over time. You should see statistics about your accuracy on each section. Spend extra time reviewing and completing questions from sections that you have low accuracy on.

If you have extra time after finishing every question on Albert.io, work on reviewing your flashcards. If you’re using Quizlet or Anki, you can automatically mark flashcards that you aren’t doing well on. If you’re using paper, you should mark flashcards that you consistently get wrong. Make multiple decks of flashcards based on how well you know them. Studying is all about learning from your mistakes.

Day 23

Today, we’re going to focus on learning everything you need to know about the Free Response section of the AP® Physics C: Mechanics test.

Before you answer any AP® Physics free response questions, we need to decide on a strategy for completing the free response section. Watch this video, 8 General Suggestions for the Free Response Section of Any AP® Physics Exam, and use it to create your own personal strategy.

Here are some basic tips from Albert.io about how to ace the free response section.

First, do the easiest question first. It makes you more efficient and ensures that you get at least a few points on the free response section.

Second, be organized. If you’re disorganized in your answers, it’s hard for graders to give you a good score.

Third, show all your work. In all math-based exams, you need to show every step in your problem-solving process. This is especially true for AP® Physics C: Mechanics, where it’s extremely unlikely that you’ll always get the correct answer. Even if you get the answer wrong, you can get points for your correct work. Write out all your equations and write down any important relationships.

Now that you have a strategy, it’s time to test it out against some real free response sections. Start by downloading the AP® Physics C: Mechanics free response questions from 2014. You can find all the released AP® Physics C: Mechanics free response exams on AP® Central. Set aside 45 minutes to answer all the questions in this section. Find a place where you won’t be interrupted. Treat it like a real exam. Remember to write down all your work.

When you finish the exam, download the Scoring Guidelines. Try to grade your exam like an AP® grader would. Only give yourself points if you match the grading key.

When you’re done, evaluate your performance. What did you miss? What did you understand? You can go back to AP® Central to look at real sample responses and see statistics about each question. Remember, you don’t have to get 100% correct. In fact, the average student only got 46% of the free response questions right in 2014! If you get over 50%, you’re almost certainly going to pass, and you’re on track to getting a great score.

Day 24

In two days, we’re going to be taking our final practice test before the AP® exam. To prepare for that, we’re going to spend today reviewing even more previous AP® Physics C free response questions.

First of all, go to AP® Central to find AP® Physics C: Mechanics free response questions. Scroll down to 2015 and download the free response questions.

Follow the same routine as yesterday: find an isolated spot, time yourself as you take the test, and then grade your test. Remember to grade yourself like an AP® grader would.

When you’re finished taking the test and grading yourself, review your progress. Did you do better or worse than yesterday? Do you notice any concepts that you missed on both tests?

For the rest of the day, analyze your tests and try to find ways to improve your score. For example, let’s say you missed several parts of the third question on the 2014 exam. This question is about rotational motion. Then, you missed similar questions on the third question of the 2015 exam, which also is about rotational motion. If this happens, go back to the rotational motion unit in this study guide and start reviewing. Use Albert.io to identify your weaknesses and improve your knowledge.

Day 25

Tomorrow we’ll be taking the second practice test. Of course, if you took the diagnostic exam at the beginning of the study guide, it will be your third practice test. To prepare for the test, we’re going to do a comprehensive review of the material.

Before you start reviewing, pull out all the practice tests you’ve taken so far. Go through each practice test, including the free response sections you did on Day 23 and Day 24, and determine what areas you don’t understand. You will probably notice a trend. For example, you may frequently miss problems about Newton’s law of gravitation. Write down a list of all the concepts you need to study.

Then, make an ordered, ranked list of these concepts. Based on your previous practice tests, decide what your top three missed ideas are. For example, maybe you are struggling with kinematics, spring problems, and angular momentum. Decide what your top five or top 10 missed concepts are as well.

After you have decided what you need to review, go through your material and skip to the sections you missed the most. If you missed a ton of momentum problems, go to the study guide and review momentum.

Focus on reviewing your previous practice exams. These are a personalized way to examine exactly how you would perform on a real AP® test. Use them as much as you can.

If you have extra time, review all of your flashcards and notes.

Day 26

Today you will take your last practice exam before the real AP® test. There aren’t any practice exams left in your Princeton Review book, so instead we’re going to use released exams. Open up the 2012 Released Practice Exam for AP® Physics C: Mechanics, which is the most recent official practice exam from the CollegeBoard. Finishing it will give you a clear and accurate picture of how you’re going to do on the AP® exam.

If you’re feeling terrible today, you can delay this practice test to tomorrow or your rest day. You want a real practice test experience, not one that will just intimidate you and make you scared about the AP® exam.

It is vital that you find a place where you won’t be interrupted for at least an hour and 45 minutes. The AP® test takes an hour and 30 minutes, but you want some extra time for the break between the two sections.

Good luck! Remember to grade your results and analyze your progress when you’re finished.

Day 27

We have been pushing through AP® Physics C: Mechanics at an insane pace for the last few weeks. Today is your catch-up day. You’ve probably missed a few assignments in the last couple weeks. Maybe you didn’t review a certain concept enough. Use today to go back and finish what you started.

Here are a few things that you should have done by now. If you haven’t finished them, try to complete them today.

• Complete all of the AP® Physics C: Mechanics questions on Albert.io.
• Read chapters 1 through 11 of the Princeton Review book.
• Finish at least three practice exams and two free response practice tests.
• Have a full deck of flashcards for all the equations and terms in AP® Physics.
• Notes on all the major topics and notes about your progress in understanding the key concepts of AP® Physics and classical mechanics.

Day 28

Today is your last rest day before the end of this one-month study guide! Use it wisely, but not too wisely. What does that mean? Well, try to do something fun. Don’t think about the exam. You’ve already gone through 28 days of intense studying. Your determination over the last month shows that you’re more than ready for the exam. Remember to eat well, sleep fully, and exercise frequently

Week 5

Day 29

Today is the last day of content review in this 30-day guide. After this, you should just be preparing for the AP® exam and reviewing what you’ve learned.

Start by watching this Review of All Topics in AP® Physics C: Mechanics. There are two parts, each about 15 minutes long. When you have finished watching the first part, go ahead and move on to the second part. Watch the entire videos and take notes. If you don’t understand or don’t remember any of the concepts, write it down!

After you finish watching the videos, go back to your flashcards, your notes, and your Albert.io account. Review anything you haven’t studied yet. Re-read parts of the Princeton Review book, and skim over all the chapter summaries. Make sure you have memorized all the vocabulary and equations you’ll need on the AP® Physics test. The AP® exam is approaching!

Day 30

You’re finished! In the last 30 days, you have reviewed all of the material you need to succeed in the AP® Physics C: Mechanics exam. Congratulations!

What Should I do to Prepare for the AP® Physics C: Mechanics Test Day?

Depending on when you started this monthly AP® Physics C: Mechanics study guide, you’re either very close or somewhat close to the AP® exam. If you’re a week or two away, spend the remaining time reviewing your notes and flashcards, taking more practice exams, working on Albert.io, and working on the MIT course.

If you’re less than a week away, just relax a little. Your score isn’t going to change too much because you spend five hours studying the day before the test. Just trust in all the content you’ve learned. Now, this doesn’t mean you should stop studying. In the week before the test, spend an hour or two every day reviewing past material. Don’t take any practice tests within a week of the test, as that will only stress you out.

The day before the exam, don’t try to do anything intense. If you feel a need to study, that’s fine. Don’t try to stop yourself. But don’t spend more than one hour studying. Don’t try to learn any new material or take a practice test before the test. This won’t help your score, it will just hurt your confidence.

If you’re going to study, do something you enjoy. For example, you could try to solve some interesting physics problems. Brilliant.com’s Classical Mechanics quizzes are usually fun to answer, and they’ll test your problem-solving ability without ruining your confidence. If you don’t like answering problems as much, you could watch some videos from the resources this guide has provided. Try to think about the videos on a deeper level, as that’s often more fun than just grinding through the material. You could even practice with Albert.io if you like the rhythm of answering questions.

We can’t emphasize this enough: don’t try to learn the material in the last few days before the AP® test! Tackling content you don’t know yet will just ruin your confidence and make you think you don’t know the material. You have to focus on practicing the material you already understand. Reviewing old content instead of learning new content will improve your confidence and make sure you’ve polished all the essential skills you need to ace the exam.

Final Wrap up: The One-Month AP® AP® Physics C: Mechanics Study Guide

By completing this AP® Physics C: Mechanics One-Month Study Guide, you have shown a tremendous amount of determination and ability. You have reviewed hundreds of AP® Physics multiple-choice questions, and you’ve answered several AP® Physics free response questions. You have finished Albert.io’s full AP® Physics review. You have read all the chapters of the Princeton Review book that have to do with mechanics. You have built up a huge deck of flashcards. You have learned extremely valuable skills in physics, science, and problem solving. Now, it’s time to put all of this into practice. You have learned everything you need to get a five on the AP® test. It’s time to do it!

With whatever time you have after you finish this guide, you should be consistently reviewing your notes and flashcards, solving problems, and answering practice questions. Get plenty of sleep every night, eat a healthy diet, and exercise regularly. Again, don’t worry about the test. After completing this 30-day guide, you should feel super confident in your knowledge and abilities. All of these simple things will help you improve your AP® score dramatically.

Let us know what you thought of this AP® Physics C: Mechanics study guide. What worked for you? What did you do to study? What do you think is the best way to prepare for the AP® Physics exam?

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