ANSWER KEY

1. B 14. D 27. C 40. D

2. C 15. B 28. C 41. C
3. C 16. C 29. A 42. D
4. D 17. C 30. C 43. A
5. D 18. C 31. A 44. C
6. B 19. A 32. C 45. A
7. C 20. D 33. D 46. A, D
8. D 21. B 34. B 47. B, D
9. A 22. C 35. A 48. B, D
10. C 23. C 36. B 49. A, B
11. D 24. D 37. C 50. A, C
12. B 25. D 38. B
13. B 26. C 39. C

ANSWERS EXPLAINED
Section I: Multiple-Choice

1. (B) Work = fd cos 60° = (10 N)(2.5)(0.5) = 12.5 J

2
2. (C)

Power = work/time = (fd cos 120°)/T = (mg cos 120°)(D/T)

1 —T EST
= (3)(10)(−0.5)(10 m/s) = −150 W

3. (C)

W = ΔKE
PH YS I CS
1
µ ND cos180° = 0 − mv 2
2

1
( µmgD ) (−1) = − mv 2
2

D = v2/2µg = 100/(2 × 0.2 × 10) = 25 m

4. (D) Conservation of energy:

A P

1
KE = EPE = kx 2
2

Since we need x2 to double, increase x by (2) 2 = 2 .

1

AP PHYSICS 1 413
 5. (D) The 30° and 60° angles will have equal ranges but with the roles of Vx and Vy reversed.
Therefore, the projectile launched at a 30° angle will not go as high. Note that mass does
not enter into projectile motion problems.

6. (B) 45° gives the maximum range for a projectile as it is splitting the initial velocity
evenly between vertical (giving you time in flight) and horizontal (giving you speed
downrange). Angles above or below will have shorter ranges. Approaching the 45° angle
will increase the range:

Range = (v02/R) sin 2q

7. (C)
1 2
kx = mgh
2

h = kx2/2mg above the starting point. Since the release point is a distance x above the
starting point, we must subtract x from the answer.

8. (D) F = kx. So when graphing f versus x, k will be the slope. The extension of the spring
is x when F is the force applied to the spring.

9. (A)

FΔt = Δp
2

(F)(15 s) = 0 − (2,500)(30) = −75,000 kg · m/s

F = −5,000 N
1 —T EST

The negative sign indicates an opposing force. Note that weight is not needed in this
calculation, so the value of g is irrelevant.

10. (C) Momentum is always conserved. However, kinetic energy is lost unless the collision
is elastic, in which case the kinetic energy is also conserved:
PH YS I C S

pi = 1(+6) + 2(+3) = 12 kg m/s = pf = 3vf

vf =4 m/s

Initial KE:
 1  (1)(6)2 +  1  (2)( 3)2 = 27 J
 2  2
A P

Final KE:
 1  (3)(4 )2 = 24 J
 2

3 joules are lost.

414 AP PHYSICS 1 AND 2

11. (D) Impulse = Δp = pf − pi = 0.2(−l) − (0.2)(3) = −0.8 kg · m/s

12. (B)
1 2
kA = total energy when x = A (all PE, no KE )
2
1
mv max 2 = total energy when x = 0 (all KE, no PE )
2

Conservation of energy:
1 2 1
kA = mv max 2
2 2

vmax = ( k/m)½A

13. (B) In one cycle, the mass travels 4 amplitudes:

A = 0.02 m
1 1
Energy = kA 2 = (50)(0.02 ) = 0.01 J
2

2 2

14. (D) Orbital velocity:

Fg = centripetal force = mv2/R

GMm/R2 = mv2/R

v = (GM/R)½

2
Escape velocity:

1 —T EST
Etotal > 0

KE + PE > 0
1
mv 2 − GMm R > 0 (using universal gravitational PE)
2

v > (2GM/R)½ PH YS I CS

15. (B) The gravitational force between two masses has a 1/R2 relationship (where R is the
distance from center to center). Graph B shows the correct inverse relationship.

16. (C) Since node to node is half a wavelength:

λ = 0.4 m
A P

f = v/λ = 5/0.4 = 12.5 Hz

AP PHYSICS 1 415
 17. (C) Resistivity is only part of the resistance of a wire:

R = ρL/A

Therefore, a less conductive material (lower ρ) can be made equal in resistance to a more
conductive material by making the less conductive material shorter and/or fatter (lower
L or larger A).

18. (C) At maximum height, all speed is from Vx:

Vx = 200 cos 30°= 173 m/s

19. (A) Vertical forces must cancel:

T cos θ − mg = 0

T = mg/cos θ

20. (D) v = p/m = (2 × 1+ 3)/2 = 2.5 m/s

21. (B) Since FΔt = Δp, a net force will change the linear momentum. However, torque also
involves the lever arm (τ = RF sin θ). So despite having a nonzero net force, the net torque
might still be zero.

22. (C) Circular motion:

2

Fnet = mv2/R
1 —T EST

mg − N = mv2/R

N is the force the car exerts on the driver:

mg − mv2/R = (500 − 50)(202)/50 = 500 − 400 = 100 N

Note that the correct answer can be found by simply knowing that the net force must be
down and that the car must be pushing upward on the passenger.
PH YS I C S

23. (C) Take the center of mass to be 1 meter from the pivot:

Net torque = +mg (1) sin 90° − 200 (2 ) sin 30°

= 98 − 200 = −102 N ⋅ m

24. (D) Resonance is the sympathetic vibration of an object when impacted by a wave with
A P

the same frequency as its own fundamental frequency of oscillation.

416 AP PHYSICS 1 AND 2

25. (D)

Resistors in series = 2R

Resistors in parallel = R/2

Difference = 1.5R

Ratio = 2R/(R/2) = 4

26. (C) Batteries store energy, which is measured in joules:

Energy = power × time = I × V × time = ( 40 A )(12 V )(3, 600 s)

= 1, 728,000 J

27. (C) Coulomb’s law is kQ1Q2/R2. Tripling Q1 triples the force. Tripling R makes the force
9 times weaker. Net effect:

3 × 1/9 = 1/3

28. (C)

Torque = Iα

α = angular acceleration = Δω / Δt

Our only data provided are that the angular acceleration must be larger for the 75 RPM
record and that the moment of inertia has not changed (same disk). Therefore, the torque

2
supplied must be larger.

1 —T EST
29. (A) Remember conservation of energy. Since both start at the same height (same PE)
with the same kinetic energy, they will both hit the ground with same joules of energy
(all KE). The same KE means the same speed since their masses are the same. Note that
this does not imply that both components of velocity are the same. They are not. This
implies that only the magnitudes of the final velocity vectors are the same.

PH YS I CS
30. (C) The vertically projected sphere will spend much more time in the air as it goes much
higher. Without knowing the exact speed of the launch, it is not possible to say by what
factor the time in flight is extended.

31. (A) The change in gravitational potential energy is the same for both. Therefore the work
done by gravity is the same.
A P

32. (C) Friction is the only force that is directed inward toward the center of the circle. By
definition, all centripetal forces must be directed inward. To confirm this, imagine the
path the car would take on a firictionless stretch of track.

AP PHYSICS 1 417
 33. (D) mv2/r = (2,000 × 502)/250 = 20,000 N

34. (B) Remember Newton’s third law. The forces are equal and opposite.

35. (A) Universal gravity is a 1/R2 law. Doubling R makes the force 4 times weaker.

36. (B) No horizontal acceleration means no change in horizontal velocity.

37. (C) Charge is quantized (comes in integer multiples only) in units of ±1.6 × 10−19 C.

38. (B) Sound is a longitudinal wave.

39. (C) The Doppler shift of waves that occurs when the source and receiver are moving
toward each other causes a shorter wavelength and hence a higher frequency.

40. (D) The elevator must be traveling at constant velocity to insure the normal force
(reading on the scale) is the same as her true weight. However, this velocity value can be
any number: positive, zero, or negative.

41. (C) Remember that g = Gm/R2. Half the mass means half the g. Half the R means 4 × g.
2

Collect the changes:

1
×4=2
1 —T EST

42. (D) Forces cause mass to accelerate linearly. Torques cause moments of inertia to accel-
eration angularly.

43. (A) Inertia is the tendency of an object to continue its motion in the absence of other
PH YS I C S

forces. As the train stops, the passengers continue forward until a force is brought to bear
directly on them.

44. (C) Constant velocity means no acceleration. No acceleration means no net force. The
friction opposing weight must be equal in magnitude to that weight.
A P

45. (A) Constant acceleration means precisely that. For the same time interval, the change
in velocity will be the same.

418 AP PHYSICS 1 AND 2

46. (A) and (D) Constant angular velocity means zero angular acceleration, which means
no net torque.

47. (B) and (D) Since the vertical velocity is zero, only height is needed to determine the
drop time:
1 2
H= gt
2

Knowing the final vertical velocity would also allow one to determine the time since:

Vyf = 0 − gt

48. (B) and (D) The skater’s center of mass must remain above her skates. Since no external
torques are involved in drawing her arms inward, her momentum is conserved. Note that
her moment of inertia decreases and her angular velocity increases.

49. (A) and (B) If the 3 forces are in the same direction, Fnet = 15 N, which is the maximum
possible force. In this situation, the acceleration is 1 m/s2. If the 3 forces are 120° apart
from each other in direction, they would add up to zero and produce no acceleration.

50. (A) and (C) Both R1 and R2 are connected in parallel to the same two points that
the voltmeter is measuring the potential difference between. Therefore, the voltmeter
reading is that same voltage drop for both R1 and R2. Note that an ideal ammeter has no
resistance and thus experiences no voltage drop itself.

2
1 —T EST
Section II: Free-Response
1. (a) For various measured compressions of the spring (x), measure horizontal range for
the mass (R). Range should be measured along the floor from beneath the edge of the
table to where the mass first hits the ground. Multiple trials for each compression x
should be taken so that the average range of values can be determined.

(b) The independent variable is the one the experimenter controls and manipulates
PH YS I CS
directly. In this case, the independent variable is the compression x. The dependent
variable is the one measured as a result of changes in the independent variable. In
this case, the dependent variable is the range. Independent variables are graphed on
the horizontal axis. Theoretical prediction:

1 2 1
kx = mv 2
2 2

ν = (k/m)½x
A P

AP PHYSICS 1 419
 This velocity is the horizontal projectile’s velocity. The time in flight is found from
the height of the table:
1 2
H= gt
2

1.6 m = 4.9t2

t = 0.57 s

R = vt = (k/m)½xt = .57(k/m)½x

Using the fixed values for m and t:

R = 0.806k½x

(c) The major source of error is friction of the tabletop between the end of the spring
and the edge of the table. Ensuring that this distance is small and that the surfaces
involved are smooth will minimize this error.

(d)
2

∆
1 —T EST

∆
PH YS I C S

The discontinuity is probably caused by exceeding the limit of elasticity for this
spring. Hooke’s law assumes that the material is perfectly elastic and resumes its
shape after being stretched or compressed:

Slope = 20 = 0.806k½ (from part (b))

Solving for k:
A P

k = 616 N/m

420 AP PHYSICS 1 AND 2

2. (a)
a. Upward acceleration, feel heavy

b. No acceleration, feel normal

c. Downward acceleration, feel light

d. Downward acceleration, feel light

2
1 —T EST
e. No acceleration, feel normal

f. Upward acceleration, feel heavy PH YS I CS

A P

AP PHYSICS 1 421
 (b) A person’s mass is a measure of his or her inertia. This value does not change due to
acceleration or changes in location. Gravitational weight is a force due to the interac-
tion of the person’s mass and the planet on which he or she is standing (including
the distance between their centers). Although technically this value is slightly smaller
as you get higher above sea level, the differences within a building on Earth are neg-
ligible. Apparent weight is the contact forces your body experiences, which give you
your subjective experience of “weight.” In this case, the normal force and the chang-
ing values of the normal force explain the changes the person would experience on
the elevator ride.

(c) The elevator and passenger would experience free fall. The only force would be the
downward mg, and the normal force would be zero. Hence, the person would feel
weightless. Since the car was on the way up when the cables broke, both passenger
and elevator would maintain the same relative velocity to each other as both contin-
ued upward, slowed down, and then reversed direction and continued to speed up
while falling. The entire time, the passenger would feel weightless.

(d)
2
1 —T EST
PH YS I C S

3. (a) The spinning probe acts as a gyroscope since angular momentum is both a vector
and conserved. The direction of the angular momentum requires an external torque
to be changed. Therefore, barring some outside force, the probe will maintain the
orientation it has when the angular velocity is given to its moment of inertia:

L = Iω
A P

422 AP PHYSICS 1 AND 2

 (b) By extending the masses outward from the probe’s body, the moment of inertia of
the spinning probe can be greatly increased. Note that the masses need not be that
great in order to change the moment of inertia substantially as the distance, R, from
the axis of rotation can be made quite large by using a long cable and the R term is
squared in the moment of inertia calculation:

I = mR2

Increasing the moment of inertia serves to slow the spin rate of the probe by decreas-
ing the angular velocity in order to conserve angular momentum:

L = Ismallωlarge = Ilargeωsmall

(c) Linear momentum (mv) of the probe-planet system must be conserved. Equal and
opposite impulses (FΔt) are delivered to the probe and the planet during impact.
However, because of their vastly different masses, what is a major impulse to the
probe turns out to be a moderate impulse to the entire planet and has almost no
perceptible effect on the planet’s motion:

MprobeΔVbig − MbigΔVsmall = 0

4. (a) When the cars meet, the position of each car, relative to a common origin, must be
the same. Since each car is starting from rest and accelerating uniformly:

d1 = d2
1 2 1
xt + 25 = yt 2
2 2

y − x = 50/t2

2
Clearly, the second car must have a larger acceleration (y > x). The difference between
the two accelerations must increase as time to catch up (t) gets smaller. So there is

1 —T EST
no upper limit on how much faster car y must accelerate than car x to catch up within
10 seconds. There is, however, a lower limit on the difference. This can be found by
examining the case when the second car takes the full 10 seconds:

y − x = 50/t2 = 50/100 = 0.5

Thus we see that for the second car to catch up with the lead car within the first 10
seconds, the second car must accelerate at least 0.5 m/s2 faster than the first car. PH YS I CS
A P

AP PHYSICS 1 423
 (b) No, they will never have either the same instantaneous speed or the same average
speed. The second car is always faster:

The second car has a slope of y on this graph, while the first car has a slope of x. Since
y > x, one can see that neither the instantaneous nor the average slopes of either of
these plots is ever the same.

(c) The second car will be ahead as it will have the higher speed when the two meet
Therefore, for the rest of the trip, the second car will cover more ground and come
out ahead. To find out by how much, we can compare their speed when they meet:

v1 = xt v2 = yt

where t is the exact time (within the first 10 seconds) when they meet.

Δd = v2(10) − v1(10) = 10(yt − xt) = (y − x)10t

Substitute our algebraic expression from part (a):

2

Δd = 500/t
1 —T EST

Once again, there is no upper bound on the difference in distance. However, there
is a lower bound that can be found by setting t equal to 10 seconds:

Δd > 50 m

(d) __X__ The second car expended more energy.

No matter the details, more work was done in moving the second car as it had the
greater acceleration. Greater acceleration (with the same mass) means greater force.
PH YS I C S

Since the displacements are the same, the greater force means more work:

W = Fd
A P

424 AP PHYSICS 1 AND 2

5. (a) First, technically your fellow student is correct. As the top of the cliff is 200 meters
farther from the center of Earth, the gravitational field experienced by the rock at the
top of the cliff is technically weaker:

gtop = GMEarth/(R + 200)2 versus gbottom = GMEarth/(R)2

Since the radius of Earth is 6.38 × 106 m, adding a mere 200 m does not make much
of a difference:

200/(6.38 × 106) = 3 × 10−5

Therefore for all practical purposes, the difference in gravitational field strength is
so minimal that treating g as a constant acceleration is fairly reasonable.

On the moon, one would expect a greater deviance since 200 meters is a greater
fraction of the Moon’s radius (1.7 × 106). However, any decrease in the moon’s gravi-
tational effects would also be negligible;

200/(1.7 × 106) = 1 × 10−4

(b) Somewhere along a line between M and 9M but closer to M should be a position such
that the force of attraction for M will cancel the force of attraction for 9M. Let the
distance between the third mass (m) and M be x:

GmM/x2 = Gm(9M)/(d − x)2

Cancel and simplify:

9x2 = ( d − x)2

Take the square root of both sides:

2
±3x = d − x

1 —T EST
This leads us to two solutions:

x = d/4

which is the expected solution between the masses and

x = −d/2

which is an unexpected solution on the outside of mass M along the same line. Note
that in both solutions, the new mass m is 3 times farther away from 9M than it is
PH YS I CS
from M.
A P

AP PHYSICS 1 425
 TEST ANALYSIS
NOTE: Because the AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 are new exams (first administered in 2015),
there is no way of knowing exactly how the raw scores on the exams will translate into a 1, 2,
3, 4, or 5. The formula provided below is based on past practice for the AP Physics B and
commonly accepted standards for grading. Additionally, the score range corresponding to
each grade varies from exam to exam and thus the ranges provided below are approximate.

AP PHYSICS 1 PRACTICE TEST 2

Section I: Multiple-Choice
Note that the questions requiring two answers are to be graded as completely correct or
incorrect.
Number correct (out of 50) = Multiple-Choice Score

Section II: Free-Response

Grade each question individually using the following scale:

4: completely correct
3: substantially correct with minor errors
2: partially correct with some incorrect parts
1: a few correct attempts made, but no completely correct portions
0: completely incorrect or unanswered

Question 1 = (out of 4)

Question 2 = (out of 4)
2

Question 3 = (out of 4)
1 —T EST

Question 4 = (out of 4)

Question 5 = (out of 4)

Total = (out of 20) × 2.5 = Free-Response Score

Final Score
PH YS I C S

Multiple-Choice Score
+ Free-Response Score = Final Score
(rounded to the nearest whole number )

Final Score Range AP Score

81–100 5

61–80 4
A P

51–60 3

41–50 2

0–40 1

426 AP PHYSICS 1 AND 2