1. Intro

If you're thinking about self-studying AP Physics 1 or just need some resources and tips, this guide is for you.

Can I self-study AP Physics 1?
Yes, a lot of students self-study AP Physics 1 every year without a class and do well on the AP exam. You just need the right resources, enough time and some guidance on how to study the right way.

Why should I learn AP Physics 1?
The material you'll learn and the way you solve problems in AP Physics 1 can help you in a lot of other classes. And getting a good score on the AP exam can get you college credit at many schools.

Is AP Physics 1 hard?
It depends on the student and the teacher or the resources that you use. Some students find AP Physics 1 hard because it requires a different way of thinking than what they're used to. Instead of memorizing everything, you'll learn the fundamental "rules" of physics and practice solving problems until you can apply the rules to any scenario. Once you get the hang of things, physics isn't that difficult and it can actually be pretty fun.

What prerequisite knowledge do I need?
You don't need any prior physics experience. AP Physics 1 is algebra-based so there is no calculus, but you should be comfortable with algebra (solving equations), working with graphs, and basic trig (sin, cos, tan and the Pythagorean theorem). But you can also pick some of that up while you're learning physics.

How much time do I need?
This depends on your ability to learn on your own and the level of understanding or AP exam score that you're aiming for. Physics requires you to really understand the material, so it's generally recommended that you spend about 2-4 hours per week over a full school year. It's possible to compress that into a few months if you're willing to work more hours per week. You can create a custom study plan later in this guide.

What resources should I use?
A list of resources is included later in this guide. You'll want lessons, example problem walkthroughs, practice problems, AP exam practice tests, and a place to ask questions when you're stuck.

How do I register for the AP exam?
If you're planning to take the AP Physics 1 exam without a class, check with your school about how to register for the AP exam. If your school doesn't offer the exam, search for nearby schools using the AP Course Ledger. Different schools have their own registration deadlines, usually before November.

Want to get started? Explore the course topics on the left or click here to check out Unit 1.

2. Course and exam overview

Here's a quick look at the units and the format for the 2027 AP Physics 1 exam. For the full breakdown on what you need to know for each unit, see the Course and Exam Description.

3. Choose your resources

You can use an all-in-one course or you can piece together multiple resources. Just make sure that every current topic is covered and that you have each of these things:

1. Lessons - Videos, books or other resources that teach you the fundamental concepts and equations from the ground up. Students often miss this and jump straight to problems without really understanding the material.
2. Example problem walkthroughs - Videos or worked solutions that show you how to solve physics problems step by step and how to apply the concepts and equations that you learned.
3. Practice problems - A set of questions and solutions for each topic so you can practice solving problems on your own, and check your understanding as you work through the course. Try to include AP-style MCQs throughout the year. FRQs cover multiple topics at a time, so you can save those for later in the year.
4. AP exam practice tests - Mock exams with multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and free-response questions (FRQs) to help you prepare for the AP exam.
5. Extra help - A place to ask questions and get help when you're stuck.

Here are the most popular resources for AP Physics 1. Keep in mind that not all resources are aligned with the 2027 AP Physics 1 exam. Use the study plan in the next section to check which units and topics you need to cover. Note that the Fluids unit was added to the 2025 AP exam, and the number of questions / time for each section was slightly changed for the 2027 exam (but you can still use practice tests for the 2025 and 2026 exams).

1. Lessons

• Flipping Physics (YouTube, free)
• Khan Academy (website, free)
• Allen Tsao The STEM Coach (YouTube, free)
• OpenStax (website, free)
• Textbook
• Physics Lab (website)

2. Example problem walkthroughs

• Flipping Physics (YouTube, free)
• Khan Academy (website, free)
• Michel van Biezen (YouTube, free)
• Organic Chemistry Tutor (YouTube, free)
• Mr. Heinrich (YouTube, free)
• Physics Lab (website)

3. Practice problems

• Exam prep book
• Albert (website)
• CrackAP (website, free)
• MIT workbook (PDF, free)
• Textbook
• Physics Lab (website)

4. AP exam practice tests

• Exam prep book
• Ultimate Review Packet
• Physics Lab (website)

5. Extra help

• Discord servers: AP Students, Physics Lab
• Reddit: r/APStudents, r/apphysics, r/PhysicsStudents

Top picks

• Flipping Physics + exam prep book: Flipping Physics is the most popular YouTube channel for AP Physics 1, and it includes lessons and example problem walkthroughs. Combine this with an exam prep book that includes unit reviews and practice tests (in order of recommendation: Princeton Review, 5 Steps to a 5, Barron's).
• Physics Lab AP Physics 1 Course: All-in-one online course with lesson videos, example problem walkthroughs, study guides, practice problems, practice tests and a Discord server for extra help.

For a longer list of resources, check out the AP Physics 1 Resources page.

4. Create a study plan

Choose your timeframe and enter the start and end dates for your study plan. The earlier you start learning AP Physics 1 the more time you'll have to fully understand the material, and the better you'll do on the AP exam. For a detailed pacing guide built around the Physics Lab AP Physics 1 Course see the Pacing Guide.

Full plan (2-8 months): This is the recommended plan. There is a lot of material to learn and topics build on each other, so you'll want to spend as much time as you need to fully understand each topic and then prepare for the exam.

Short plan (< 1 month): If you don't have time to go through everything then just review the key points for each unit and work through as many questions as you can. Keep in mind that you probably won't do as well on the AP exam.

Note: The AP Physics 1 exam is on Wednesday, May 5, 2027.

5. Learn and practice each topic

Once you have your resources and study plan, the next step is to work through the course material. Many physics topics build on previous ones, so go through each topic in order. For each topic:

• 1. Learn the concepts and equations
  • Start by learning the fundamental laws, concepts and equations for each topic at a basic level. It's important that you understand how things work intuitively before you try solving problems.
  • Make sure you understand what every equation and variable actually represents, so you'll know how to apply the equations when answering questions.
  • Take notes and create your own outline or summary of each topic. This will help things sink in while you're learning, and you can use your notes to review later in the year.
  • Don't skip step 1. Students often jump straight to example problem videos or practice problems, but then they get confused about what variables mean, where equations come from and how to apply them.
• 2. Watch example problem walkthroughs
  • Watch videos where someone walks through example problems step by step so you can learn how to apply the concepts and equations. You can also read through worked solutions, but videos usually communicate more of the thinking behind the problem-solving process.
  • Pay close attention to the setup of the problem: what information is given in the question, what exactly are you being asked to find, and why are those equations being used. Once a problem is set up and numbers are plugged in, the rest is usually just math.
• 3. Work through practice problems on your own
  • Only after you understand the concepts and equations, and you've seen example problems for that topic, then work through practice problems on your own.
  • It helps to start with simpler problems and work your way up to harder problems. That way you know where you're getting stuck and what to review.
  • Keep your work organized and follow the problem-solving method:
    1. Read the question very carefully and then read it again.
    2. Draw a picture (often a free body diagram).
    3. Write out the information that you're given, what assumptions you're making and what you're trying to find.
    4. Think through which physics concepts and equations apply to this problem (don't just guess).
    5. Plug in the information you have and work through the math to solve for what the question is asking for.
    6. Check your answer: do the value, sign (+/-) and units make sense?
• 4. Practice answering AP-style multiple-choice questions (MCQs)
  • Start practicing with AP-style MCQs for each topic throughout the year to get familiar with the difficulty and format of the exam questions.
  • These questions often focus more on your conceptual understanding of the material rather than the math.
  • The AP exam free-response questions (FRQs) usually cover multiple topics in one question, so you can save those for your exam prep. But after you get past Unit 3 you can start to incorporate those into your studying if you want. For a list of all the past exam FRQs organized by topic, see AP Physics 1 FRQs.
• General tips for learning physics
  • Physics requires a different way of thinking than what you might be used to with other subjects. You have an equation sheet that you can reference, so instead of memorizing everything you're going to learn the fundamental principles of physics. Then you'll practice applying those principles until you can solve any new problem that you're given.
  • Make sure that you're comfortable with the basics before you start: rearranging and solving algebraic equations, basic trig, unit conversion, etc. These are needed for most physics problems, so don't let them be the reason you're getting questions wrong.
  • Don't move on from something if you're still confused. Most of the topics are interrelated and often build on previous topics, so don't leave any gaps in your knowledge. Try to have the mindset that you'll be able to fully understand things given enough time/help, so stick with a concept, equation or problem until you really get it.
  • Make sure you understand "why" every step of a problem is done. It's natural to try to pattern-match and solve one problem the same way you saw another one solved. But the point of physics is that every problem is different, and if you don't really understand each step then you won't know how to solve the next one.
  • Alternate between learning the material and solving problems if you're stuck. You do need to learn the concepts and equations first, but you'll only develop a strong understanding of the material once you start solving a lot of problems. So it's common to go back and forth between solving problems and reviewing the concepts.
  • Ask for help as soon as you get stuck. It's best to try and figure out things on your own first, but don't move on from a topic or a question if you're still confused because that can become a gap later on. If you need help, you can post questions in the Physics Lab Discord server.

6. Prepare for the AP exam

After you've worked through every unit it's time to prepare for the AP exam. Your goal now is to get familiar with answering timed questions like you would on the exam, review any topics/question types that you're having trouble with, and just keep practicing. Here's the format of the 2027 AP Physics 1 exam:

Prepare for the exam

1. Take a timed practice test and use the score calculator to estimate your AP exam score.
2. Go through every question and review the solution / scoring guidelines.
   • Even if you got a question right, make sure you completely understand the solution.
   • If you got any questions wrong because you didn't fully understand those topics (concepts and equations), review the material for those topics and practice answering more MCQs/FRQs for those topics.
   • If you got any questions wrong because of the question format, scoring rules or simple mistakes, just keep practicing with AP-style MCQs/FRQs or practice tests. If you missed points on any FRQs, then closely review the scoring guidelines for those questions to understand how points are awarded.
3. Repeat this process with more practice tests until you're comfortable with your score.

MCQ tips

• Read the question twice. Most simple mistakes come down to misunderstanding the question or missing some key piece of information that was given.
• Look at the answer options before you begin a problem so you have an idea of what you're working towards. However, you should try to answer the question as if you weren't given answer options. Don't just guess, because the options are chosen so any of them might look right. Solve the problem on your own and hopefully your answer is one of the options. If it's not, review your work for mistakes or try solving it a different way.
• The MCQs are usually more conceptual than students expect. Some questions require you to do math, but most questions rely on your understanding of the physical laws and concepts. So it's important that you develop an intuition for how to apply the concepts as you learn the material throughout the year.
• Even if there are no numbers involved, you might still need to use an equation. Many of the physical laws and concepts are represented as equations (like Newton's 2nd law: F=ma). So even for conceptual questions, look for equations that are relevant to that scenario, and those will show you the relationships between variables which you might need to answer the question.
• Practicing answering questions until you're quick enough that you have time to double check your answer. Most simple mistakes can be prevented if you assume you did something wrong and take a few seconds to look through your work and prove to yourself that your answer is correct.
• If you're spending too much time on a question, skip it and come back. You have about 2 minutes per MCQ so answer all of the questions that you can and come back to the ones you skipped at the end. If you don't have time to work through them at the end, use process of elimination and choose your best guess. Don't leave any MCQs blank, there's no penalty for wrong answers.

FRQ tips

• Get familiar with each type of FRQ by practicing and reviewing the scoring guidelines. For more information about each type of question, see AP Physics 1 FRQs.
  • Q1: Mathematical Routines - 10 points - suggested time is 20-25 minutes
  • Q2: Translation Between Representations - 12 points - suggested time is 25-30 minutes
  • Q3: Experimental Design and Analysis - 10 points - suggested time is 25-30 minutes (this is usually the question students struggle with the most)
  • Q4: Qualitative/Quantitative Translation - 8 points - suggested time is 15-20 minutes
• While MCQs often cover a single topic, FRQs include multiple parts and often cover several topics in one question. So make sure you spend enough time at the end of the year practicing with FRQs if you didn't practice with them throughout the year.
• In general, it's better to include a little more of your work/explanation than to include less. Don't write more just for the sake of it, and you don't want to write something that contradicts yourself. But the exam graders are looking for ways to award you points, so show them that you understand the question/answer (include the relevant principle/law, fundamental equation, etc). Again, spend time reviewing the scoring guidelines and sample student responses for each type of question to learn how points are awarded.

Get started

Choose your resources, make a study plan and get started! The earlier you start learning AP Physics 1 the more time you'll have to fully understand the material and the better you'll do on the AP exam. If you have any questions or need help, join the Physics Lab Discord server or send an email to chris@physicslab.app.