Free Response Guide – AP Physics C

Mechanics Questions

		Topic	Scenario
1999	1	Energy, Momentum, Lab Design	ballistic pendulum
	2	Gravitation, Energy, Gauss’s Law	tunnel through planet
	3	Rotational Dynamics	disk with counterweight
2000	1	Pendulum, Lab Frame, Data Analysis	pendulum data, find g
	2	Air Resistance, Energy	falling ball, v^2 drag
	3	Rotational Dynamics	Atwood’s Machine
2001	1	Kinematics, Dynamics, Momentum	collision w/ force & motion sensors
	2	Orbital Motion	insert satellite into orbit of Jupiter
	3	Rotational Dynamics, Energy	falling mass rotates spindle
2002	1	Momentum, Kinematics, Impulse	inelastic collision, v(t)
	2	Rotation, Incline, Energy	car down incline, into spring
	3	Potential Energy, Lab Design	U(x), hypothetical lab
2003	1	Dynamics, Kinematics, Work	person drags box
	2	Energy, Momentum, Mass on Spring	mass falls onto pan spring balance
	3	Rotation, Projectile, Data Analysis	catapult
2004	1	Energy, Momentum, Projectiles	tarzan swing, catch mass, jump lake
	2	Rotation, Dynamics, Data Analysis	falling mass, rotating pulley
	3	Moment of Inertia, Energy, Pendulum	rod with pivot off center
2005	1	Air Resistance	ball thrown upward
	2	Orbital Motion, Data Analysis	moons of Saturn
	3	Rotation, Momentum	ball collides with pivoting rod
2006	1	Momentum, Dynamics	stack of sliding blocks
	2	Work, Energy, Data Analysis	nonlinear spring
	3	Rotation, Inclines, Projectile	hoop rolling down ramp off table
2007	1	Dynamics, Kinematics	block dragged by string at angle
	2	Orbital Motion	satellite of Mars
	3	Energy, Data Analysis	glider, spring, air track, incline
2008	1	Drag, Forces on Incline	snow skier on slope
	2	Statics, Rotation	pivoting horizontal rod
	3	Energy, Data Analysis	mass hanging on bungee
2009	1	Energy, Momentum, Acceleration, SHM	given U(x)
	2	Rotation, SHM, Lab Design	physical pendulum
	3	Work, Systems of Particles, Forces	modified Atwood’s machine
2010	1	Air Resistance, Data Analysis	falling coffee filter
	2	Rotation, Inclines, Collision	ball rolls off roof, lands in wagon
	3	Nonuniform Acceleration, Work, Impulse	given a(t), skier towed uphill
2011	1	Work, Energy, Momentum	dart collides with block target
	2	Circular Motion, Energy, f = -kv	freefall ride
	3	Rotation and Oscillation	torsional pendulum
2012	1	SHM, Kinematics, Graphical Analysis	mass on spring, horizontal surface
	2	Conservation of Energy, Lab Design	design given choice of materials
	3	Rolling with and without Slipping	sliding ring encounters friction surface
2013	1	Kinematics, Data/Graphs, SHM	Glider launched by spring w vel. data
	2	Friction dependent on speed, diff eq	Box pushed across surface
	3	Rotational Mechanics & Kinematics	“Pulley” disk pulled upward one side
2014	1	Potential energy, Impulse, Data	Nonlinear spring & cart thru photogates
	2	Energy, Nonuniform Circular, diff eq	Ramp to horizontal circular wall
	3	Recoil momentum, kinematics, rotation	Rock thrown from atop a disk on ice
2015	1	Kinematics, graphs, F=ma	Block slides up & down ramp
	2	Projectiles, pendulum, energy, momentum	Dart hits block that pendulums
	3	Rotation, data & error analysis	Rod pivots down from horizontal

Electricity & Magnetism Questions

		Topic	Scenario
2000	1	Circuits, RC, and LC	bulbs with varying R, then L then C
	2	Electrostatic Potential and Field	point charges in a triangle
	3	Gauss’ Law, Ampere’s Law, Capacitors	concentric cylindrical conductors
2001	1	Electrostatic Potential and Field	charged cloud and induced charges
	2	RC discharge	capacitor resistance
	3	Magnetic Force and Flux	parallel currents
2002	1	Electrostatic Potential and Field	arc of charge
	2	RC charging	imagine modifications affecting tau
	3	Magnetic Flux and Faraday’s Law	circular loop, angled and changing field
2003	1	Gauss’ Law, field and potential	nonuniform spherical charge
	2	RC charging/discharging	given graphs, imagine circuit
	3	Magnetic Force, Faraday’s Law	airplane antenna and earth’s field
2004	1	Gauss’ Law, conductors	concentric cylinders conducting and not
	2	RC charging	two resistors, graphing
	3	Magnetic Flux, Faraday’s Law	rectangular loop near straight current
2005	1	Field lines, potential	Given graph of lines analyze E and V
	2	LR charging/discharging	different time constants, 2 resistors
	3	Magnetic Field of solenoid	slinky experiment with data/graphing
2006	1	Field, Potential, superposition	point charges in a square
	2	RC charging/discharging	different time constants, 2 resistors
	3	Magnetic Force, Faraday’s Law	rectangular circuit on spring in B field
2007	1	RC charging with graph	given current vs. time
	2	Gauss’ Law, field, potential	nonconducting concentric spheres
	3	Faraday’s Law, resistivity	flying bar on nichrome wire circuit
2008	1	Gauss’ Law, Field, conductors	concentric charged spheres
	2	RC and LC circuits	swap out R, C, L; sketch transients
	3	Biot-Savart, Faraday’s Law	Helmholz coil; generator principle
2009	1	Potential & Charge Distribution	given V(r), find rho and fo
	2	Resistivity & Hall Effect	conducting bar, magnetic field
	3	Faraday’s Law	given B(t), analyze parallel bulbs
2010	1	Electrostatic Potential and Field	arc of charge
	2	RC Circuit Steady States	two capacitors, switch
	3	Faraday’s Law, Flux	rectangular loop by long wire w/ current
2011	1	Gauss’ Law	charged sphere, flux through cube
	2	RC and LC circuit	capacitor charged through R and then LC
	3	Ampere’s Law	current through pipe
2012	1	Gauss’ Law, Potential, and Field	concentric charged spheres
	2	Resistivity, RC circuits	paper strips as resistors
	3	Magnetic Flux and Induction	circuit with conducting bar sliding on rails
2013	1	Gauss’ Law	cylindrical charge conducting and not
	2	RC charging graph and data	linearization of data; circuit diagram
	3	Faraday’s Law	circular loop; given variable B graph
2014	1	Ohm’s law, RC graph and data	Power supply resistors and capacitor
	2	Faraday’s law, magnetic force	Flying rectangle in/out of uniform B
	3	Gauss’s law, charge density	Model of atomic charges
2015	1	Capacitance, Gauss’s law, dielectric	Parallel plate capacitor, variable dielectric
	2	EMF & internal resistance graph/data	Variable resistor load
	3	Faraday’s law, magnetic torque	circular loop in time-varying B