AP® Physics 2: Algebra-Based study guide: a printable PDF built from the College Board's official course and exam description, heaviest topics first.
Last updated 2026 · exam details checked against the College Board's published exam information in 2026
Real pages from the 44-page PDF.
One chapter for each area of the official course and exam description, heaviest topics first.
Multiple-choice questions taken from the guide's chapter quizzes: 7 areas, heaviest first. About 20 minutes, with every answer explained and a score by area. The exam's free-response questions aren't in this quiz: see how the exam works.
Answer: B. 450 J. The work done on the gas is W = −PΔV = −(3.0 × 10⁵ Pa)(1.0 × 10⁻³ m³) = −300 J, negative because the gas expands. Then ΔU = Q + W = 750 J − 300 J = 450 J, which matches (3/2)PΔV for a monatomic gas.
The trap: 1,050 J adds the 300 J instead of subtracting it. W is the work done on the gas, and an expanding gas has negative work done on it.
The work done on the gas is W = −PΔV = −(3.0 × 10⁵ Pa)(1.0 × 10⁻³ m³) = −300 J, negative because the gas expands. Then ΔU = Q + W = 750 J − 300 J = 450 J, which matches (3/2)PΔV for a monatomic gas.
The trap: 1,050 J adds the 300 J instead of subtracting it. W is the work done on the gas, and an expanding gas has negative work done on it.
Answer: C. 9F/2. Coulomb's law gives F proportional to q₁q₂/r². Halving one charge multiplies F by 1/2, and cutting r to r/3 multiplies it by 3² = 9, so the new force is (1/2)(9)F = 9F/2.
The trap: 3F/2 treats the force as falling off like 1/r instead of 1/r². The separation factor must be squared: one-third the distance gives nine times the force.
Coulomb's law gives F proportional to q₁q₂/r². Halving one charge multiplies F by 1/2, and cutting r to r/3 multiplies it by 3² = 9, so the new force is (1/2)(9)F = 9F/2.
The trap: 3F/2 treats the force as falling off like 1/r instead of 1/r². The separation factor must be squared: one-third the distance gives nine times the force.
Answer: D. 0.80 A. The parallel pair has 1/R = 1/10 + 1/15 = 1/6, so R = 6.0 Ω, and the whole circuit has R_eq = 3.0 + 6.0 = 9.0 Ω. The battery's current is 18 V/9.0 Ω = 2.0 A, the pair has (2.0 A)(6.0 Ω) = 12 V across it, and the 15 Ω resistor carries 12 V/15 Ω = 0.80 A.
The trap: 2.0 A is the battery's current. At the junction it splits between the branches, and the larger resistor gets the smaller share.
The parallel pair has 1/R = 1/10 + 1/15 = 1/6, so R = 6.0 Ω, and the whole circuit has R_eq = 3.0 + 6.0 = 9.0 Ω. The battery's current is 18 V/9.0 Ω = 2.0 A, the pair has (2.0 A)(6.0 Ω) = 12 V across it, and the 15 Ω resistor carries 12 V/15 Ω = 0.80 A.
The trap: 2.0 A is the battery's current. At the junction it splits between the branches, and the larger resistor gets the smaller share.
Answer: A. 3.2 × 10⁻¹⁷ N. The wire's field at the electron is B = μ₀I/(2πr) = (4π × 10⁻⁷ T·m/A)(5.0 A)/(2π × 0.010 m) = 1.0 × 10⁻⁴ T. That field circles the wire, so it is perpendicular to the electron's velocity, and F_B = evB = (1.60 × 10⁻¹⁹ C)(2.0 × 10⁶ m/s)(1.0 × 10⁻⁴ T) = 3.2 × 10⁻¹⁷ N.
The trap: "0 N" treats moving along the wire as moving along the field. The wire's field circles it, so the electron's velocity is at 90° to the field. (2.0 × 10⁻¹⁶ N comes from dropping the 2π.)
The wire's field at the electron is B = μ₀I/(2πr) = (4π × 10⁻⁷ T·m/A)(5.0 A)/(2π × 0.010 m) = 1.0 × 10⁻⁴ T. That field circles the wire, so it is perpendicular to the electron's velocity, and F_B = evB = (1.60 × 10⁻¹⁹ C)(2.0 × 10⁶ m/s)(1.0 × 10⁻⁴ T) = 3.2 × 10⁻¹⁷ N.
The trap: "0 N" treats moving along the wire as moving along the field. The wire's field circles it, so the electron's velocity is at 90° to the field. (2.0 × 10⁻¹⁶ N comes from dropping the 2π.)
Answer: B. 6.0 cm. The focal length is f = R/2 = 8.0 cm. Then 1/sᵢ = 1/8.0 cm − 1/12 cm = 1/24 cm, so sᵢ = +24 cm (a real, inverted image). |M| = sᵢ/s₀ = 24/12 = 2.0, so the image is 2.0 × 3.0 cm = 6.0 cm tall.
The trap: "12 cm" uses the 16 cm radius of curvature as the focal length, which gives sᵢ = −48 cm and |M| = 4. The focal length is half the radius. (1.5 cm comes from inverting the ratio, s₀/sᵢ.)
The focal length is f = R/2 = 8.0 cm. Then 1/sᵢ = 1/8.0 cm − 1/12 cm = 1/24 cm, so sᵢ = +24 cm (a real, inverted image). |M| = sᵢ/s₀ = 24/12 = 2.0, so the image is 2.0 × 3.0 cm = 6.0 cm tall.
The trap: "12 cm" uses the 16 cm radius of curvature as the focal length, which gives sᵢ = −48 cm and |M| = 4. The focal length is half the radius. (1.5 cm comes from inverting the ratio, s₀/sᵢ.)
Answer: D. 100 nm. Reflection at the front surface (air to film) has a 180° phase change; reflection at the back (film to air) has none. With one flip, the reflections reinforce when 2t is half a wavelength in the film: 2t = λ/(2n), so t = 532 nm/(4 × 1.33) = 100 nm.
The trap: 200 nm makes 2t equal one whole film wavelength (400 nm). With one phase flip, that gives destructive interference, so the film looks dark in green light.
Reflection at the front surface (air to film) has a 180° phase change; reflection at the back (film to air) has none. With one flip, the reflections reinforce when 2t is half a wavelength in the film: 2t = λ/(2n), so t = 532 nm/(4 × 1.33) = 100 nm.
The trap: 200 nm makes 2t equal one whole film wavelength (400 nm). With one phase flip, that gives destructive interference, so the film looks dark in green light.
Answer: C. 164 nm. The photon carries the energy difference between the two levels: −6.04 eV − (−13.6 eV) = 7.56 eV. Then λ = hc/E = 1240 eV·nm/7.56 eV ≈ 164 nm.
The trap: 205 nm uses only the n = 3 level's 6.04 eV. A photon's energy is the gap between the two levels, not the energy of either one.
The photon carries the energy difference between the two levels: −6.04 eV − (−13.6 eV) = 7.56 eV. Then λ = hc/E = 1240 eV·nm/7.56 eV ≈ 164 nm.
The trap: 205 nm uses only the n = 3 level's 6.04 eV. A photon's energy is the gap between the two levels, not the energy of either one.
Answer: A. It becomes 4 times as great. With the amount of gas fixed, P = nRT/V. The temperature goes from 300 K to 600 K, a factor of 2, and halving the volume doubles the pressure again, so the pressure becomes 2 × 2 = 4 times as great.
The trap: About 24 times divides 327 by 27 in degrees Celsius and then doubles. Gas laws need kelvins, and 600 K is only twice 300 K.
With the amount of gas fixed, P = nRT/V. The temperature goes from 300 K to 600 K, a factor of 2, and halving the volume doubles the pressure again, so the pressure becomes 2 × 2 = 4 times as great.
The trap: About 24 times divides 327 by 27 in degrees Celsius and then doubles. Gas laws need kelvins, and 600 K is only twice 300 K.
Answer: C. 90 V. Potential is a scalar sum that keeps each sign: V = k(4.0 × 10⁻⁹ C)/(0.20 m) + k(−4.0 × 10⁻⁹ C)/(0.40 m) = 180 V − 90 V = 90 V.
The trap: 270 V adds the two contributions as if both charges were positive. The −4.0 nC charge lowers the potential, so its 90 V is subtracted, not added.
Potential is a scalar sum that keeps each sign: V = k(4.0 × 10⁻⁹ C)/(0.20 m) + k(−4.0 × 10⁻⁹ C)/(0.40 m) = 180 V − 90 V = 90 V.
The trap: 270 V adds the two contributions as if both charges were positive. The −4.0 nC charge lowers the potential, so its 90 V is subtracted, not added.
Answer: D. Equal currents; bulb 2 is brighter. In series, both bulbs carry the same current I. Power is P = I²R, so bulb 2, with twice the resistance, dissipates twice the power and glows brighter.
The trap: "Equal currents; bulb 1 is brighter" uses P = (ΔV)²/R as if both bulbs had the same potential difference. In series they don't: bulb 2 has twice the potential difference of bulb 1.
In series, both bulbs carry the same current I. Power is P = I²R, so bulb 2, with twice the resistance, dissipates twice the power and glows brighter.
The trap: "Equal currents; bulb 1 is brighter" uses P = (ΔV)²/R as if both bulbs had the same potential difference. In series they don't: bulb 2 has twice the potential difference of bulb 1.
The AP® Physics 2: Algebra-Based exam is from the College Board. It has 42 multiple-choice questions, plus 4 free-response questions. You get 85 minutes for multiple choice (3 hours in all); calculator allowed on both sections. The score scale is 1–5 (AP® score scale; many U.S. colleges give credit for 3 and above). The guide has 7 chapters, one for each area of the official course and exam description; the heaviest is Thermodynamics at 15–18%.
Source: official AP® Physics 2: Algebra-Based page and the official course and exam description. Last updated 2026.
7 chapters, heaviest first, with each area's official weight. The guide's chapters follow this order.
Where to start: the 4 heaviest areas (marked in the map) carry about 26 of the 42 questions. The guide puts them first, so working front to back covers the most points earliest.
The 2 heaviest areas are open to read now. The full guide has a chapter for every area, each with all its terms, a quiz and an answer key.
Thermodynamics links what you can measure, such as pressure and temperature, to the motion of countless gas atoms. The unit covers the kinetic model, the ideal gas law, how energy moves between systems, the first law with PV diagrams, specific heat and conduction, and a qualitative look at entropy. It is 15–18% of the multiple-choice section.
Key terms, with examples
What this area covers
How the exam asks it
Most questions describe a gas, a container or two objects in contact and ask you to calculate a value, predict how a quantity changes, or pick the claim and reason that fit. Convert to kelvins first, write the law that links the quantities (PV = nRT, K_avg = (3/2)k_B·T, ΔU = Q + W, Q = mcΔT or Q/Δt = kAΔT/L), then track signs: W is work done on the gas. Process questions turn on what stays constant: temperature, pressure, volume, or no heating (Q = 0). Entropy is tested only in words.
Common traps
Trap 1. Using Celsius in gas laws. PV = nRT, K_avg and U need kelvins: warming from 60 °C to 120 °C takes T from 333 K to 393 K, only about 18% higher, not double.
Trap 2. Getting the sign of work wrong. W in ΔU = Q + W is work done on the gas, so an expanding gas has W < 0 and gains less internal energy than the energy it absorbs by heating.
Trap 3. Mixing up temperature and internal energy. Energy flows from higher to lower temperature even when the cooler object holds more internal energy, as a big lukewarm lake does next to a small hot rock.
Memory trick
Name what stays constant: isoTHERMal, temperature (think thermometer); isoBARic, pressure (think barometer); isoVOLUMEtric, volume; adiabatic, no heating (Q = 0).
Three-halves twice: (3/2)k_B·T is one atom's average kinetic energy; (3/2)nRT is the whole monatomic gas's internal energy.
This chapter is about charges at rest: how they push and pull on each other, the electric fields and potentials they create, and how capacitors store charge and energy. Expect point-charge work with Coulomb's law, field and isoline maps, parallel-plate capacitors, and energy conservation for charges moving through a potential difference.
Key terms, with examples
What this area covers
How the exam asks it
Questions describe a few point charges, a pair of charged plates or a map of isolines in words, then ask for a force, field, potential or energy, a comparison of two points, or the factor by which something changes. First decide whether the quantity is a vector (force and field: add as arrows and get the direction from a sketch) or a scalar (potential and potential energy: add signed numbers). Claim questions often turn on the steps of a charging process or on what stays fixed when a capacitor is changed.
Common traps
Trap 1. Force and field fall off as 1/r²; potential and potential energy fall off as 1/r. Doubling the distance cuts F_E and E to a quarter but cuts V and U_E only to half.
Trap 2. Attraction doesn't prove an object is charged: a charged rod also attracts neutral objects, by induced charge separation. Only repulsion proves the object carries charge, of the same sign as the rod.
Trap 3. Keep signs in V = kΣq/r and U_E = kq₁q₂/r, because they are scalars and a negative charge lowers V. Coulomb's law and |E| = k|q|/r² use magnitudes, with the direction taken from a sketch.
Memory trick
Plus rolls downhill: a positive charge speeds up as it moves toward lower V, and the field points downhill. Electrons roll uphill, speeding up toward higher V.
Island keeps Q, battery keeps V: a capacitor cut off from its battery keeps its charge, while one still connected keeps its potential difference.
The exam has 42 multiple-choice questions, plus 4 free-response questions. The guide sorts the questions into 5 types; spot the type and you'll know what the question wants before you read the choices.
A setup given only in letters (Q, d, A, ΔV, λ, ε₀ and other constants), ending "Which expression gives ...?" The wrong expressions drop a factor of ½ or 2, flip a ratio or forget a square.
Numbers with units and one unknown, often "closest to" or "most nearly". Constants come from the equation sheet, and some questions in a set share one table or described setup.
Two or more setups, places or moments, then "How does ... compare?" or "Which ranks ...?" The choices say greater, less or equal, often for two quantities at once, or give a ranking such as A > B = C.
Something is doubled, halved, swapped or rewired, and the question asks by what factor another quantity changes, or for its new value in terms of the old one ("in terms of P").
A scenario, often with a student's statement, then options that pair a claim with a reason: "Yes, because ..." or "No: ...". Some pair the right claim with a false or irrelevant reason.
Pacing: 42 questions in 85 minutes, about 121 seconds a question.
Try the first 8 cards free. Read the term, say the definition out loud, then select the card to check yourself. Arrow keys move between cards.
Follow the steps, then enter your test date. The planner gives you a dated plan that starts with the heaviest areas and saves the last days for review.
Everything on this page is free with no account. The full guide is a PDF you keep.
| Study tool | This page | Full study guide ($5) |
|---|---|---|
| Chapters | A preview of 2 of 7 | All 7 |
| Terms explained | A sample from the open chapters | All 198, each with an example |
| Practice questions | 10 free questions | 41, with an answer key |
| Flashcards | 8 cards | All 198 terms on the self-check list |
| Study plan | Dated planner | 2-, 4- and 8-week plans |
| Cram sheet | — | 2 pages, for the night before |
| Format | Web page | 44-page PDF, printable |
We built one chapter for each area of the College Board's official course and exam description for AP® Physics 2: Algebra-Based, using its published weights to order the chapters and size the quizzes. Each chapter was written, then fact-checked against the official exam information in a separate review. The exam details were checked against the College Board's published exam information in 2026.
Sources: official AP® Physics 2: Algebra-Based page, official course and exam description. Last updated 2026.
AP® is a trademark registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this guide. TransferCredit.org is independent and not affiliated with the College Board. © 2026 UPI Globale Edu Inc.
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