AP Physics C: Mechanics score calculator
On the AP Physics C: Mechanics exam, the 42 multiple-choice questions are 50% of your score and the free response, four questions worth 10, 12, 10 and 8 points, the other 50%, so one free-response point counts as much as about 1.1 multiple-choice answers. Enter your practice marks for your score out of 100 on those weights. The College Board publishes no chart that turns it into a 1 to 5, so this page does not guess one.
Example: weighted AP Physics C: Mechanics score
33.3 from multiple choice (28 of 42) + 28.8 from free response (23 of 40), by the College Board’s weights: 50% and 50%.
One more multiple-choice answer adds 1.19 and one more free-response point 1.25: a free-response point is worth as much as 1.1 multiple-choice answers.
To reach 70 of 100: 30 of the 40 free-response points with your 28 multiple-choice answers (7 more than now), or 35 of the 42 multiple-choice answers with your free response as it is (7 more).
- Multiple choice, 28 right33.3 of 50
- Question 1, 7 of 108.8 of 12.5
- Question 2, 6 of 127.5 of 15
- Question 3, 6 of 107.5 of 12.5
- Question 4, 4 of 85 of 10
The College Board publishes no chart that turns this into a 1 to 5 for today’s exam, so this is not your AP score.
The exam format and the 2026 scoring guidelines checked on AP Central . AP and Advanced Placement are trademarks of the College Board, which does not make or endorse this calculator.
How the weighted score is worked out
- The exam: 42 multiple-choice questions (single questions and sets on a stimulus or set of data, in 85 minutes), then 4 free-response questions in 95 minutes.
- Multiple choice: your answers right ÷ 42 × 50. Each answer is worth 1.19.
- Free response: add your question scores (out of 40), then ÷ 40 × 50. Each point is worth 1.25.
- Add the two: a score out of 100 with the sections in the College Board’s proportions, 50% and 50%.
The College Board does not say how it combines the sections into the composite behind your AP score, only what share each section has, so this is the plainest reading of those shares.
The multiple choice changes in May 2027: 42 questions in 85 minutes. The exams up to May 2026, and practice exams taken from them, have 40 in 80 minutes. The free response keeps its four questions, in 95 minutes instead of 100. On a 40-question exam each multiple-choice answer is worth 1.25.
A worked example
28 of 42 multiple-choice answers right: 28 ÷ 42 × 50 = 33.3. Free-response scores of 7, 6, 6 and 4 make 23 of 40: 23 ÷ 40 × 50 = 28.8. Together 62.1 of 100.
Where the next points are: a multiple-choice answer adds 1.19 and a free-response point 1.25, so one free-response point counts as much as about 1.1 multiple-choice answers.
What each free-response question is worth
Each question’s points are from the College Board’s 2026 scoring guidelines; its share of your 100 follows from the 50% the free response carries.
| Question | Type | Points | Of your 100 | As many multiple-choice answers as |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question 1 | Mathematical routines | 10 | 12.5 | 10.5 |
| Question 2 | Translation between representations | 12 | 15 | 12.6 |
| Question 3 | Experimental design and analysis | 10 | 12.5 | 10.5 |
| Question 4 | Qualitative and quantitative translation | 8 | 10 | 8.4 |
To practice, AP Central posts the last three years’ AP Physics C: Mechanics free-response questions with their scoring guidelines and sample answers from students who sat the exam: past AP Physics C: Mechanics exam questions.
Why there is no 1 to 5 here
The College Board sets the composite each AP score needs after every exam and publishes no chart for today’s AP Physics C: Mechanics exam. A 1 to 5 from any calculator is someone’s guess at those cut points.
What it does publish is how students scored. In 2026: 20% a 5, 25% a 4, 27% a 3, 17% a 2 and 11% a 1; 72% scored a 3 or higher. Those are shares of students, not the marks each score needed.
Other calculators
The other AP math, science, computer science, social science, world language and arts exams: the AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Precalc, AP Stats, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Psych, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C: E&M, APES, AP HuG, AP Gov, AP Comp Gov, AP CSA, AP CSP, AP Spanish, AP French, AP German, AP Chinese, AP Japanese, AP Spanish Lit, AP Art History and AP Music Theory score calculators. The AP history exams: the APUSH, AP World and AP Euro score calculators. The AP English exams: the AP Lang and AP Lit score calculators. AP exams that keep the format of a public College Board chart: the AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics score calculators. The AP Capstone courses: the AP Seminar and AP Research score calculators. Your AP classes in a weighted high school GPA: the high school GPA calculator. Every AP exam with a calculator here, and how students scored on each: the AP score calculators.
Sources: College Board, AP Central, AP Physics C: Mechanics Exam; College Board, AP Physics C: Mechanics 2026 Scoring Guidelines; College Board, AP Students, 2026 AP Score Distributions; College Board, AP Central, AP Physics C: Mechanics Course and Exam Description Clarifications and Corrections.