• 54 questions

AP Physics 1 Momentum and Impulse Practice Test

Unofficial multiple-choice practice for Unit 4 of AP Physics 1, Linear Momentum: impulse, conservation of momentum and collisions.

A 2.0 kg cart rolls east at 3.0 m/s. What is the magnitude of its momentum?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the College Board. Bank checked October 10, 2026.

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All 54 questions

Topic 4.1: Linear momentum 9

  • A 0.15 kg baseball moves at 40 m/s, and a 1,200 kg car rolls at 0.0050 m/s. How do the magnitudes of their momenta compare? Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.1
  • A 2.0 kg cart rolls east at 3.0 m/s. What is the magnitude of its momentum? Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.1
  • A 3.0 kg cart moves right at 2.0 m/s while a 1.0 kg cart moves left at 4.0 m/s. Taking right as positive, what is the total momentum of the two-cart system? Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.1
  • A firecracker at rest bursts into pieces. In physics, what makes this interaction an explosion? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.1.A.3.iii and Wikipedia, "Newton's laws of motion"; course topic 4.1
  • A runner doubles her speed. What happens to her momentum and her kinetic energy? Wikipedia, "Momentum" and Wikipedia, "Kinetic energy"; course topic 4.1
  • In which direction does an object's momentum point? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.1.A.2 and Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.1
  • Two objects have the same kinetic energy. Object X has four times the mass of object Y. How do their momenta compare? Wikipedia, "Kinetic energy"; course topic 4.1
  • Which unit is equivalent to the kilogram meter per second, the SI unit of momentum? Wikipedia, "Momentum" and Wikipedia, "Impulse (physics)"; course topic 4.1
  • Why can friction from the road usually be ignored when the momentum of two cars is analyzed from just before to just after they collide? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.1.A.3.i and Wikipedia, "Collision"; course topic 4.1
Show all 54 questions (45 more)

Topic 4.2: Change in momentum and impulse 16

  • A 0.060 kg tennis ball reaches a racket at 20 m/s and leaves in the opposite direction at 30 m/s. Contact lasts 0.0050 s. What average force does the racket exert on the ball? Wikipedia, "Impulse (physics)"; course topic 4.2
  • A 0.50 kg ball hits a wall at 6.0 m/s and bounces straight back at 4.0 m/s. What is the magnitude of its change in momentum? Wikipedia, "Impulse (physics)"; course topic 4.2
  • A 3.0 kg block slides at 2.0 m/s. An impulse of 9.0 N·s is then delivered in its direction of motion. What is its new speed? Wikipedia, "Impulse (physics)"; course topic 4.2
  • A 70 kg skater speeds up from 2.0 m/s to 5.0 m/s in 1.5 s. What average net force acts on the skater? Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.2
  • A 1,000 kg car moving at 20 m/s brakes with a constant net force of 5,000 N. How long does it take to stop? Wikipedia, "Impulse (physics)"; course topic 4.2
  • A graph shows the momentum of a cart rising in a straight line from 2.0 kg·m/s to 8.0 kg·m/s in 3.0 s. What net force acts on the cart? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.2.A.5 and Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.2
  • A net force of +6.0 N acts on a cart for 2.0 s, and then a net force of −2.0 N acts for 3.0 s. What is the total change in the momentum of the cart? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.2.A.4; course topic 4.2
  • A puck slides east on ice. A brief net force toward the west acts on it, and the puck is still moving east afterward. In which direction is the impulse on the puck? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.2.A.3; course topic 4.2
  • A rubber ball and a clay ball of equal mass hit the floor at the same speed. The rubber ball bounces back up; the clay ball stops. Which receives the larger impulse from the floor? Wikipedia, "Impulse (physics)"; course topic 4.2
  • An average net force of 20 N acts on a cart for 0.30 s. What impulse does the cart receive? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.2.A.2; course topic 4.2
  • An egg dropped onto a pillow does not break, but an identical egg dropped from the same height onto tile does. Why? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.2.A.2 and Wikipedia, "Impulse (physics)"; course topic 4.2
  • For a system of constant mass, the impulse–momentum theorem FΔt = mΔv rearranges into which familiar law? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.2.B.3 and Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.2
  • On a graph of net force against time, the force rises in a straight line from 0 to 40 N and falls back to 0 in a total of 0.20 s. What impulse is delivered? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.2.A.4; course topic 4.2
  • The same net force acts for the same time on a 1 kg cart and a 4 kg cart, both starting from rest. How do their final momenta compare? Wikipedia, "Impulse (physics)"; course topic 4.2
  • The same net force acts for the same time on a 1 kg cart and a 4 kg cart, both starting from rest. Which cart ends with more kinetic energy? Wikipedia, "Kinetic energy" and Wikipedia, "Impulse (physics)"; course topic 4.2
  • Which statement is the impulse–momentum theorem? Wikipedia, "Impulse (physics)"; course topic 4.2

Topic 4.3: Conservation of linear momentum 16

  • A 1.0 kg cart moves at 6.0 m/s toward a 2.0 kg cart at rest. How fast does the center of mass of this two-cart system move? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.3.A.1.i; course topic 4.3
  • A 2.0 kg cart moving at +4.0 m/s strikes a 3.0 kg cart at rest. After the collision the 2.0 kg cart moves at −0.80 m/s. What is the velocity of the 3.0 kg cart? Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.3
  • A 2.0 kg cart moving at 3.0 m/s collides with and sticks to a 1.0 kg cart at rest on a level, frictionless track. How fast does the pair move? Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.3
  • A 4.0 kg cart moving right at 5.0 m/s and a 6.0 kg cart moving left at 5.0 m/s collide head-on and stick together. What is their velocity afterward? Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.3
  • A 4.0 kg cart rolls at 3.0 m/s on a frictionless track. A 2.0 kg sandbag is dropped straight down into it. What is the speed of the cart afterward? Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.3
  • A 50 kg student stands on a 100 kg cart at rest on a frictionless floor. The student starts walking along the cart at 2.0 m/s relative to the floor. What does the cart do? Wikipedia, "Newton's laws of motion"; course topic 4.3
  • A 60 kg skater at rest on frictionless ice throws a 2.0 kg ball forward at 15 m/s. How fast does the skater move backward? Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.3
  • A bowling ball strikes a single pin. While they touch, how does the impulse on the pin compare with the impulse on the ball? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.3.A.3.i and Wikipedia, "Newton's laws of motion"; course topic 4.3
  • A compressed spring pushes apart a 1.0 kg cart and a 3.0 kg cart that start at rest. The 1.0 kg cart leaves at 6.0 m/s. How fast does the 3.0 kg cart move? Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.3
  • A compressed spring pushes apart two carts at rest, of masses m and 3m. How do their kinetic energies compare afterward? Wikipedia, "Kinetic energy"; course topic 4.3
  • A dropped ball speeds up as it falls, so its momentum is not constant. For which system is the total momentum constant during the fall? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.3.A.3.ii and Wikipedia, "Newton's laws of motion"; course topic 4.3
  • A firework shell at rest at the top of its flight bursts into three pieces. What is the vector sum of the three pieces' momenta just after the burst? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.1.A.3.iii and Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.3
  • A puck sliding east strikes an identical puck at rest. Afterward the first puck moves toward the northeast. In which general direction must the second puck move? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.3.A, boundary statement and Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.3
  • The total momentum of two linked carts falls from 12 kg·m/s to 9.0 kg·m/s as they roll across a rough patch. What does this show? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.3.A.3.iii; course topic 4.3
  • Two carts collide on a level, frictionless track. What happens to the velocity of the system's center of mass? Wikipedia, "Center of mass" and AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.3.A.1.ii; course topic 4.3
  • When does the total momentum of a system stay constant? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.3.B.2 and Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.3

Topic 4.4: Elastic and inelastic collisions 13

  • A 0.010 kg dart moving at 30 m/s embeds in a 0.29 kg block hanging at rest from a string. Using g = 10 m/s², how high does the block rise? Wikipedia, "Ballistic pendulum"; course topic 4.4
  • A 1.0 kg cart moving at 4.0 m/s strikes an identical cart at rest in an elastic collision. What are the speeds afterward? Wikipedia, "Elastic collision"; course topic 4.4
  • A 2.0 kg cart at 3.0 m/s hits a 2.0 kg cart at rest. Afterward the carts move in the original direction at 1.0 m/s and 2.0 m/s. What kind of collision was it? Wikipedia, "Collision"; course topic 4.4
  • A dart sticks in a hanging block, and the block then swings upward. Which quantity can be treated as conserved in each stage? Wikipedia, "Ballistic pendulum" and Wikipedia, "Inelastic collision"; course topic 4.4
  • A moving cart sticks to an identical cart at rest. What fraction of the original kinetic energy remains as kinetic energy? Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.4
  • A table-tennis ball bounces elastically off a bowling ball that is at rest. What happens? Wikipedia, "Elastic collision"; course topic 4.4
  • In an elastic collision between a moving cart and a cart at rest, what is true of each cart's own kinetic energy? AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.4.A.2 and Wikipedia, "Collision"; course topic 4.4
  • In an inelastic collision the kinetic energy of the system drops. Where does that energy go? Wikipedia, "Inelastic collision" and Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.4
  • In which collisions between two carts on a frictionless track is the total momentum of the two carts conserved? Wikipedia, "Inelastic collision"; course topic 4.4
  • On an air track a 1.0 kg glider moving at 6.0 m/s couples to a 2.0 kg glider at rest, and the two move off together at 2.0 m/s. How many joules of kinetic energy are lost? Wikipedia, "Collision"; course topic 4.4
  • The same two carts collide several times with the same starting velocities. In which collision does the system lose the most kinetic energy? Wikipedia, "Inelastic collision"; course topic 4.4
  • What makes a collision elastic? Wikipedia, "Collision" and Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.4
  • Which of these collisions is perfectly inelastic? Wikipedia, "Collision" and Wikipedia, "Momentum"; course topic 4.4

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to Unit 4 (Linear Momentum) of the College Board's AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2024, https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-physics-1-course-and-exam-description.pdf, read 2026-10-10. Every numeric answer is worked from the numbers the question prints and was worked out a second time on 2026-10-10. The principle behind each answer was read on 2026-10-10 in the Wikipedia article or the essential knowledge statement of the course description named under the question. Licence: Own work. Short quotations from the public documents named under each question.

How it works

This AP Physics 1 momentum and impulse practice test has 54 questions of our own on Unit 4, Linear Momentum. It is unofficial and not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board, the owner of AP.

Read the full guide

What Unit 4 covers

The College Board's course description, read October 10, 2026, gives Unit 4 four topics and no weights among them, so the spread is ours: linear momentum (9 questions), change in momentum and impulse (16), conservation of linear momentum (16), and elastic and inelastic collisions (13).

Solutions and sources

Every answer comes with its solution, worked from the numbers the question prints and worked out a second time as a check. Under it is the Wikipedia article or the line of the course description where the principle can be read.

  • Momentum is a vector. Choose a positive direction and give every velocity a sign before you add.
  • A collision in which objects stick conserves momentum but not kinetic energy. Use energy only before or after the impact.
  • The description leaves simultaneous equations out of AP Physics 1 exam questions. Expect to set up a two-unknown collision and reason about it.

Questions and answers

What unit is momentum in AP Physics 1?

Unit 4, Linear Momentum, the fourth of eight units. It carries 10 to 15% of the multiple-choice section, which from the May 2027 exam has 42 questions in 85 minutes, by the College Board's exam page.

What is the impulse–momentum theorem?

The impulse on a system equals its change in momentum: FΔt = Δp. Impulse is the average net force times the time it acts, and it is also the area under a graph of force against time.

Is momentum conserved in an inelastic collision?

Yes, whenever the net external force on the system is zero. An inelastic collision loses kinetic energy, not momentum. The 13 questions of topic 4.4 set momentum beside kinetic energy, each with its solution.

Does this AP Physics momentum practice test fit AP Physics C?

In part. Unit 4 of AP Physics C: Mechanics is also named Linear Momentum, at 10 to 20% of its multiple-choice section, but that course is calculus-based. These questions follow AP Physics 1 and use algebra only.

Are these real AP Physics 1 exam questions?

No. The College Board owns the real questions, and none appears here, even in other words. Every question was written for this page from the topics the course description lists.

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