AAMC FL 1 Explanations [MCAT Practice Test Explanations Reddit Mega Compilation!]

Hey MCAT students, stop driving yourself crazy searching Reddit question-by-question for explanations to AAMC Full-Length Practice Exam 1! We’ve put together something special just for you.

Below you’ll find a complete list of questions from AAMC Full-Length Practice Exam 1 (or “AAMC FL 1 explanations,” as it’s called on Reddit), with links to the explanation threads available for each question. Where we couldn’t find an explanation thread, we linked to a crowdsourced Google Sheet from Reddit students with explanations for AAMC questions.

First, some good news about this exam. As of 2026, the AAMC offers seven official full-length practice exams, and Practice Exam 1 is now one of the two that are free. In September 2025, the AAMC made Practice Exam 1 free, renamed its older “Free Practice Exam” to Practice Exam 5, and released the brand-new Practice Exam 6. The lineup is now the free Unscored Sample Test, the free Practice Exam 1, and paid Practice Exams 2 through 6 ($35 each). The exam itself hasn’t changed, so the explanations below still match the questions you’ll see.

If a question has inspired a lot of discussion on Reddit, we’ve noted that with a HOT QUESTION ALERT! 🚨

One honest note before you dive in: these threads were written by MCAT students over several years. The exam itself hasn’t changed, so the explanations still hold up. However, some Reddit users have deleted their old comments. If a link comes up empty, check the crowdsourced Google Sheet or the HOT QUESTION search links for that question instead.

Disclaimer: most of these explanations were written by MCAT studiers like you. If you spot a correction, a dead link, or you want to contribute an explanation for a question that doesn’t have one, let us know in the comments! And please remember that the resources linked below are not owned by Magoosh. They are in the public domain, and we do not condone any inappropriate language or incorrect information.

Looking for explanations to the other AAMC full-length practice tests? You can find them here:

AAMC FL 2, 3, and 4 Explanations

And check out Magoosh MCAT Prep for complete MCAT prep at a fraction of the price!

Navigation tip: Use the links with the arrows to expand the section of the test you want to review, and click again to collapse it so the next section is easier to reach. Click a “Reddit Explanation” link to open that question’s explanation and discussion thread.

How to Review Your AAMC Full-Length Practice Exams

AAMC full-lengths are built from real, previously administered MCAT questions, which makes them the most representative practice you can get. The score gains come from how you review them. Here’s the approach we recommend:

Review every question, not just your misses. A right answer for a shaky reason is a future wrong answer.
Sort each miss into one of three buckets: content gap, reasoning error, or timing. Content gaps mean targeted re-study. For reasoning errors, the explanation threads below are exactly the medicine: seeing how another student untangled the same trap is often clearer than the official answer key.
Track your scores in context. Practice exam scores mean more as a trend than as single numbers. Our MCAT score percentiles guide shows where your scores land.
Space your full-lengths out. Leave room before your MCAT test date to take each exam AND review it fully. A thorough review often takes as long as the exam itself.

Pro tip: Take each full-length under real test-day conditions: an 8:00 a.m. start, timed sections, and only the breaks the actual MCAT gives you. You’re training stamina as much as content.

And if your review keeps surfacing the same content gaps, Magoosh MCAT prep has short, high-yield video lessons to patch them efficiently.

AAMC FL 1 Chemical/Physical (Chem/Phys) Explanations

Click here to see all of the explanations in the C/P Section

FL1 C/P Q4

Explanation 1:

AAMC FL 1 Explanations [MCAT Practice Test Explanations Reddit Mega Compilation!]

How to Review Your AAMC Full-Length Practice Exams

AAMC FL 1 Chemical/Physical (Chem/Phys) Explanations

FL1 C/P Q1—

FL1 C/P Q2

FL1 C/P Q3

FL1 C/P Q4

FL1 C/P Q5

FL1 C/P Q6

FL1 C/P Q7

FL1 C/P Q8

FL1 C/P Q9

FL1 C/P Q10

FL1 C/P Q11

FL1 C/P Q12

FL1 C/P Q13

FL1 C/P Q14

FL1 C/P Q15

FL1 C/P Q16

FL1 C/P Q17

FL1 C/P Q18

FL1 C/P Q19

FL1 C/P Q20

FL1 C/P Q21

FL1 C/P Q22

FL1 C/P Q23

FL1 C/P Q24

FL1 C/P Q25

FL1 C/P Q26

FL1 C/P Q27

FL1 C/P Q28

FL1 C/P Q29

FL1 C/P Q30

FL1 C/P Q31

FL1 C/P Q32

FL1 C/P Q33

FL1 C/P Q34

FL1 C/P Q35

FL1 C/P Q36

FL1 C/P Q37

FL1 C/P Q38

FL1 C/P Q39

FL1 C/P Q40

FL1 C/P Q41

FL1 C/P Q42

FL1 C/P Q43

FL1 C/P Q44

FL1 C/P Q45

FL1 C/P Q46

FL1 C/P Q47

FL1 C/P Q48

FL1 C/P Q49

FL1 C/P Q50

FL1 C/P Q51

FL1 C/P Q52

FL1 C/P Q53

FL1 C/P Q54

FL1 C/P Q55

FL1 C/P Q56

FL1 C/P Q57

FL1 C/P Q58

FL1 C/P Q59

AAMC FL1 Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS) Explanations

FL1 CARS Q1

FL1 CARS Q2

FL1 CARS Q3

FL1 CARS Q4

FL1 CARS Q5

FL1 CARS Q6

FL1 CARS Q7

FL1 CARS Q8

FL1 CARS Q9

FL1 CARS Q10

FL1 CARS Q11

FL1 CARS Q12

FL1 CARS Q13

FL1 CARS Q14

FL1 CARS Q15

FL1 CARS Q16

FL1 CARS Q17