AP® Chemistry

In 2013, with the introduction of a new exam, the AP® Chemistry community was tossed in a new direction (or so it would seem). Content standards were replaced with Big Ideas, Enduring Understandings, Essential Knowledge and Learning Objectives. The committee of college professors, secondary teachers, and College Board elite sacrificed breadth for depth and away went such topics as Molecular Orbital Theory and Colligative Properties. While topics such as organic chemistry are not explicitly named, their compounds and names continue to show up in questions related to bonding theory and hybridization. With all these changes at work, we suddenly saw the introduction of “Science Practices”, but what exactly are they? In short, “Science Practices” refers to lab experiments and the need to expose our AP® Chemistry students to them.

Nuclear chemistry is a decent chunk of the AP® Chemistry exam, but because of the density of the curriculum may only be a microscopic portion of what you cover in class. This brief guide will help you fill the gaps in your knowledge and prevent you from having a meltdown over the nuclear chemistry questions on the test.

Welcome to another chapter of the Ultimate Guide for AP® Chemistry! This time, we are going to discuss the topic of Stoichiometry. Stoichiometry is the process by which we look at a chemical reaction, compare the products and reactants, and use the relationships established by the Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy to extract quantitative information.

Temperature and heat affect our lives on a daily basis. From deciding what to wear and cooking, to complicated air conditioning systems and global warming, we can see the real-world application of temperature and heat.

Chemical reactions occur when one or more molecules change chemically. In other words, bonds break between the reactants and atoms rearrange to form new chemical bonds. These reconfigured atoms can either be a compound or just an element.

In AP® Chemistry, an element is a substance made up of specific atoms. Each atom is composed of electrons, neutrons, and protons. Neutrons and protons are in the nucleus of the atom while electrons reside in the space around the nucleus.

Chemical kinetics is the study of how fast reactions go. Chemical reactions occur at different rates. Reaction rate is affected by various variables, such as the nature of reactants, surface area available for the reaction, temperature at which the reaction occurs, concentration of reactants, and catalysts present in the reaction.

Coulomb’s Law is not just an important concept in AP® Chemistry; it’s a pretty centralconcept inphysics as well. Fortunately, that probably means that you’re pretty familiar with the basics already. In this installment of the AP® Chemistry Crash Course, we’ll start by going over the basicprinciples of Coulomb’s Law (even if you think you know it, skim it anyways; it’s good review), then we’ll go over how Coulomb’s Law relates to chemistry.