The AP chemistry exam is coming up! Your thorough understanding of months and months of college-level chemistry lectures, tests, quizzes, homework problems, lab write-ups, and notes are to be evaluated in a 3-hour examination. It’s just you and the AP exam.
In preparing to do the very best job possible, you have four options:
1. Read all of your textbook again.
2. Do all of your homework problems again.
3. Buy a test preparation guide that has every conceivable type of problem in it and that in many cases is thicker than your textbook and that you will never be able to finish and that does not explain how to do well on the essay portion of the exam and does not review all of the laboratory experiments required and tested.
4. Use Cliffs Advanced Placement Chemistry, 3rd Edition. I’m glad you chose option 4. I have taught chemistry for over 25 years. I’ve put together for this book, in a reasonable number of pages, what I feel are the best examples of problems to help you prepare for the exam. With other AP exams to study for and other time commitments, you need a quick and neat book that you can finish in a few weeks and that covers just about everything you might expect to find on the exam. You have that book in your hands.
This guide is divided into five parts:
Part I: Introduction Part I contains the following sections:
Questions Commonly Asked About the AP Chemistry Exam, Strategies for Taking the AP Chemistry Exam, Methods for Writing the Essays, Mathematical Operations, and Mathematics Self-Test.
Part II: Specific Topics
Each chapter lists key vocabulary words, formulas, and equations and provides about ten completely worked-out multiple-choice questions and solutions for two or more free-response questions. Self-contained chapters cover gravimetries, thermochemistry, gases, the structure of atoms, covalent bonding, ionic bonding, liquids and solids, solutions, kinetics, equilibrium, acids and bases, energy, organic chemistry, nuclear chemistry, and writing and predicting chemical reactions.
Part III: Laboratory Experiments
Background information, sample data, and accompanying exercises on analysis of the data for all 22 laboratory experiments recommended by the AP College Board. Also included are two sample laboratory write-ups. Provides a ‘refresher’ for the experiments that you have completed and that you will be tested on.
Part IV: AP Chemistry Practice Test A complete exam consisting of both multiple-choice and free-response questions. All solutions are fully worked out.
Part V: Appendixes Also provided for your convenience are four commonly used tables and charts that you will find useful as you work on problems. They are:
1. Appendix A: Commonly Used Abbreviations, Symbols, and Tables
2. Appendix B: Acid-Base Indicators
3. Appendix C: Flame Tests for Elements
4. Appendix D: Qualitative Analysis of Cations and Anions
This book is not a textbook.
The last thing you need right now is another chemistry textbook. However, if you have forgotten concepts or if something is new to you, use this preparation guide with your textbook to prepare for the AP chemistry exam.
Now turn to the Study Guide
Checklist on page ix and check each item, in order, as you complete the task. When you have
checked all the items, you will be ready for the AP chemistry exam. Good Luck!
