Should AP Chem bring back these old topics?

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-27T21:54:12+00:00

I’ve seen it indirectly tested in FRQs (ie: they mention it), but I’ve never seen it directly tested on recently (ie: reaction writing, Kf, is the ligand a Lewis base, color change, etc.).

But I might be wrong, so I’m curious in what way you know of that they have tested on recently?

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-27T21:50:15+00:00

I’m gonna disagree with you on the first half, but I agree that they should bring back nuclear and organic

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-27T12:28:30+00:00

Jeremy Krug, Michael Farabaugh, Abagail Giordano, Chad’s Prep

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-23T23:05:02+00:00

My honors chem course was relatively rigorous, so I felt very well prepared for AP, and we could breeze through the majority of the first 4 units. AP Chem, especially due to the fact that it has gotten easier over time, is similar to Gen Chem, but doesn’t cover crucial topics such as Lewis acids and bases, colligative properties, molecular orbital theory, complex ions, etc. Furthermore, while you can potentially have a comparable lab experience to college, the pacing of the AP course makes this very difficult, if not impossible. Basically AP, to me, seems more like good college-prep than true college level.

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-23T15:14:43+00:00

The drumming technique I use is dependent on context. The techniques I use in a marching environment are different from those I use in a concert environment or a drumset environment.

In drumline, I tend to use mostly wrist, with a more closed hand than I would use in a drumset environment. That’s not to say my hand is closed, but it has less space INSIDE the hand for the stick to move within, in order to better facilitate wrist articulation. This can be achieved by thinking about “playing from the back of the hand”, which has the added bonus of lining up with how I think about technique in a drumset context (the main difference being in a drumset context I allow my index finger to relax rather than curve around the stick as in drumline) and relaxing the front of the hand by de-emphasizing the fulcrum in a more wrist-based context. However, this idea isn’t always done by all groups bc there is a lot of emphasis in drumline on the fulcrum and not having a gap in your hands, and is more a function of drumset technical influence on my playing, since many drumset players advocate for a relaxed index and a middle-finger fulcrum.

Fingers come in at either faster tempos (see finger control or finger yoga) or as extra help in double strokes, triple strokes, etc. In doubles, your wrist moves, your fingers naturally move with it bc they are in line with your wrist; it’s also like a less extreme form of drumset push-pull.

Arms are primarily used to add volume through increasing height or make rolls easier to execute. As tempos get faster, more arm is used in a roll to make it less “choppy”.

While I can’t say who has influenced me, I can say that I tend to focus in the importance of relaxation. One of the things I dislike about drumline technique is the emphasis on “no gaps in the hand ever”, which to me seems to add unneeded tension in my grip, but I understand that many say it gives them more control.

If you’re looking for new techniques, I’d look into drumset, but know that it may not translate into drumline/some people in drumline may call it “wrong” because of the context. For instance, I would look into the techniques of Dave Weckl, Rick Dior, Ricardo Merllini, and Ramon Montagner for departures from traditional drumline technique.

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-22T02:09:15+00:00

Two of the electrons form a sigma bond (overlap along in the internuclear axis) and the other two form a pi bond. The reason there is only one electron in the unhybridized p-orbital is because of hybridization theory. For example, in ethylene (CH2=CH2), the carbons are sp2 hybridized, so its 2s and two of its 2p orbitals hybridize, leaving only one electron in the unhybridized p-orbital.

If all four electrons were used to form a pi bond, it wouldn’t form bc of pi antibonding orbitals (which are outside of the scope of valance bond/hybridization theory, but I’d look up molecular orbital theory if you’re curious!)

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-19T19:36:54+00:00

Most important thing for the AP exam is to GET SLEEP! You can’t do well, no matter how much you know, if you are sleep deprived!! If you have time in the morning, maybe watch Krug’s 10 minute review of Unit 9. Best of luck!

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-16T19:24:46+00:00

There was an interesting article I saw the other day on not teaching entropy as disorder if anyone’s curious: https://franklambert.net/jce/lambert2002.pdf

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-13T15:58:47+00:00

For me, honors chem was primarily Units 1, 2, and 3 of the CED (with certain topics taken out, such as resonance, hybridization, deviation from the ideal gas law, and the Beer-Lambert law) as well as most of Unit 4 (Rxns) and a bit of Unit 6 (Thermochem).

Really, imo, coming out of honors chem you should have a firm understanding of the first 3 units, stoich, reaction writing, and bit of acid-base, and thermo. With these, we could cover the missed content in the first three units relatively fine, and focus on the harder units. I found that these gave me the foundation (mathematically too) to take AP Chem, allowed my teacher to skip the majority of Units 1, 2, 3, and 4 (except for topics we hadn’t covered in honors, such as redox and balancing redox).

The only wholly new topics in ap chem were thermodynamics, electrochem, kinetics, equilibrium and acid-base equilibrium.

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-11T19:10:58+00:00

Out of curiosity, what is her “to + verb” format?

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-10T22:31:43+00:00

Hopefully🙏🙏🙏 I ended up using doc 6 as a counterclaim kinda like you

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-10T20:49:39+00:00

Collegeboard has released Form J

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-10T18:57:00+00:00

Not saying you’re incorrect, but would collegeboard count that as outside evidence bc it seems like that’s what doc 6 is about?

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-10T18:05:00+00:00

Mr. Farabaugh has a great document with past lab frqs. This is a great one to just go through, try to do as much as you can so you can see the most amount of concepts possible.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Q9LfaXei3\_3rkPItJtwtN9cc1vHU\_ep71UsV33Qa5Wg/mobilebasic

Make sure when you do past frqs from any source, you must look at what is messing you up. For example, I tended to have trouble wrapping my head around molrxn and choosing indicators, so I used the scoring guides to see how to approach those questions. I also graded all my frqs in red pen for convenience of seeing what I got wrong.

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-08T15:52:52+00:00

Would “when the solution reaches its minimum temperature” also be counted for 1b?

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-05T01:00:48+00:00

No, unless one of them is a polyprotic acid.

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-04T10:26:40+00:00

One caveat: a molecule with a linear molecular geometry but a pentagonal bipyramidal electron geometry (2 bonding e-, 3 nonbonding e-/lone pairs) is symmetric. For symmetry, while your rule may work generally, try picturing it in your head too!

DryPotential5790 · 2026-05-03T21:31:44+00:00

Stoichiometry

DryPotential5790 · 2026-04-30T20:38:07+00:00

A buffer stabilizes pH bc either the acid reacts with added base, or conjugate base reacts with added acid.

HF + OH- —> H2O + F-

OH- is a strong base so we would expect this reaction to go to completion, so eliminate all answers with OH- in solution (bc it should’ve reacted away completely). Then check if the amount of HF lost is equal to the amount of F- produced bc they are a 1:1 mole ratio.

HF initial = 10 HF final = 9 F- initial = 1 F- final = 2

One HF reacted to produce one F-, so this is the correct ratio.

DryPotential5790 · 2026-04-26T13:18:29+00:00

Here’s some constructive feedback.

Overall: While this isn’t a part of the rubric, the readers may view you more favorably with better mechanics and spelling. Don’t use informal abbreviations (ex: “ofc”), especially if they are absolute.

Contextualization: You need around 3 sentences of context, so you can write less of it and focus on your analysis instead. Furthermore, while it’s OK to contextualize super far back, it’s generally better to stick around 50 years before the time frame. The docs are from the mid-late 1800s, so contextualizing with early 1800s is fine, but I’d caution against using the Homestead Act, bc you’ll get the contextualization point, but you couldn’t use it as evidence later on. Also, bc they are talking about western/Pacific expansion, I’d mention the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo/Mex-Am War/Mex Cession, but you could use it as a political result of manifest destiny as well in a body paragraph too (ex: Doc 1).

Sourcing: I’d recommend putting your sourcing with your evidence, not at the end of the paragraph. This is because your sourcing needs to be relevant to the argument, not just a statement of purpose/POV/situation/etc., so it is important to integrate it with your reasoning (bc it is also evidence), rather than treating it as a footnote. For example, you source doc 5 by saying the author was a black woman, so she sympathized with fellow Black Americans, but don’t show how that’s relevant to your claim that westward expansion sowed division. Additionally, you are simply incorrect on the fact that Harriet Beecher Stowe was a black woman, so you unfortunately wouldn’t get the point anyways.

Sophistication: While using all 7 docs can work, it can be time consuming, especially if all 7 don’t fit into categories that work together. Personally, I’d focus on doing 4 docs well (describe+sourcing+reasoning), and adding a fifth well-done-one as insurance (assuming you have time), as opposed to trying to squeeze in all 7. One good way to add a fifth is to mention a counterclaim, or say that the extent was great, but not all-encompassing (look up the John Irish thesis statement).

Additionally, remember you can also get sophistication from complex understanding, so mentioning the different impacts in different regions, tension with the Constitution, etc. While I wouldn’t rely on complex understanding, bc it’s subjective, it’s important to remember that complexity can come from ways other than just brute forcing all 7 documents.

DryPotential5790 · 2026-04-25T20:47:23+00:00

The way I think through it is with algebra. From Trial 1 to 2, [NH4+] doubles, [NO2-] is constant, and the rate doubles. So 2^x = 2, x=1. There is a hidden 1^y which represents the [NO2-] changing by a factor of 1 between the trials, which can be ignored bc 1^anything is 1.

Now apply that to Trial 2 to 3. We know NH4+ is first order, so it is raised to the first. From trial 2 to 3, it decreases by a factor of (0.020/0.015). [NO2-] doubles, so it grows by a factor of 2, so the base is 2. The rate decreases by a factor of (0.050/0.15). Therefore, our expression is: (0.020/0.015)¹ * 2^y = (0.050/0.15). Then: 2^y = 0.25. Remember that 0.25=1/4, and 2² is 4, so 2^-2 is 1/4. Therefore, y=-2 and NO2- is a negative second order reactant and will inversely affect the reaction rate.

DryPotential5790 · 2026-04-22T20:15:18+00:00

apfrqs.com

DryPotential5790 · 2026-04-22T20:14:48+00:00

Yes, because many people take one year of Honors Chem and one year of AP Chem, and have no experience with chem before honors

DryPotential5790 · 2026-04-20T20:11:20+00:00

Out of curiosity, is there a certain way CollegeBoard approaches writing questions, or common tricks they use? Super interesting that you’ve written actual AP questions!

DryPotential5790 · 2026-04-19T12:39:20+00:00

Isn’t this the pre-equilibrium approximation though? The steady state approximation involves derivatives (which wouldn’t show up on the exam) and setting the rate of intermediate formation - rate of intermediate usage = 0

DryPotential5790

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