AP Chemistry Syllabus
Text
Chemistry, Zumdahl and Zumdahl, 7th ed. Houghton Mifflin Company
ISBN: 0618-22158-1
Chemistry – The Central Science, Brown and Lemay , 6th ed. Prentice Hall
ISBN: 0-13-533480-2
Fast Track to a 5 – Preparing for the AP Chemistry Exam – Supplement for Zumdahl 7th
ed.
Course Overview
AP Chemistry meets four periods a week for 46 minute periods and meets one back to
back period for a 92 minute laboratory period once a week. In addition to the 92 minute
lab period, at least one other 46 minute period of each unit will be designated to lab each
week. Students can expect to spend a total of about 2 .5 hours of lab each week. The
course is designed to be equivalent to Chemistry I taken at a college or university. A
large amount of the course is dedicated to problem solving and laboratories. The students
spend the first three marking periods in the class and laboratory learning the course
content. The fourth marking period is designated to prepare for the AP Exam as well as
learning content.. Some of the lab periods during that time are used for taking practice
exams. Students are expected to keep a laboratory notebook in which to record all of
their laboratory data. This notebook is graded with each lab and counts as 30% of the
students total grade. Students will be able to take the notebook with them when they go
on to college. It is an expectation that students prepare for and take the AP Chemistry
Exam
Since students who take this course already have taken a first year chemistry course,
there are a few concepts that overlap such as:
 Stoichiometry
 Atomic theory and structure
 Periodicity
 Ionic and Covalent Bonding
 Molecular Geometry
 Gas Laws
 Solutions and Colligative Properties
 Nuclear Chemistry
 Thermochemistry
 Properties of Solutions
Some of the concepts are covered again with more detail during the course. Students are
required to complete a summer assignment before the beginning of the course. The
summer assignment included the first three chapters of the text which are:
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Chemical Foundations
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Atoms, Molecules, and Ions
Types of Chemical Reactions and Solution Stoichiometry.
The following concepts are new to the students and not learned in their first year
chemistry courses:
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Chemical Kinetics
Chemical Equilibrium
Acids and Bases
Applications of Aqueous Equilibrium
Spontaneity and Entropy
Electrochemistry
Redox Reactions
Organic Chemistry
In addition to completing other course requirements, students are also required to keep a
laboratory notebook where they are to do all of their laboratory calculations and reports.
Laboratory experiments are a very big part of the course. They give the students an
opportunity to do hands on techniques that they don’t do in the first year. It is also a way
to link the material learned in class to a practical application in industry or technology.
Some of the laboratory assignments can be completed in one 46 minute periods or over
the span of two days.
Summer Assignment ( Will be completed by student during summer vacation. Labs will
be performed during the fall semester.)
Unit 1. Chemical Foundations
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Units and Measurements
Uncertainty in Measurements
Significant Figures
Dimensional Analysis
Classification of Matter
Student Outcomes:
1. Be able to convert measurements using the metric system.
2. Be able to make calculations to the correct number of significant
figures.
3. Correctly make calculations using density and dimensional
analysis.
4. Correctly classify matter and the types of changes it undergoes.
Laboratories
 Laboratory Safety
 The Separation of a Physical Mixture
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Thickness of Aluminum Foil
TLC Chromotography
Unit 2. Atoms, Molecules, and Ions
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Chemical Law
Dalton’s Atomic Theory
Modern Atomic Structure
Molecules and Ions
Naming Compounds
Student Outcomes:
1. Be able to interpret atomic theory and its principles.
2. Be able to correctly form an ionic compound from its ions and
their charges.
3. Name compounds using correct nomenclature rules for ionic
compounds.
4. Name covalent compounds using the roots and prefixes system.
Laboratories
 The Solubility of Salt
 Identification of Metal Ions by Flame Tests
Unit 3. Stoichiometry
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Atomic Masses
The Mole
Molar Mass
Percentage Composition of a Compound
Determining the formula of a Compound
Chemical Equations
Balancing Equations
Limiting Reagents
Student Outcomes:
1. Be able to calculate the formula mass and convert into moles of
substance as well as number of particles.
2. Calculate the percent composition of a compound.
3. Be able to write and correctly balance a chemical equation.
4. Use the limiting reagent to do a stoichiometry calculation.
Laboratories
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Determination of the Formula of a Compound
Calculating the Percent Water in a Hydrate
Determination of the Molar Mass of a Compound.
Unit 4. Types of Chemical Reactions and Solution Stoichiometry – 2 Weeks
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Composition of Solutions
Solubility Rules
Types of Chemical Reactions
Precipitation Reactions
Acid-Base Reactions
Oxidation-Reduction Reactions
Balancing Redox Reactions
Oxidation Numbers
Net Ionic Equations
Student Outcomes:
1. Predict the products in a chemical reaction.
2. Determine the solubility of a compound and use the activity series
to predict products.
3. Write the complete and net ionic equation for a reaction.
4. Balance redox reactions.
5. Apply Periodic Law to reactivity.
6. Distinguish between synthesis, decomposition, single-replacement,
double-replacement, combustion, redox, and acid-base reactions.
Laboratories
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Types of Chemical Reactions
Stoichiometry of an Iron(III) phenol reaction.
Synthesis of acetylsalicylic acid.
Unit 5. Gases – 1.5 Weeks
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Pressure
Boyle’s Law, Charles Law, and Gay-Lussac’s Law
Avagodro’s Law
Ideal Gas Law
Daltons Law
Henry’s Law
Gas Stoichiometry
The Kinetic Molecular Theory of Gases
Effusion and Diffusion
Grahams Law
Student Outcomes:
1. Apply the Kinetic Molecular Theory to gases, liquids, and solids.
2. Be able to perform gas law calculations using the various gas law
equations.
3. Interpret phase diagrams.
4. Discuss how boiling works as a process.
5. Interpret heating curves and cooling curves.
Laboratories
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Molar Mass of a Volatile Liquid
The Gas Laws
Preparation and Properties of Common Gases
Vapor Pressure
Unit 6. Thermochemistry – 1.5 Weeks
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Enthalpy and Calorimetry
Hess’s Law
Enthalpies of Formation
Specific Heat
Student Outcomes:
1. Calculate the heat energy of a chemical reaction using Hess’s Law.
2. Perform calorimetric calculations.
Laboratories
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Heats of Reaction
Specific Heats of Metals and Glass
Heat of a Solution
Determination a Calorimetry Constant
Unit 7. Atomic Structure and Periodicity – 2 Weeks
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The Nature of Matter
Atomic Spectra
The Bohr Model
Quantum Mechanic Model
Quantum Numbers
Electron structures
Orbital Shapes and Energies
Pauli Exclusion Principle
Aufbau Principle
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
Hunds Rule
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Wave-particle Duality
Periodic Trends in Atomic Properties
Spectroscopy
Beers Law
Student Outcomes:
1. Become familiar with all of the major subatomic particles and their
functions.
2. Compare the Bohr model to the quantum mechanic model of the
atom.
3. Calculate problems involving quantum numbers and energies.
Laboratories
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Emission Spectra Lab
Determination of a Calorimeter Constant
Spectra Emission of Metals Through Flame Tests
Beer – Lambert Law
Unit 8. Bonding: General Concepts – 2 Weeks
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Types of Chemical Bonds.
Electronegativity
Polarity and Dipole Moments
Lewis Structures
Exceptions to the Octet Rule
Resonance Structures
The VSEPR Model
Student Outcomes:
1. Be able to correctly draw Lewis structures as well as rule
breakers.
2. Determine the formal charge of a molecule.
3. Determine the molecular geometry of a molecule based
upon its Lewis Structure.
Laboratories
 Molecular Shapes and Structures
 Determination of the length of a Molecule
Unit 9. Covalent Bonding Orbitals – 1 Week
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Hybridization
Molecular Orbital Model
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Bond Order
Paramagnetism and Diamagnetism
bonds and  bonds
Student Outcomes:
1. Students will become familiar with hybridization.
2. Be able to calculate bond order.
3. Students will be able to determine magnetism of a molecule.
Laboratories
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Gravimetric Determination of Silver Chloride
Determination of Vitamin C
Unit 10. Liquids and Solids – 1.5 Weeks
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Intermolecular Forces
Dipole-Dipole, Hydrogen Bonding, London Forces, Van Der Walls
Forces
Types of Solids
Molecular Solids
Ionic Solids
Metallic Bonding
Vapor Pressure and Changes of State
Phase Diagrams
Student Outcomes:
1. Students will determine bond strength and relative boiling and
freezing points in relationship to intermolecular forces.
2. Be able to interpret a phase diagram.
Unit 11. Properties of Solutions – 2 Weeks
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Solution Compositions
Solubility
Boiling Point Elevation
Freezing Point Depression
Osmotic Pressure
Colligative Properties
Electrolytes and Non-Electrolytes
Raoult’s Law
Henry’s Law
Molarity and Molality
Mole Fractions
Laboratories
 Molecular Mass Determination by Freezing Point Depression
 Determination of the Hardness of water.
Unit 12. Chemical Kinetics - 2 Weeks
 Reaction Rates
 Rate Laws
1. Reaction Orders
 Factors Affecting Reaction Rates
 Integrated Rate Law
 Mechanisms
 Catalysis
Student Outcomes:
1. Students will be able to determine factors that affect reaction rates.
2. Be able to write the rate law expression.
3. Be able to plot zero, first, and second order reactions.
4. Be able to write the overall reaction given the mechanism and
determine the rate determining step.
5. Identify a catalyst and an intermediate in a reaction mechanism.
Laboratories
 Rates of Reactions and Reaction Orders
 Iodine Clock Lab
Unit 13. Chemical Equilibrium – 2 Weeks
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Equilibrium Condition
Equilibrium Constant and Expressions
Reaction Quotient
Law of Mass Action
Le Chateliers Principle
Student Outcomes:
1. Write the law of mass action for a system at equilibrium.
2. Interpret the position of equilibrium from the magnitude of the
equilibrium constant.
3. Predict the direction of a reaction using Le Chateliers Principle.
4. Understand the factors that effect equilibrium.
Laboratories
 Calculating the Equilibriums Constant
 Le Chateliers Principle
 Spectrophotometric Determination of an Equilibrium Constant
Unit 14 Acids – Bases-2 Weeks
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Acid Strength
The pH Scale
Strong Acid pH
Weak Acid pH
Arrhenius Theory
Bronsted – Lowrey Theory
Amphoteric Species
Bases
Polyprotic Acids
Properties of Salts
Lewis Acids
Indicators
Student Outcomes:
1. Correctly name and write formulas for acids, bases, and
salts.
2. Write and balance equations involving acids and bases.
3. Distinguish between the types of acids, bases, and salts
4. Identify and amphoteric substance.
Laboratories
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Determining the Ionization Constant
Titration and Indicators
Analysis of an Unknown Acid
Titration of Antacid
Unit 15. Aqueous Equilibria – 2 Weeks
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Common Ion Effect
Buffered Solutions
Buffer Capacity
Titrations and pH Curves
Hydrolysis
Solubility Product
Molar Solublity
Precipitation and Qualitative Analysis
Complex Ion Equilibria
Student Outcomes:
1. Identify weak electrolytes
2. Make calculations using the Kw of water.
3. Define pH, pOH, pK, Ka, Kb, Ionization Constant, Percent
Ionization, and Ksp.
4. Make calculations using pH and pOH.
5. Use a pH meter.
6. Write the hydrolysis reaction for water.
7. Use titration data to calculate and produce a pH curve.
8. Make calculations using solubility data.
Laboratories
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Preparation of a Buffer
Determination of Iron by Redox Titration
The Solubility Product of Silver Acetate
Unit 16. Spontaneity, Entropy, and Free Energy – 2 Weeks
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Spontaneous Processes
Entropy – 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
Free Energy
State Functions
Entropy in Chemical Reactions
Free Energy and Equilibrium
Free Energy and Work
Student Outcomes:
1. Distinguish between state functions and path functions
2. Define internal energy, PV work, enthalpy, entropy, and free
energy.
3. Use Hess’s Law to calculate free energy and entropy.
4. Determine the spontaneity of a reaction.
5. Understand the relationship between energy changes and
equilibrium conatants.
Unit 17. Electrochemistry – 1.5 Weeks
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Galvanic Cells
Standard Reduction Potentials
Line Notations
Cell Potential
Cell Potential and Concentration
Electrolytic Cells
Nernst Equation
Faraday’s Law
Redox Equations
Electrolysis
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Electroplating
Student Outcomes:
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Use half –reaction method to balance redox reactions.
Distinguish between electrolytic cells and voltaic cells.
Calculate cell voltage using standard reduction potentials.
Solve problems using Nernst equation.
Draw diagrams of galvanic and electrolytic cells.
Determine the cathode and anode of a galvanic cell.
Write the line notation of a galvanic cell.
Laboratories
 Electrolysis of Potassium Iodide Solution
 Electrochemical Cells
 Copper Electroplating of Nickel
Unit 18. Nuclear Chemistry – 2 Weeks
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Nuclear Stability and Radioactive Decay
Half Lifes
Nuclear Transformations
Fission and Fusion
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Be able to calculate the half life of a reaction
Write a nuclear equation
Work problems involving nuclear binding energy
Predict nuclear stability
Balance nuclear equations
Student Oucomes:
Laboratories
 Calculation of a Nuclear Half Life
Unit 19. Coordination Chemistry – 1 Week
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Bonding in a Coordination System
Formation of Complex Ions
Practical Applications
Student Outcomes:
1. Be able to name coordination complexes.
2. Write net ionic equations involving complex ions.
Laboratories
 Preparation of coordination complex of copper
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Preparation of coordination complex of Cobalt(III)
Unit 20. Organic Chemistry – 2 Weeks
 Alkanes and Hydrocarbons
 Nomenclature
 Alkenes and Alkynes
 Aromatic Hydrocarbons
 Hydrocarbon Functional Groups
 Polymers
Student Outcomes:
1. Be able to correctly name alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes using
nomenclature rules.
2. Identify functional groups and name appropriately
Laboratories
 Synthesis of Aparin
 Synthesis of an Organic Molecule
 Ester Formation