• Class meets four times each week: two times for 57 minutes each and two times for 87
minutes each (288 minutes total)
• Prerequisites: successful completion of one year of general chemistry and two years of
algebra
• Textbooks: Each student will be issued a copy of Brown, LeMay & Bursten:
Chemistry, The Central Science (8th Ed.). In addition, I have a set of Chang: Chemistry (6th Ed.)
that may be either issued to students or used in the classroom, depending upon student
enrollment numbers. Each unit in the syllabus refers to assigned readings by first author initials:
B = Brown, LeMay and Bursten, C = Chang.
AP Chemistry is a second year chemistry elective. It is designed to approximate the
instruction and laboratory experience that students receive in a freshman-level college general
chemistry class. Consequently it bears stating that the course is rigorous and relentless. The
prerequisites listed above are minimum requirements. It is impossible to underestimate the
value of strong math and written and verbal communication skills. Students will be deriving and
making use of mathematical equations throughout the year; there will be extensive writing and
oral presentations.
Because successful completion of first year general chemistry is a requirement of all
Advanced Placement Chemistry students, I am aware of the foundational information they bring
with them to this second year of instruction. Each student will complete a summer assignment
intended to "remind" them of the basic tools that underlie so much of what is to come. We will
spend about a week (much of it in the lab) clarifying any questions and then move on to more
advanced topics.
The class is taught in reverse order from the first year: This gives us a full semester, in
the fall when the students are fresh and less distracted, to cover the new, more intensive topics:
kinetics, equilibrium, thermodynamics and electrochemistry. Over the years, I have found that
this works very nicely as we can review the fundamentals while we are taking our time with
these more difficult topics. The third quarter is spent revisiting the elements of first year
chemistry in greater depth, always integating this information with the topics of the first
semester. The final quarter is spent reviewing for the AP exam. "Reviewing" encompasses a
myriad of methods, including more labs, reading scientific literature, games, past AP exams,
examining AP review books.
I do not spend a great deal of time lecturing about each topic. Students are given
reading assignments and applicable problems to solve. They are expected to outline the
readings, make note of questions they need to have clarified and work the problems. We make
frequent use of a remote classroom survey system (I-Click is the unit we own) for "reading
quizzes" and peer instruction. Students are assigned poster presentations for each unit (this is
done on a rotating basis and by the end of the school year, all students have done their share).
For each unit, students will complete and turn in homework problems, both of an on-line ("LonCapa") and paper & pencil ("problem sets") variety. Assessments take different shapes: I expect
students to have strong written and verbal skills as well as strong math skills. I make every effort
to select lab activities that reinforce the topic we are studying in class at the time of the lab.
Laboratory: class is always positioned either first thing in the morning or right before
lunch in order to accommodate extended time needed for labs. Many labs are completed over
successive class periods. All labs are accompanied by a formal report that generally includes the
title, objectives, materials used and methods employed, data table, calculations and conclusion,
including an error analysis. I consider the error analysis to be a critical part of the conclusion and
I set a format for this analysis: state the error, tell which measurement is affected by this error,
indicate where in the calculations this measurement appears and then indicate whether the error
made the result erroneously high or low. While students work together for most labs (qualitative
analysis is the exception -- each student has a different unknown), each is required to turn in an
individual report of their work. Students will maintain a lab folder containing the final drafts of
their lab reports and a stitched composition book containing the rough drafts, lab notes,
calculations, etc.
Unit 1: Review of Basics (covered over summer + 1 week in fall)
Content: (B: ch. 1/3, C: 1/2/3)
Metric Measurements
Significant Digits, Dimensional Analysis
Naming, Formulas, Balancing, Mole Ratio, Stoichiometry
Solubility Rules
Assessments: Lon-Capa
Problem Set
Labs: 1. Lab refresher
safety, first aid, where-to-find-it
2. Making Measurements
use of basic equipment: balances, cylinders, rulers + metric
manipulations, dimensional analysis
3. Will It Float? Remembering density
Quiz
Unit 2: Kinetics (3 weeks)
Content: (B: ch. 14, C: ch. 13)
Reaction Rates
Rate & Concentration
Concentration & Time (0, 1st, 2nd Order Reactions)
Reaction Order
Half Life
Temperature & Rate
Collision Theory
Arrhenius Equation
Reaction Mechanisms
Catalysis
Assessments: Lon-capa
Problem Set
Lab: (Flinn clock rxn)
Alka-Seltzer
Quiz
Unit 3: Equilibrium (2 weeks)
Content: (B: ch. 15, C: ch 14)
Law of Mass Action: Keq, Kc, Kp
Heterogeneous Equilibria
Applications of Chemical Equilibria
Reaction Quotient
LeChatelier's Principle
Assessment: Lon-Capa
Problem Set
Quiz
Unit 4: More equilibrium: Acid/Base (4 weeks)
Content: (B: ch. 16/17, C: ch. 15/16)
Arrhenius, Bronsted-Lowry Definitions
Autoionization of Water
pH Scale
Weak Acids, Ka
Weak Bases, Kb
Acid/Base Properties of Salts
Lewis Definition
Common Ion Effect (Review of LeChatelier)
Buffers
Titrations
Assessments: Lon-Capa
Problem Set
Lab: Titration of Oxalic Acid
Quiz
End of First Quarter : TEST
Unit 5: Still More Equilibrium: Solubility (2 weeks)
Content: (B: ch. 17, C: ch. 16)
Ksp
Solubility & Common Ion Effect (Review of LeChatelier)
Solubility & pH (Review of Salt Properties)
Precipitation & Ion Separation
Assessments: Lon-Capa
Problem Sets
Lab: Solubility of Ions in Solution (Micro Lab)
prediction of ion behavior in solution, then conducting the reactions
Quiz
Unit 6: Thermodynamics (3 weeks)
Content: (B: ch. 5/19, C: ch. 6/18)
Kinetic Energy, Potential Energy
First Law: Heat of Reaction, Enthalpy
Calorimetry
Hess' Law, Enthalpy of Formation
Second Law: Spontaneity, Entropy, ΔS
Gibbs Free Energy
ΔG & Kc, Kp
Assessments: Lon-Capa
Problem Set
Labs: 1. Molar Heat of Fusion of Ice
calorimetry
2. (endothermic demo)
Quiz
Unit 7: Electrochemistry (3 weeks)
Content: (B: ch. 20, C: ch. 19)
Balancing Oxidation-Reduction Equations & Terminology
Voltaic Cells, EMF, spontaneity
Nernst Equation
EMF & Equilibrium
Batteries, Corrosion, Electrolysis
Assessments: Lon-Capa
Problem Set
Quiz
Review & Practice, Semester I (1 week)
Content: Brief Review of Semester I Topics
Integration of topics
Assessments: Lab
End of First Semester: TEST
Unit 8: Atoms, Molecules, Ions, Compounds (3 weeks)
Content: (B: ch. 2/6/7/21; C: ch. 2/7/8/21)
Atomic Theory
Revisit: Ionic/Covalent Compounds, Naming & Formulas
Electromagnetic Radiation, Quantized Energy
Bohr, DeBroglie, Heisenberg
Quantum Numbers, Electron Configurations
Periodic trends
Nuclear Reactions, Nuclear Stability
Revisit ½ life concepts & equations
Movie: Copenhagen
Assessments: Lon-Capa
Problem Set
Lab: Flame tests
Oral Reports: people & topics in Copenhagen (done prior to movie)
Research Paper
 current topic (student's choice) in nuclear chemistry
 NOT an informative paper: student must support thesis statement
 3000 words, fully referenced original work
Quiz
Unit 9: Stoichiometry & Reactions (2 weeks)
Content: (B: ch. 3/4, C: ch. 3 / 4)
Law of Conservation of Matter
Equations
Reaction Types
Mass, Moles, Percent Composition
Empirical/Molecular Formulas
Stoichiometry, Limiting Reactant, Percent Yield
Molarity, Review of Titrations
Assessments: Lon-Capa
Problem Set
Lab: Empirical formula of an Oxide of Magnesium
gravimetric analysis
Quiz
Unit 10: Bonding & Molecular Geometry (1 week)
Content: (B: ch. 8/9, C: ch. 9/10/11)
Octet Rule, Valence Electrons
Lewis Structures
Resonance Stuctures, Octet Exceptions
Polar vs. Nonpolar Bonding
VSEPR, molecular geometry
Polar vs. Nonpolar Molecules, Dipole Moment
Hybrid Orbitals
Sigma & Pi Bonding
Assessments: Lon-Capa
Problem Set
Building a molecular model (individual project)
Quiz
Unit 11: States of Matter (2 weeks)
Content: (B: ch. 10/11, C: ch. 5/11)
Pressure Measurement & Units
Gas Laws
Ideal Gas Equation
Dalton & Graham, KMT
Nonideal Behavior
Solids & Liquids
Phase Changes
Solids
Assessments: Lon-Capa
Problem Set
Lab: Molar Volume of Hydrogen Gas
Candle in the Coffee Can
Quiz
Unit 12: Solutions and Colligative Properties (1 week)
Content: (B: ch. 13, C: ch. 12)
Solutions, Mixtures, Colloids
Saturated, Unsaturated, Supersaturated
The Process of solvation (review of IMF & solubilities)
Concentration expressions & calculations
Review of molarity
Molality
Review of mole fraction
ppm, ppb
Colligative Properties
Assessments: Lon-Capa
Problem Set
Lab: Determination of Molar Mass from Boiling Point Elevation
Quiz
Review: Organic Chemistry (covered extensively in 1st year)
Content: (B: ch. 25, C: ch. 24/25)
Naming and Functional Groups for major families:
alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones,
ethers, carboxylic acids, esters, amines, amides
Assessment: Problem Set
Quiz
Practice Exams (2)
Labs:
Study guides (student-prepared by topic)