S12 Essential Skills

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AP Chemistry Essential Skills for Level 12

Students will be able to:

Analyze experimental data and propose possible plausible explanations for sources of error for the data collected.
Differentiate between a horizontal trend and a group trend on the periodic table (i.e. what factors affect atomic size and first ionization energy).
Predict the shape of and the bond angles in a molecule using the VSEPR and hybridization models.
Estimate enthalpy (∆H) using covalent bond energies for a chemical reaction.
Draw Lewis electron-dot structures for compounds whose central atom obeys (or does not obey) the octet rule.
Determine polarity of a molecule based upon the Lewis structure of the molecule.
Balance oxidation-reduction (in either acidic or basic solutions) using the half-reaction method.
Use Hess’s law of summation of enthalpies of reaction to calculate the enthalpy change for a reaction.
Interpret a phase diagram for water and carbon dioxide.

Students will be able to:

Predict the products of a chemical reaction and write net ionic equations for various types of chemical reactions (i.e. combustion, single replacement, synthesis, and decomposition reactions).
Calculate the boiling point elevation and the freezing point depression of a solution.
Explain how changes in entropy and enthalpy determine the spontaneity of chemical reactions (second law of thermodynamics).
Determine reaction orders using the method of initial rates.
Calculate the order of reaction and write an overall rate expression based upon experimentally obtained data.
Explain how Le Chatelier’s principle (i.e. a stress) applies to equilibrium systems.
Experimentally determine the Ka and pKa values for a weak acid.
Relate the strength of an acid or base to its degree of ionization.
Calculate the pH and pOH of aqueous solutions.
Solve titration problems and experimentally determine and interpret titration curves.
Identify the components of a voltaic (galvanic) cell.