Chemblog!

Question #6 on Part II of the AP exam tests your ability to describe particular
experimental procedures. Since the AP exam has no lab practical component (and NEVER will have one due to the impossibility of standardizing lab equipment among high schools and colleges- can you IMAGINE the "sophisticated" lab equipment used in West Virginia's High Schools? "... okay, class, take your lab balance that you made out of ice cream sticks and manure and weigh the sodium chloride y'all...". As my colleague (who teaches at a private, ritzy academy in Georgia) says, one need not actually PERFORM any labs in this course in order to achieve a 5. He regularly has a 4.7 AP class average among his two classes of 20 SOPHOMORES so I am inclined to believe him. Nevertheless, we will perform some key labs (that typically show up on Q6) this year before the AP exam.

Download the empirical formula determination lab from the website and CAREFULLY read (I daresay memorize) the lab procedure. Part "a" of question 6 will list a bunch of lab equipment and you have to describe how and what you would use to determine the empirical formula of a compound. Part "b" will be a typical and relatively simple calculation or deduction from data. Part "c" is the crucial "critical thinking"- what if something went wrong- question. We will have copious practice with this question type starting with this lab writeup. The key to answering this question type is to FABRICATE numbers that are consistent with the question. Then, your calculation will answer the question for you.
This writeup will count towards your second quarter grade.

Naturally, if you have trouble with this, just see me after class or email me.