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2022 AP Chemistry Exam Guide

11 min read•december 2, 2021

AP Chemistry 🧪

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Your Guide to the 2022 AP Chemistry Exam

We know that studying for your AP exams can be stressful, but Fiveable has your back! We have created a study plan that will help you crush your chemistry exam. We will continue to update this guide with more information about the 2022 exams, as well as helpful resources to help you score that 5. Create a Fiveable account and join Hours 🤝to stay involved in all things AP exams! 😁

Format of the 2022 AP Chemistry Exam

This year, all AP exams will cover all units and essay types and be on paper. The 2022 Chemistry exam format will be:

Section 1: Multiple Choice Questions - 50% of your total score
- 60 questions in 1 hr 30 mins
- No calculator allowed

Section 2: Free Response Questions - 50% of your total score
- 7 questions in 1 hr 45 mins
- 3 long free-response questions. Each question is worth 10 points.
- 4 short free-response questions. Each question is worth 4 points.
- A scientific or graphing calculator is recommended.

Check out our study plan below to find resources and tools to prepare for your AP Chemistry exam!

When is the 2022 AP Chemistry exam and how do I take it?

Tests will be taken in person at your school and on paper.

The exam is on Monday, May 2, 2022, at 12 noon, your local time.

You will have 3 hours and 15 minutes to take the exam. Create a Fiveable account to get updates on the latest 2022 exam news.

How should I prepare for the exam?

First, download the AP Chemistry Cram Chart PDF - a single sheet that covers everything you need to know at a high level. Take note of your strengths and weaknesses!
Review every unit and question type, and focus on the areas that need the most improvement and practice. We've put together this plan to help you study between now and May. This will cover all of the units and essay types to prepare you for your exam.
Join Hours 🤝 to talk to real students just like you studying for this exam!

Pre-work: set up your study environment

Before we begin, take some time to get organized. Remote learning can be great, but it also means you’ll need to hold yourself accountable more than usual.

Create a study space.

Make sure you have a designated place at home to study. Somewhere you can keep all of your materials, where you can focus on learning, and where you are comfortable. Spend some time prepping the space with everything you need and you can even let others in the family know that this is your study space.

Organize your study materials.

Get your notebook, textbook, prep books, or whatever other physical materials you have. Also create a space for you to keep track of review. Start a new section in your notebook to take notes or start a Google Doc to keep track of your notes. Get yourself set up!

Plan designated times for studying.

The hardest part about studying from home is sticking to a routine. Decide on one hour every day that you can dedicate to studying. This can be any time of the day, whatever works best for you. Set a timer on your phone for that time and really try to stick to it. The routine will help you stay on track.

Decide on an accountability plan.

How will you hold yourself accountable to this study plan? You may or may not have a teacher or rules set up to help you stay on track, so you need to set some for yourself. First set your goal. This could be studying for x number of hours or getting through a unit. Then, create a reward for yourself. If you reach your goal, then x. This will help stay focused!

Get support from your peers.

There are thousands of students all over the world who are preparing for their AP exams just like you! Join Hours 🤝 to chat, ask questions, and meet other students who are also studying for the spring exams. You can even build study groups and review material together!

AP Chemistry 2022 Study Plan

Unit 1: Atomic Structure and Properties

Big Takeaways:

Atomic Structure and Properties dive into the makeup of the atom. This includes the subatomic particles, some (very) basic quantum mechanics, and the mole definition. We will look at important graphs, electron configurations, and describe some of the basic math necessary to describe atoms and their structure.

Definitely do this:

🎥 Watch these videos:

Electron Configurations and Photoelectron Spectroscopy: A description of energy levels, sublevels, and the experiments used to describe electron configurations.
Periodic Trends: A discussion on atomic radius, ionization energy, electron affinity, and electronegativity.
Unit 1 Review: A review of all important topics in Unit 1.

📚Read these Fiveable study guides:

1.0 Overview of Unit 1

1.1 Moles and Molar Mass

1.2 Mass Spectroscopy of Elements

1.3 Elemental Compositions of Pure Substances

1.4 Composition of Mixtures

1.5 Atom Structure and Electron Configurations

1.6 Photoelectron Spectroscopy

1.7 Periodic Trends

1.8 Valence Electrons and Ionic Compounds

✍️ Practice:

2019 FRQ: Number 5 from the 2019 AP Chemistry exam tests students on photoelectron spectroscopy.
2018 FRQ: Number 3, Parts (a)-(c) test students on electron configurations and periodic trends.

If you have more time or want to dig deeper:

💎 Check out Periodic Table of Videos: This university made videos describing properties of nearly every atom.

Unit 2: Molecular and Ionic Compound Structure and Properties

Big Takeaways:

Now that we have learned about the atomic structure, we can determine how atoms form chemical bonds. This section focuses mostly on molecular (covalent) and ionic compounds. For molecules, we will learn about Lewis structures, formal charge, and resonance. For ionic compounds, we will see how the atomic properties affect the characteristics of the compound.

Definitely do this:

🎥 Watch these videos:

Lewis Structures and VSEPR: A walkthrough of drawing Lewis structures and determining their shapes.
Unit 2 Review: A review of all important topics in Unit 2.

📚Read these Fiveable study guides:

2.0 Overview of Unit 2

2.1 Types of Chemical Bonds

2.2 Intramolecular Force and Potential Energy

2.3 Ionic Bonding and Ionic Solids

2.4 Metallic Bonding and Alloys

2.5 Lewis Dot Diagrams

2.6 Resonance and Formal Charge

2.7 VSEPR, Bond Hybridization, and Molecular Geometry

✍️ Practice:

2018 FRQ: Number 2, Part (d) tests students on Lewis structures and hybridization.
2017 FRQ: Number 1, Part (c) tests students on Lewis structures and bond angles and number 2, part (a) tests students on formal charge and resonance. Lastly, number 6, part (b) is a question regarding Coulomb's law and lattice energy.

If you have more time or want to dig deeper:

💎 Check out American Chemical Society's Chemical of the Week

Unit 3: Intermolecular Forces and Properties

Big Takeaways:

Prior to this year's changes, this was the biggest unit that AP Chemistry tested. In this unit, we'll look at intermolecular forces, the attractive forces between particles, and use this knowledge to make assumptions and predications of the bulk scale properties of the substances. In this section, we will study the properties of solids, liquids, gases, and solutions.

Definitely do this:

🎥 Watch these videos:

Intermolecular Forces: Watch this video which describes the different types of intermolecular forces.
Ideal Gas Law and Kinetic Molecular Theory: This video describes the behavior of an ideal gas and the properties of the kinetic molecular theory.
Unit 3 (Half-Way) Review: This review discusses the properties of solids, liquids, and gases.
Unit 3 Review: This is a large cumulative review covering solids, liquids, gases, solutions, and the electromagnetic spectrum.

📚Read these Fiveable study guides:

3.0 Overview of Unit 3

3.1 Intermolecular Forces

3.2 Properties of Solids

3.3 Solids, Liquids, and Gases

3.4 The Ideal Gas Law

3.5 The Kinetic Molecular Theory of Gases

3.6 Deviations From the Ideal Gas Law

3.7 Mixtures and Solutions

3.8 Representations of Solutions

3.9 Separation of Solids/Mixtures

3.10 Solubility and Solubility Rules

3.11 Spectroscopy and the Electromagnetic Spectrum

3.12 Quantum Mechanics and the Photoelectric Effect

3.13 The Beer-Lambert Law & Absorption

✍️Practice:

2019 FRQ: Number 1, Part (b) from the 2019 AP Chemistry test asks students about intermolecular forces and solutions. Number 2, part (a), (c), and (d) asks students about intermolecular forces and the ideal gas law. Lastly, Number 4 is an excellent question describing the properties of an ideal gas.
2018 FRQ: Number 4 asks students about deviations from the expected boiling points and intermolecular forces.

Unit 4: Chemical Reactions

Big Takeaways:

This unit introduces stoichiometry and the three types of chemical reactions that are studied in AP Chemistry; Acid-Base, Oxidation-Reduction, and Precipitation reactions. We will look at different ways to qualitatively and quantitatively describe these reactions. Some of these methods include balancing reactions, limiting and excess reactants, and titrations.

Definitely do this:

🎥 Watch these videos:

Introduction to Chemical Reactions: This video describes the different types of reactions; Acids and Bases, Oxidation-Reduction, and Precipitation.
Stoichiometry (Part 1): This discusses basic stoichiometry, limiting reactants, and excess reactants.
Stoichiometry (Part 2): This video shows examples of gas stoichiometry.

Stoichiometry (Part 3): This video shows examples of solution stoichiometry.

📚Read these Fiveable study guides:

4.0 Overview of Unit 4

4.1 Recognizing Chemical Reactions

4.2 Net Ionic Equations

4.3 Balancing Chemical Equations

4.4 Physical vs. Chemical Changes

4.5 Stoichiometry & Calculations

4.6 Introduction to Titrations

4.7 Precipitation Reactions

4.8 Introduction to Acid-Base Neutralization Reactions

4.9 Redox Reactions

✍️ Practice:

2019 FRQ: Number 3, part (a)-(e) asks a precipitation and limiting reactant problem for an example in solution. Number 7 is a redox reaction titration. This is an excellent example of laboratory technique.
2018 FRQ: Number 1 , parts (a)-(c) starts with a redox reaction and a limiting reactant problem. Number 2, parts (d)-(f) describes a titration problem and asks students specific questions in regards to laboratory technique.

Unit 5: Kinetics

Big Takeaways:

This specific section describes the rates of chemical reactions and how we can use these concepts to determine the mechanisms of the process. We will specifically look at the differentiated and integrated rate laws to quantitatively describe the kinetics of reactions. We will dive into the collision theory to describe the reaction speed quantitatively.

Definitely do this:

🎥 Watch these videos:

The Rate Law by Bozeman Science: Reviews the intergrated rate laws and the rate law expression.
Le Chatelier's Principle by Professor Dave Explains: Explains Le Chatelier's Principle.

📚Read these Fiveable study guides:

5.0 Overview of Unit 5

5.1 Reaction Rates

5.2 Introduction to Rate Law

5.3 Concentration Changes Over Time

5.4 Elementary Reactions

5.5 Collision Model

5.6 Reaction Energy Profile

5.7 Introduction to Reaction Mechanisms

5.8 Reaction Mechanisms and Rate Law

5.9 COMING SOON

5.10 COMING SOON

5.11 Catalysts

✍️ Practice:

2019 FRQ: Number 6 asks students about the integrated raw law and reaction mechanisms.
2018 FRQ: Number 7, parts (b) and (c) asks students to mathematicaally apply the integrated rate laws.

Unit 6: Thermodynamics

Big Takeaways:

In Thermodynamics, we are mostly looking at Enthalpy (H). Every reaction or process in the world releases or absorbs energy, and the enthalpy value for reactions is how we study them. We will also spend time looking at calorimetry, the method for determining the enthalpy value of a reaction.

Definitely do this:

🎥 Watch these videos:

Enthalpy of Reaction by Bozeman Science: An excellent video describing what enthalpy is and how we chemists use this value.
Calorimetry by Crash Course: A good introduction to calorimetry and how we use these techniques to determine the enthalpy of reaction.

📚Read these Fiveable study guides:

6.0 Overview of Unit 6

6.1 Endothermic Processes vs. Exothermic Processes

6.2 Energy Diagrams of Reactions

6.3 Kinetic Energy, Heat Transfer, and Thermal Equilibrium

6.4 Heat Capacity and Coffee-Cup Calorimetry

6.5 Phase Changes and Energy

6.6 Introduction to Enthalpy of Reaction

6.7 Bond Enthalpy and Bond Dissociation Energy

6.8 Enthalpies of Formation

6.9 Hess's Law

✍️ Practice:

2019 FRQ: Number 1, parts (c)-(d) is an excellent question related to calorimetry and experimental design. Number 2, part (g) asks students about bond energies and enthalpy of reaction.
2018 FRQ: Number 1 is an excellent question which represents multiple units. While you might not need every answer, College Board asks questions in such a way that leads you through the question. Parts (d)-(f) particularly relate to Unit 6.

Unit 7: Equilibrium

Big Takeaways:

Most chemical reactions exist in a state of dynamic equilibrium. In other words, the reactants react to make the products at the same rate that the products remake the reactants. This important unit has many implications and connections to the real world. We will quantitatively look at this unit by using the equilibrium expression. We will qualitatively look at this unit using Le Chatelier's Principle.

Definitely do this:

🎥 Watch these videos:

Equilibrium: This video reviews equilibrium and discusses the equilibrium constant.

✍️ Practice:

2019 FRQ: Number 2, Parts (d)-(f) asks students about the equilibrium expression and asks students to determine the equilibrium constant.
Equilibrium

Unit 8: Acids and Bases

Big Takeaways:

In acid-base chemistry, we'll analyze the pathways of free protons, H+ ions, whenever a chemical is dissolved in a solution. In this unit, we'll learn how to measure concentrations of free protons to find the pH and pOH of acids and bases. Afterwards, we move into more complicated chemistry concerning buffers and titrations and how to make calculations based on provided data.

Definitely do this:

🎥 Watch these videos:

✍️ Practice:

2015 AP Chemistry Free Response 3a-f

Unit 9: Application of Thermodynamics

Big Takeaways:

We'll learn about thermodynamic favorability for reactions, or how likely they are to occur given energy changes and environmental factors. First, we'll receive an introduction to entropy and learn about what absolute entropy and entropy change.

Definitely do this:

🎥 Watch these videos:

✍️ Practice: