Free-Response Questions

Your score on the free-response questions (FRQs) amounts to one-half of your grade and, as long-time readers of essays, we assure you that there is no other way to score highly than to know your stuff. While you can guess on a multiple-choice question and have a 1/5 chance of getting the correct answer, there is no room for guessing in this section. There are, however, some tips that you can use to enhance your FRQ scores. 

Obviously, you are not going to receive that point. However, if you proceed by labeling the other points correctly in your incorrect quantity, you would be surprised how forgiving the grading rubric can be. 

Have the last laugh with a well-drawn graph. There are some points that require an explanation (i.e. Describe how. . . ) Not all free-response questions require a graph, but a garbled paragraph of explanation can be saved with a perfect graph that tells the reader you know the answer to the question. This does not work in reverse. . .  

How really means how and why. Questions that ask how one variable is affected by another—and these questions are legion—require an explanation, even if the question doesn t seem to specifically ask how and why. For example, you might be asked to explain how effective nuclear charge affects the atomic radius. If you say that the atomic radius decreases, you may have only received one of two possible points. If you say that this is because effective nuclear charge has increased, you can earn the second point. 

Read the question carefully. The free-response questions tend to be multipart questions. If you do not fully understand one part of the question, you should go on to the next part. The parts tend to be stand-alone. If you make a mistake in one part, you will not be penalized for the same mistake a second time. 

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A complete exam consisting of both multiple-choice and free-response questions. All solutions are fully worked out. 

Samples. Do not go on to a new sample until you thoroughly understand the example you are currently working on. If you do not understand a sample after considerable thought, ask your AP chemistry teacher or fellow classmates how they approached the problem. Be sure to work each sample with pencil and paper as you go through the book. Write out your answer to every free-response question. Practice makes perfect ... 

In the second section of the AP exam, you should begin all questions by numbering your answer. You do not need to work the questions in order. However, the graders must be able to identify quickly which question you are answering. You may wish to underline any key words or key concepts in your answer. Do not underline too much, however, because doing so may obscure your reasons for underlining. In free-response questions that require specific calculations or the determination of products, you may also want to underline or draw a box around your final answer(s). 

Four Techniques for Answering Free-Response Questions... 

No attempt is made here to combine your specific results on the practice AP chemistry free-response questions (Section II) with your multiple-choice results (which is beyond the scope of this book). However, you should have your AP chemistry instructor review your essays before you take the AP exam so that he or she can give you additional pointers. 

Free-response questions account for half of your final score. 

You will receive a test booklet for the free-response section of the test. You will have 95 minutes to answer six questions. These questions may cover any of the material in the AP Chemistry course. Section II consists of two parts. In the first part, you may use a calculator. You will have 55 minutes to answer three questions, the first of which will deal with equilibrium. In the second part, you may not use a calculator. You will have 40 minutes to answer three questions, the first of which will be a reaction question. One of the free-response questions will address laboratory work. The first part will account for 60% of your... 

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