Award-Winning AP Chemistry Tutors serving Durham

The student had a study guide for her final exam. We went over subjects that she wanted to review: periodic trends, electronegativity, electron affinity, ionization energy, dilutions, gas laws, specific heat, and reaction types. She is much more comfortable with the older material now than when we started reviewing for the final a few weeks ago. She still needs to be mindful of making minor mistakes.

Began covering chapters they will learn this coming year. Chapters 1 and 2 are mostly common knowledge, terminology, and generic scientific method exposure. He followed my explanation well and seemed to pick things up quickly, despite being his first experience with chemistry. We will see how he progresses through more difficult material in coming sessions.

Today we finished covering the topics in the Unit 7 assignment. We reviewed Thermochemistry concepts and calculations, Reaction Kinetics, and Le Chatelier's principle. Then, the student completed the Unit 7 Review Questions that covered all of the Unit 7 assignments. The student became comfortable with the thermochemistry calculations and Le Chatelier's predictions. I told her that I would make a copy of a Reaction Kinetics worksheet that I have so that she can study and become more familiar with Collision Theory. Finally, we reviewed how to calculate pH, pOH, H+ and OH- using the formulas provided on the AP Equations sheet. The student remembered these equations and easily performed the calculations. We also checked the calculator policies for the AP test to make sure that the student is practicing with the calculator that she will use on her test.

We began the session by getting the student's baseline. After the baseline was determined, we discussed the chapter that covered ionization energy and the Bohr model of the atom. The student is very intelligent and grasped the conceptual material very well.

The student and I reviewed the structure of lipids and organic nomenclature for upcoming exams. For bio we discussed how a fat is formed by a dehydration reaction with an aldehyde and carboxyl chain. We then discussed the basics of naming, such as determining if the structure is an alkane, alkene, or alkyne. Then we discussed naming small functional groups attached to the larger chain. He's easy to teach, and I think he learns new topics quickly.

We reviewed concepts for his first test. He seemed to be pretty good with the concepts so we went through some practice problems. I suggested that he stay as organized as possible while studying and to go through his notes on a more systematic manner so he doesn't get overwhelmed.