Nov 17, 2016 | AP, Big Idea 2 |
Maybe I teach this topic really, really badly. I think what’s closer to the truth, is that it takes time for kids to get a good handle on the semantics and language of bonding terminology. Teaching AP Chemistry to sophomores that have no chemistry background, in...
Jan 22, 2016 | AP, Big Idea 2 |
An age old problem that I’ve become a little weary of addressing, so let’s clear this up really quickly and really simply. No biologists, breaking bonds does NOT ‘release energy’, and here’s why. Bond breaking is an endothermic process...
Nov 27, 2015 | AP, Big Idea 2 |
I’ve just finished grading a test on bonding done by my AP students, and as usual, there are several issues relating to the phraseology and wording of their answers that need to be corrected. I’ve addressed these problems previously here (and you should...
Feb 11, 2015 | AP, AP TOPIC 08, Big Idea 2 |
A question came up on the College Board’s AP chemistry discussion group recently that I have seen many times before (including many variations of the same), and that often confuses students. It usually looks something like this; The fact that the nitrogen-to-oxygen...
Jan 1, 2013 | AP, Big Idea 2, Writing Good Answers |
Updated 11/16/13 After the positive reaction to this post, @mcford19 suggested that I write another, similar one about writing good answers to AP Bonding questions. Here it is. Again, here I am not really trying to address the chemistry per se, rather I’m trying...