<p>I am in the process of memorizing the periodic table of elements.</p>
<p>The problem is that I've looked at multiple periodic tables, and some of vary on the synthetic elements (some only go up to 109, others to 112 and even some to 118).</p>
<p>My question: Is the AP exam going to require I know these elements? I have no problem memorizing, I'm just curious if its necessary. Also, do we need to know the unnamed elements (Uut, Uuq, etc.) and how the naming works?</p>
<p>It is not absolutely necessary to know the full names of Uut, Uuq, etc., but at the very least know their molar masses to two decimal places.</p>
<p>The molar mass is on the given period table, right?</p>
<p>What are you doing, the only thing you even need to know are the names for the corresponding symbol on the periodic table.</p>
<p>O –> oxygen
You are given a periodic table so you don’t need to memorize anything else.</p>
<p>anyone’s results delayed?</p>
<p>monarchy, I was under the impression that we needed to memorize the charges as well?</p>
<p>It may be helpful to know common oxidation states (charges), especially with transition metals, but really you should only memorize the names that correspond to the element’s symbol. For Polyatomic ions, you should know the charges. PO4 -3, C2H3O2 -, O2 -2 (peroxide), etc. They will, sometimes, just throw out a name of a polyatomic and expect you to know it’s charge and it’s molecular composition. Also, one more thing to memorize on the periodic table, is periodic trends. Across the table and up to Fluorine is more electronegative and higher ionization energy, and down and across to to Francium the atomic radius increases, etc.</p>
<p>The best way to remember the polyatomic ions is to use “Nick the Camel.”</p>
<p>Number of vowels = charge
Number of consonants = number of oxygen atoms </p>
<p>Have fun :)! </p>
<p>Nick - Nitrate; NO3 -
the
Camel - Carbonate; CO2 3-
ate a
Clam - Chlorate; ClO3 -
for
Supper - Sulfate; SO4 2-
in
Phoenix - Phosphate; PO4 3-
on
Crates - Chromate; CrO4 2-</p>
<p>Not every polyatomic ion is represented by Nick - e.g. acetate (CH3COO -) and bromate (BrO3 -).</p>
<p>There’s no need to consciously memorize the periodic table. The exam is not largely based referencing it; I don’t even remember using it for the 2011 exam. It might help for the class though. You’ll probably be using carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen quite a lot, so it helps to memorize the molar mass to speed things up (though again, the memorization just comes naturally once you use it so many times).</p>
<p>@IceCube</p>
<p>That’s so good! My teacher was smart, but never taught us polyatomics like that!</p>
<p>@bluewind - thank you! </p>
<p>I hope it is of use to other students! Spread the word about Nick the Camel :)!</p>