<p>I'm planning to self study AP Chemistry, is it necessary to do the labs to get a 5? I asked the AP Chem teacher at my school and he said that there are FRQ questions about labs and such.</p>
<p>No. This is the thing about AP Chem that separates from the rest of the APs. To earn the credit for first-year-chemistry, you need only the exam. However, if you are looking into skipping the first-year, you need both the exam and the labs.</p>
<p>No, I’m not really concerned about skipping first year labs or whatnot. I was just wondering if not doing labs will hamper my chances of getting a 5 on the actual test.</p>
<p>Anyways, I looked up the CliffsAP Chem book on Amazon and it seems like they have a section for the chem labs. I guess I can read up on those.</p>
<p>An AP chem teacher would tell you yes. But the reality is, the test only covers how to design and set up a lab. Actually doing AP labs, where you’re told exactly what you should do and how you should do it, doesn’t help with that much.</p>
<p>2009 AP Chem Exam, there was a lab question for the Free Response. It seemed difficult for me since I didn’t have much lab experience in my AP Chem Class (only three labs total). I thought I was screwed. However, the first half was actually easy. Score came in: I received a 5 on the exam.</p>
<p>So, even if there’s a lab question, you’ll eventually figure it out if it’s in FR. MC - just skip if you can’t do it.</p>
<p>The labs might help, but only because they help you understand the concepts. As jerry4445 explained, if you understand the concept and experiment setup well enough you’ll probably be able to figure out.
I too took the 2009 test, and the lab question was not a lab I had ever completed, but I felt confident in my answer because I understood what needed to be determined.
If you’re still worried, most prep books should have experiment overviews covered to give you some lab background.
Good luck! :)</p>