What exactly is the difference between AP Chemistry and Honors Chemistry? Is AP Chemistry just accelerated or does it build off on the things you learn in Honors Chemistry?
Chemistry Honors is usually a prerequisite of AP Chemistry.
Ap chemistry is the second level in a sequence started in Honors Chemistry.
At my kid’s HS, most of the smart kids go right from AP Biology to AP Chemistry. A typical smart-kid sequence might be Honors Biology, AP Biology, AP Chem, AP Physics C.
The first month, maybe even the first 2 months of AP Chem is a repeat of Honors Chem.
AP Chem has a lot of topics that need some context. Some other topics, like stoichiometry, are so commonly used that it’s assumed that you have a strong background. My AP Chem class spent only about a week or two on review.
If your school recommends Honors Chem before AP Chem, do yourself a favor and take honors first.
There are differences from HS to HS. I’d suggest you talk to your guidance counselor and current science teacher.
Our high school had regular/Honors Chem as a prerequisite to AP Chem. It’s a hard rule here.
That school is definitely in the minority. Most high schools will require intro chem before AP Chem. The OP really needs to ask the school for the course sequence.
Any other sequence and you’re forced to take 2 science lab classes in one year which is not recommended. Schools here don’t allow you to take an AP class as a freshman, so taking AP Bio as a freshman is out. The schools here only allow you to take 1 AP as a sophomore too. I think you need Biology before taking Chem. So lots of prerequisites and restrictions at play here.
I highly doubt that any HS forces any student to do any such thing. Certainly, no college forces an applicant to do this. A student who wants to jam 3 AP sciences into a 4 year schedule may choose to double up. But again, no college has an expectation than an applicant have every AP science.
Regardless, for the OP and the vast majority of students with a HS curriculum like the OP’s, a student is best served following his/her high school’s sequence since, given the amount of material needing to be covered, I would posit that there are very few AP teachers who are going to gear the lessons to the least-prepared student in the class.
This is less directed towards the OP specifically and more towards anyone interested in taking rigorous AP lab sciences.
As someone who has taken two out of the three “major” AP lab sciences (took AP Biology/AP Chemistry and did not take Physics C), you should not take them without taking a regular or honors high school intro course first. The College Board has constructed these courses explicitly with the intention for them to be level 2 courses in their respective disciplines, meaning they assume significant prior knowledge of the subjects via a formal Biology/Chemistry/Physics 1 course. Even if your school has somehow come up with a way to teach what are supposed to be upper-level science courses to people who have no formal experience with the subjects, it’s probably not a good idea.
So, OP, the answer to your initial question is that AP Chemistry does build off what you learned in Chemistry 1, or at least that’s what CB intended.
double down AP sci subject and skipping prerequisite are two different things. I saw students have 3 AP science in junior but doesn’t mean they skip prerequisite. Of course, I also see one excel triple AP science without fulfill all prerequisite. But if someone has to post and ask, that means s/he is not sure how good s/he is. Then probably don’t worth to risk.
Going along with everyone else here, AP Chem is the second Chem course a student would take once they’ve completed AP Chem. If you jump right into AP Chem without Chem Honors, you’re going to be really confused when you walk into that class because all these students remember what they learned from last year and you’d have no clue what Avogadro’s Law is.
My AP Chem class skipped all the topics from honors chem.It also depends on the school and teacher.
I just took AP Chemistry without Honors Chem. It basically builds off Honors, but since my school doesn’t make it a prerequisite, the summer homework was honors along with some quick review at the beginning of the year. If Honors isn’t a prerequisite, the class is still going to be difficult, but your teacher might do a review with honors topics.
At my school the AP Chem Units are: Acid Base Stoich and Equilibria, Thermochemistry, Gas Laws, Chemical Kinetics, Buffers, Solubility Equilibria, Acid-Base Equilibrium, Equilibrium, Electrochem, Light and Periodicity, Bonding Hybridization, and Intermolecular Forces.
Honors is Radioactivity, Light and Periodicity, some thermochem, bonding, intermolecular forces, along with an introduction to stoichiometry and the periodic table
A lot of AP Chem is easier if you understand the honors concepts. But I did just fine without it.
Honors Chemistry is like regular high school chemistry, just covering more chapters and at a faster pace. AP chem is the college level version and is much harder and more in depth than regular or honors chemistry. You also need to remember everything you learned from regular/honors chemistry to do well in AP
At my school, honors chem is the prerequisite. The teacher will not allow you to take it without honors, even if you took chem advanced before. In my opinion, I think that’s a good way to go about it since AP Chem does build off of honors topics throughout the year, not just in the beginning. I had to do this track, and it made the material easier to tackle.