Barron’s asks questions and it seems like I’m supposed to already know how to set up the reactions. I’m supposed to know calcium carbonate and hydrochloric acid yield carbon dioxide, water, and calcium chloride? Am I supposed to memorize all the reactions like this or is there some method to doing this? I understand the metal + nonmetal bondings easily because they’re simpler but what about these longer ones?
Yes you do need to know several types of reactions including the one you mentioned. Did you take a chemistry class or you self study? A lot of those reactions come up in class when you study specific chapters. There are also labs you do during the year that helps you remember. If you self study and have no lab experience it is harder to learn everything in a short amount of time. In general everything form Barron’s you will need to know more or less. For example you do not need to remember all the constants but be able to solve a problem when that constant is provided. Another example, activation energy you do not need to memorize all the element one by one but you do need to know in general about where they fall in the chart (very high on top, very low on bottom, before or after H). There is a lot to remember for the chem test if you are just learning them right now and have no experience.
Is Princeton not enough for a 800?