AP® Chemistry Crash Course, 2nd Ed., Book + Online: Get a Higher Score in Less Time (Advanced Placement (AP) Crash Course)

From the perspective of an AP student:This book is fantastic in preparing you for the exam, or for tests in an AP chemistry class. I used it for both, and it did it's job well for both. I will update with my AP score (I am more than confident that I earned a 5) later.This book is to the point on all topics. It tells you exactly what you need to know to solve the problems and explain the concepts (the topic and test aren't all math-based, after all) on both the MC and FRQ sections of the test, and IT MAKES SENSE.This book is perfect for learning and/or reviewing the content, and I would recommend it to someone who's already on track for a 5 who wants to review to ensure their score, or someone who is facing the threat of a 1 and needs to learn as much as possible as efficiently as possible.It has a few practice problems at the end of (almost) each chapter (the extent of these problems depends on how much content was covered in the chapter) that are great for checking your understanding.HOWEVER, this book does not offer enough practice problems to be sufficient alone for anyone self-studying (or anyone intent on improving their score through lots of practice rather than only reading to understand the content). STILL BUY THE BOOK; just pair it with lots of practice problems. Learnerator.com offers a great multiple choice question bank that's FREE for easy and medium questions (difficult questions cost $10 I think: you can complete some of the free questions before deciding whether or not to pay for the difficult questions) ( [...]. Also FREE, college board's apcentral website with released FRQ portions of past AP chemistry exams with grading keys and more. This is the best resource for FRQs because they are all written by the company that writes the test you will take: same difficulty and representations of different topics. Use the current test format questions ( [...] as well as old test format questions ( [...], as they are very similar. They test almost all the same content with minor exceptions (the new exam covers a little less breadth of material, so don't stress when you don't understand organic chemistry or other topics like that on the old questions).For other paid materials and books check out the Princeton Review book; it has good explanations of the topics (a little wordier than Crash Course, but still easily understandable), and it has *lots* of good problems after each chapter and 2 full-length tests, so that's a strong contender. The D&S marketing AP chemistry book has good practice problems that reinforce the concepts well and provide thorough repetition (although you must buy in quantities of 10+ so it should only really be purchased by teachers for classes). I would not recommend the 5 steps to a 5 500 practice problems book, as it is plagued by errors. I have not seen the Sterling test prep book, but it is dedicated to questions and answers, so that may be a good bet to pair with the mostly content-dedicated Crash Course book.Overall: BUY THIS BOOK for AP chemistry: it's the best book out there for content-learning. Just remember to pair it with some extra practice.

I bought copies of this review guide for my AP chemistry class about a month before the exam. The book broke the class into several units of study (ex: Types of chemical reactions, kinetics and equilibrium, electrochemistry, etc.). The book also provides worked-out problems and practice problems at the end of each unit.

I'm an AP Chem teacher- I LOVE the book! The content is spot on for test material. I was disappointed that there are only a few practice questions. Test prep requires test practice. This is not the traditional test prep book- it's strictly content with only one or two questions per topic. It would have been better with at least one practice test in the book itself. * The online practice test needs much work- FR questions instructions are for the old format. Test does not have rigor of real AP exams. Questions are awkwardly worded where diagrams clearly belong in MC. Shy on rigorous questions relevant to particle diagrams, graphs, and charts. Wording in some questions was not AP style- "comment on" in the free response rather than "explain" or "justify" -the closer the practice is to the test, the better instrument it is. "Diagnostics " online are inaccurate, too broad or do not exist. I would not give the online test to my students nor suggest that they purchase other practice quizzes at the REA site- they are out of date on content, though I would have them buy the book for reference.

Superbly helpful! I know REA's crash course books tend to fall flat when it comes to math and science subjects, but this one was well done. I did my research before purchasing this book, and the author, Adrian Dingle, is a highly trustworthy source and always in the know when it comes to what is/isn't on the AP Chem Exam, and what college board wants from us (just check out his blog). Many things he emphasized in the book (like CB's obsession with coulombic attractions in a ton of the questions) was reflected on the AP Exam today. And he's right about how the questions are generally fluffy and context hardly matters—just figure out the chemistry concept they're looking for. It can be the case that you have a brilliant teacher (as I did), but you might not really know how to approach Chemistry in College Board's world. Between Dingle's free blog and this relatively cheap book, if you supplement this with released practice exams and paying attention throughout the year you can feel really good coming out of this typically intimidating test. Not sure what I got (I'll update this in July), but I'm hoping for a 4 or 5.

I'm an AP Chemistry teacher and I highly recommend it. I've been teaching AP Chemistry for 8 years and have a higher than the national average pass rate. I first got it to help some of my students who were in CP chemistry catch up to the honors chemistry kids in AP. I saw definite improvements in those students in class test scores. It was so well loved that within weeks almost every student bought a copy. What's nice is they actually read it. I honestly have never had such a positive response on a study aid. The students took notes in them and quite a few put it on the things to take to college list. It really is a great no nonsense quick read that establishes/re-establishes foundational knowledge on all AP topics. The students also used it to help them focus while I was teaching, since many AP books can have chapters so thick, it's hard for the students to get a grip on the main concepts. I actually bought the AP Physics and AP Calc editions for my daughter.