Welcome
to Chemistry
- You have most likely heard that chemistry
test are hard. Some students will tell you they are full of 'trick questions'.
Others will tell you they studied for hours and failed. Others will
tell you tests are not terrible at all.
The honest situation
is this - you must read carefully, think clearly and know the material
being tested. You must be able to do more than recall defiitions and
recognize key terms. To pass a test, you must be able to apply the concepts
to new as well as familiar situations. You must understand lab activites
well enough to recognize the goals and explain the techniques used to
meet those goals.
Tests are usually
15-25 multiple choice and true/false questions, 3-8 calculations showing
work and one essay. In surveying students over the years, the overwhelming
majority say the multiple choice questions are the hardest part of the
test. Students have trouble choosing the correct answer when other true
statements are included in the choices. Just because a true statement
is found as an answer choice, it doesn't mean it answers the questions
being asked! Think and apply what you know to answer the QUESTIONS.
Also, just because the answer choice "all of these are correct"
or "none of these are correct" is available doesn't mean you
have to choose that! Again - read carefully what the question asks and
what the answers really say. Pay attention to for the words -NOT and
NO.
So you ask yourself - why
do they do this to us? Why not make it easy? Well, the point of the
course is to become scientifically literate in chemistry and/or insure
your ability to succeed in college science. so you say - I'm taking
easy science in college - I'm not a science majore. OK - to get to college
you have to take exams - the SAT or ACT. And what type of questions
do you find there? Multiple choice - with true statements as answer
choices that don't answer the question asked!
Sorry,
but you cannot take the test in your pajamas.
Essay Question Topics
You will be asked to address one question related to the topics listed here.
The question needs to be answered using the concepts, vocabulary and methods
we have discussed in class.
These are not the questions, but the topics of the questions.
Preparing an outline of information related to the topics will prepare you
to write your essay.
Preparing specific examples that illustrate the information will prepare
you to write your essay.
topic #1 - How matter is classified by composition
topic #2 - precision and accuracy in measurement
Practice Multiple Choice Questions
Please
understand that these are practice questions.
DO NOT
expect identical questions to appear on the test.
Do not
use this as your only source of study and preparation.
1. Which of the following involves no
chemical change?
a. burning paper
b. boiling water
c. baking a cake
d. driving a car
e. none of these involve chemical change
f. all of these involve chemical change
2. Which of the following is an extensive
property?
a. melting point
b. freezing point
c. reactivity with acid
d. density
e. none of these are extensive
f. all of these are extensive
3. Which choice below correctly gives
the symbols for the elements: iron, sodium, sulfur and potassium?
a. Fe, S, Si, P
b. I, S, Su, P
c. Fe, Na, S, K
d. I, S, Na, K
4. Which choice below gives all measurements
showing three signficiant figures?
a. 0.003 g, 300 g, and 3.30 kg
b. 0.00300 g, 3.00 x 10-3
g and 2.30 kg
c. 300.000 g, 2.22 x 10-3
g and 300 kg
d. .0003g, 3 x 10-3 g and
300.0 kg
5. In a chemical change,
a. a gas must be evolved
b. the material afterwards is a different
substance
c. a phase change occurs
d. heat, light or energy is always released
e. all of these
6. An example of a pure substance would
be
a. elements
b. compounds
c. pure water
d. carbon dioxide
e. all of these
7. In seperating a mixture, the process involves
a. chemcial changes
b. chemical properties
c. physical properties
d. physcial and chemical changes
8. A sample of a pure substance contains
a. only one type of atom or molecule
b. only one type of element or solution
c. only one type of atom
d. only one mixture.
9. An element is a collection of a single type of
a. atom
b. solution
c. molecule
d. alloy
10. A mixture can be distinguished from a compound by
a. the production of a gas
b. its lack of color
c. only containing one type of atom in a sample
d. differing amounts of elements found.in a sample
Ok - how did you do? Why
did you miss those questions that were wrong?
If your answer to this question
includes some form of the statement "I didn't see that" - it is a
signal that you need to be very careful as you read to pick up on all the word
cues that guide you to an answer.
If your answer to this question
includes some form of the statement " I didn't know that"- its a signal
you need to spend more time studying your notes and text.
If you have spent the time
to work through this practice - congratulations on having some well used study
time!
Chemistry
- Basic Skills for Science - Unit 1