Descriptive chemistry includes predicting products and periodic trends, which were covered in previous tutorials.

 Colored compounds

There are several common colored compounds—both soluble and insoluble

 Transition metals are often colored.

 Many oxides produce colored compounds

 Organic chemistry

Organic chemistry is the study of carbon-containing molecules.  Simple organic compounds can be found on the AP Exam.  Compounds that contain only hydrogen and carbon are hydrocarbons, but many organic molecules contain functional groups.  The most common, simple functional groups:

Haloalkane: Halogen replacing a hydrogen on the hydrocarbon; Alcohol: “-OH” replacing a hydrogen on the hydrocarbon; Carboxylic acid: “-COOH” replacing a hydrogen on a hydrocarbon

 Properties of organic chemistry

Most are insoluble in water, except: The smallest hydrocarbons and molecules that are polar or have the ability to hydrogen-bond (especially the smaller ones).  When they do dissolve in water, they do not dissociate except for carboxylic acids, which are weak acids.

 Hydrocarbons: Low melting/boiling points, London Dispersion Forces only, insoluble in water
Haloalkanes: Polar molecules, can exhibit dipole IMF, have higher melting/boiling points than hydrocarbons and are more soluble in water.
Alcohols:  polar molecules, can exhibit dipole & hydrogen bonding IMF, have higher melting/boiling points than hydrocarbons and are more soluble
Carboxylic acids: polar molecules, can exhibit dipole & hydrogen bonding IMF’s, having higher melting/boiling points and are more soluble.  Are weak acids—dissociate weakly.

 Naming simple organic compounds

Carbons are counted in the longest chain, starting from the carbon closest to the functional group. 

Prefixes are used to denote number of carbons

Number	Prefix
1	Meth-
2	Eth-
3	Prop-
4	But-
5	Pent-
6	Hex-
7	Hept-
8	Oct-
9	Non-
10	Dec-

 Suffixes are used for functional groups:

Type	Suffix
Alkane	-ane
Alkene	-ene
Alkyne	-yne
Alcohol	-ol
Carboxylic acid	-ic acid

Flash Movie	Flash Game	Flash Card
Core Concept Tutorial	Problem Solving Drill	Review Cheat Sheet

Descriptive chemistry is the knowledge of descriptive facts in chemistry.  10-15% of the AP exam is devoted to descriptive chemistry.  Two previous tutorials covered much of the descriptive chemistry on the exam (09: Predicting products and 13: Utilizing the Periodic Table), but this tutorial covers colored compounds and simple organic chemistry.

Specific Tutorial Features:

• How do these questions look on the AP Exam?

 Series Features:

• Concept map showing inter-connections of new concepts in this tutorial and those previously introduced.
• Definition slides introduce terms as they are needed.
• Visual representation of concepts
• Animated examples—worked out step by step
• A concise summary is given at the conclusion of the tutorial.

• Descriptive chemistry
• Colored Compounds
• Organic compounds
  • Hydrocarbons
  • Functional Groups
  • Properties of organic molecules
  • Naming simple organic molecules
  • Isomers
• Descriptive chemistry & the AP Exam