AP Chemistry Summer Assignment
1. Students will review first three chapter notes and answer sample exercises and do practice
test at the end of notes. (Ignore the homework problems from the book as you do not have
a book)
2. Students will access the College Board web site and read the Course description of the AP
course. Document the Learning Objectives for each of the 6 Big Ideas in a notebook that
will be used in the class. We will check these objectives off as you learn each objective.
3. Memorize the polyatomic ions attached
4. Complete the naming, forming ions and writing reactions worksheets. These should be a
review.
A helpful website to use for students is sciencegeek.net. There are links and videos in addition
to review activities to help with the summer assignment. Please make use of them.
PART 1: COMMON IONS
This part of the summer assignment for AP Chemistry is quite simple. You need to master the
formulas, charges, and names of the common ions. During the first week of school your will be
given a quiz on these ions. You will be asked to:
• write the names of these ions when given the formula and charge
• write the formula and charge when given the names
I have included several resources in this packet. First, there is a list of the ions that you must know
on the first day. Some of the monatomic ions are based on their placement on the periodic table
and should be quite simple. There are naming patterns that greatly simplify the learning of the
polyatomic ions as well.
Also included is a copy of the periodic table used in AP Chemistry. Notice that this is not the table
used in first year chemistry. The AP table is the same that the College Board allows you to use on
the AP Chemistry test. Notice that it has the symbols of the elements but not the written names.
Common Ions and Their Charges
A mastery of the common ions, their formulas and their charges, is essential to success in
AP Chemistry. You are expected to know all of these ions on the first day of class, when I will
give you a quiz on them. You will always be allowed a periodic table, which makes identifying
the ions on the left “automatic.” For tips on learning these ions, see the next page.
Cation
Fe3+
Fe2+
Cu2+
Cu1+
Co3+
Name
Iron (III)
Iron (II)
Copper (II)
Copper (I)
Cobalt (III)
Anion
NO2NO3SO32_
SO42HSO4-
Co2+
Sn4+
Sn2+
Pb4+
Cobalt (II)
Tin (IV)
Tin (II)
Lead (IV)
OHCNPO43HPO42-
Pb2+
Lead (II)
H2PO4-
Hg2+
Mercury (II)
NCS-
Hg21+
Ag1+
Mercury (I)
Silver
CO32HCO3-
Zn2+
NH4+
Zinc
Ammonium
ClOClO2-
Name
Nitrite
Nitrate
Sulfite
Sulfate
Hydrogen
sulfate
hydroxide
cyanide
phosphate
Hydrogen
phosphate
Dihydrogen
phosphate
thiocyanate
carbonate
Hydrogen
carbonate
Hypochlorite
chlorite
Anion
ClO3ClO4C2H3O2MnO4Cr2O72-
Name
chlorate
perchlorate
acetate
permanganate
dichromate
CrO42O22C2O42NH2-
Chromate
peroxide
oxalate
amide
BO33-
borate
S2O32-
Thiosulfate
TIPS FOR LEARNING IONS
1. Ions can be either positive or negative. They can be monatomic or a molecule with a
charge (polyatomic)
2. In predicting the charge on monatomic ions, their place on the table suggests the charge
on the ion.
a. All Group 1 Elements (alkali metals) lose one electron to form an ion with a 1+ charge
b. All Group 2 Elements lose two electrons to form an ion with a 2+ charge
c. Group 13 metals like aluminum lose three electrons to form an ion with a 3+ charge
d. All Group 17 Elements (halogens) gain one electron to form an ion with a 1- charge
e. All Group 16 nonmetals gain two electrons to form an ion with a 2- charge
f. All Group 15 nonmetals gain three electrons to form an ion with a 3- charge
Notice that cations keep their name (sodium ion, calcium ion) while anions get an “-ide” ending
(chloride ion, oxide ion).
3. Metals that can form more than one ion will have their positive charge denoted by a roman
numeral in parenthesis immediately next to the name of the
Polyatomic Anions
Most of the work on memorization occurs with these ions, but there are a number of patterns
that can greatly reduce the amount of memorizing that one must do.
1. “ate” anions have one more oxygen then the “ite” ion, but the same charge. If you memorize
the “ate” ions, then you should be able to derive the formula for the “ite” ion and vice-versa.
a. sulfate is SO42-, so sulfite has the same charge but one less oxygen (SO32-)
b. nitrate is NO3-, so nitrite has the same charge but one less oxygen (NO2-)
2. If you know that a sufate ion is SO42- then to get the formula for hydrogen sulfate ion, you add
a hydrogen ion to the front of the formula. Since a hydrogen ion has a 1+ charge, the net charge
on the new ion is less negative by one.a. Example:
PO43- � HPO42- � H2PO43. Learn the hypochlorite � chlorite � chlorate � perchlorate series, and you also know the
series containing iodite/iodate as well as bromite/bromate.
a. The relationship between the “ite” and “ate” ion is predictable, as always. Learn one and you
know the other.
b. The prefix “hypo” means “under” or “too little” (think “hypodermic”, “hypothermic” or
“hypoglycemia”)
i. Hypochlorite is “under” chlorite, meaning it has one less oxygen
c. The prefix “hyper” means “above” or “too much” (think “hyperkinetic”)
i. the prefix “per” is derived from “hyper” so perchlorate (hyperchlorate) has one more oxygen
than chlorate.
d. Notice how this sequence increases in oxygen while retaining the same charge:
Below are flashcards you can print. Glue the two pages together then cut them out They
should line up with the correct polyaotmics.
Sulfite
Sulfate
Hydrogen
sulfate
phosphate
Hydrogen
phosphate
Dihydrogen
phosphate
nitrite
nitrate
ammonium
thiocyanate
carbonate
Hydrogen
carbonate
borate
chromate
dichromate
permanganate
oxalate
amide
hydroxide
cyanide
acetate
peroxide
hypochlorite
chlorite
chlorate
perchlorate
thiosulfate
HSO4-
SO42-
SO32-
HPO42-
HPO42-
PO43-
NH4+
NO3-
NO2-
HCO3-
CO32-
SCN-
Cr2O72-
CrO42-
BO33-
NH2-
C2O42-
MnO4-
C2H3O2-
CN-
OH-
ClO2-
ClO-
O22-
S2O32-
ClO4-
ClO3-
PRACTICE PROBLEMS ON NET IONIC EQUATIONS
Show the total ionic and net ionic forms of the following equations. If all species are spectator ions,
please indicate that no reaction takes place. Note! You need to make sure the original equation is
balanced before proceeding! A set of solubility rules are given at the end of this document.
1. AgNO3(aq) + KCl(aq)  AgCl(s) + KNO3(aq)
2. Mg(NO3)2(aq) + Na2CO3(aq)  MgCO3(s) + NaNO3(aq)
3. strontium bromide(aq) + potassium sulfate(aq)  strontium sulfate(s) + potassium bromide(aq)
4. manganese(II)chloride(aq) + ammonium carbonate(aq)  manganese(II)carbonate(s) +
ammonium chloride(aq)
Please complete the following reactions, and show the total ionic and net ionic forms of the
equation:
5. MgSO4(aq) + Al(NO3)3(aq) 
6. CaI2(aq) + Ag2SO4(aq) 
7. Cu(NO3)3(aq) + NaBr(aq) 
8. Silver nitrate + ammonium phosphate 
Solubility Rules
1. All salts of Group IA, and ammonium are soluble.
2. All salts of nitrates, chlorates and acetates are soluble.
3. All salts of halides are soluble except those of silver(I), copper(I), lead(II), and mercury(I).
4. All salts of sulfate are soluble except for barium sulfate, lead(II) sulfate, and strontium sulfate.
5. All salts of carbonate, phosphate and sulfite are insoluble, except for those of group IA and ammonium.
6. All oxides and hydroxides are insoluble except for those of group IA, calcium, strontium and barium.
7. All salts of sulfides are insoluble except for those of Group IA and IIA elements and of ammonium.
Mixed Ionic/Covalent Compound Naming
For each of the following questions, STATE whether the compound is ionic or covalent
and name it appropriately.
1)
Na2CO3 _________________________________________
2)
P2O5 _________________________________________
3)
NH3 _________________________________________
4)
FeSO4 _________________________________________
5)
SiO2 _________________________________________
6)
GaCl3 _________________________________________
7)
CoBr2 _________________________________________
8)
B2H4 _________________________________________
9)
CO _________________________________________
10)
H2 _________________________________________
For each of the following questions, determine whether the compound is ionic or
covalent and write the appropriate formula for it.
11)
dinitrogen trioxide _________________________________________
12)
nitrogen _________________________________________
13)
sodium phosphate_________________________________________
14)
lithium acetate _________________________________________
15)
phosphorus trifluoride _________________________________________
16)
vanadium (V) oxide _________________________________________
17)
aluminum hydroxide _________________________________________
18)
calcium sulfide _________________________________________
19)
silicon tetrafluoride _________________________________________
20)
aluminum phosphate _________________________________________