Look, the 2017 AP Chemistry exam was a bit of a beast. Honestly, it's been years, but students still hunt down those AP Chem 2017 FRQ answers because that specific test hit a "sweet spot" of conceptual misery. It wasn't just about plugging numbers into an equation. It was about knowing why the electrons were moving or why a specific precipitate formed. If you’re staring at Question 1 right now and wondering why your math isn't matching the scoring guidelines, don't sweat it. You're definitely not alone.
Most people think they can just memorize the periodic table and sail through. Nope. The 2017 Free Response section proved that the College Board cares way more about your ability to explain chemical behavior than your ability to use a calculator.
The Absolute Nightmare of Question 1: Methanoic Acid
Question 1 is usually supposed to be the "warm-up" long question, but 2017 decided to go heavy on the buffers and titrations. You had methanoic acid ($HCOOH$) reacting with sodium hydroxide ($NaOH$). Most students got the initial pH calculation right—standard equilibrium stuff. But then it asked for the net ionic equation.
Here is where the wheels fell off for a lot of people. You have to remember that methanoic acid is weak. It stays mostly together in the equation. If you wrote $H^+ + OH^- \rightarrow H_2O$, you lost the point. It had to be $HCOOH + OH^- \rightarrow HCOO^- + H_2O$. It seems like a tiny detail, but in the world of AP Chem 2017 FRQ answers, that distinction is the difference between a 4 and a 5.
Later in that same question, they threw in a part about the particulate level. They wanted you to draw or identify what’s actually in the beaker at the equivalence point. Hint: It’s not just water. You’ve got that conjugate base ($HCOO^-$) hanging out, which makes the solution slightly basic. If you didn't account for the hydrolysis of the salt, your explanation for why the pH was above 7.0 was basically toast.
Question 2 and the PES Complexity
Photoelectron Spectroscopy (PES). You either love it or you hate it. In 2017, the exam focused on the PES of magnesium vs. neon. This is a classic conceptual trap.
Students often look at the peaks and think, "Okay, more protons equals a bigger pull, so the peaks shift left." That's true, but you have to explain it using Coulomb’s Law. If you didn't mention the effective nuclear charge or the distance of the electrons from the nucleus, the graders weren't giving out the points. The 2017 exam was obsessed with the "why."
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The Aluminum and Iodine Reaction
Then came the thermodynamics of $Al$ and $I_2$. This part of the AP Chem 2017 FRQ answers involves $\Delta H$, $\Delta S$, and $\Delta G$. The big takeaway here? Entropy. When you go from solid reactants to a solid product, entropy decreases. It’s a messy, exothermic reaction, but the "disorder" goes down. If you missed the sign on your $\Delta S$, your $\Delta G$ calculation was doomed from the start.
That Pesky Chromatography Question
Question 3 shifted gears into intermolecular forces (IMFs) and paper chromatography. It feels easy. It feels like middle school science until they ask you to compare the Rf values of two different dyes based on their polarity.
You had to look at the solvent—propanol and water—and determine which dye was more "attracted" to the mobile phase versus the stationary phase (the paper). If the dye traveled further, it was more like the solvent. If it stayed near the bottom, it liked the paper more. The 2017 answers required you to name the specific IMFs. You couldn't just say "it's more polar." You had to mention London dispersion forces, dipole-dipole interactions, or hydrogen bonding. Be specific or go home. That was the 2017 vibe.
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Dealing with the Short Questions (4-7)
The short questions are supposed to be quick hits, but they can be deceptively tricky.
- Question 4: Kinetics. They gave a mechanism and asked for the rate law. Remember, the slow step is the bottleneck. If the slow step has an intermediate, you have to substitute it out using the fast initial step.
- Question 5: Gases. This one dealt with $P, V, n, R, T$. Standard ideal gas law, right? Mostly. But they asked about the pressure change when the temperature increases. You had to talk about the frequency and force of collisions with the walls of the container.
- Question 6: Solubility Product. $K_{sp}$ is the bane of many existences. You had to calculate the molar solubility of $Fe(OH)_2$ in a buffered solution. This combined equilibrium with pH, which is a classic College Board move to see if you can juggle two concepts at once.
- Question 7: Spectrophotometry and Beer’s Law. If you didn't know that $A = abc$ (Absorbance = molar absorptivity $\times$ path length $\times$ concentration), you were in trouble. They also asked what would happen if the cuvette had a fingerprint on it. The answer? Light gets scattered, absorbance goes up, and your calculated concentration looks higher than it actually is.
Why Everyone Messes Up the Justifications
The biggest mistake people make when checking AP Chem 2017 FRQ answers isn't the math. It’s the prose.
The College Board graders use a "claim, evidence, reasoning" (CER) framework even if they don't explicitly call it that. If you just state a fact—like "the boiling point is higher"—without linking it to the strength of the London dispersion forces caused by a larger, more polarizable electron cloud, you aren't getting the point.
In 2017, there was a specific emphasis on "polarizability." It’s a fancy word that basically means "how easily can I squish the electron cloud?" Larger molecules have more electrons, which makes them more polarizable, which leads to stronger temporary dipoles. If you used the word "bond" instead of "intermolecular force" when talking about boiling points, they likely marked you wrong. Bonds are inside the molecule; IMFs are between them. Mixing those up is a fatal error.
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The Reality of the 2017 Scoring Curve
Don't let the complexity scare you. The scoring curve for this year was actually somewhat generous because the questions were so conceptually dense. You don't need a perfect score to get a 5. In fact, on most AP Chem exams, you only need about 70-75% of the total points to land that top score.
When you look at the AP Chem 2017 FRQ answers provided by the College Board, they often show the "ideal" answer. Your answer doesn't have to be a masterpiece of literature. It just needs the right keywords and the correct logical flow.
Strategies for Conquering These Types of Questions
If you're practicing with the 2017 set right now, stop just reading the answers. That’s passive. It doesn't stick.
- Do the problem blind. Give yourself the actual 10 or 20 minutes allotted.
- Grade yourself harshly. Use the official 2017 scoring guidelines. If you missed a keyword like "coulombic attraction," don't give yourself the point.
- Identify your "Zero Point" areas. Did you miss the math or the concept? If it’s math, you need to practice unit conversions and sig figs. If it’s concept, you need to go back to your textbook and look at periodic trends or thermodynamics.
- Watch the units. The 2017 exam had several spots where Joules and Kilojoules were mixed up. That will ruin your $\Delta G = \Delta H - T\Delta S$ calculation every single time.
- Draw it out. Even if the question doesn't ask for a drawing, sketching the molecules or a quick graph of the energy levels can help you visualize what's actually happening.
The 2017 FRQs are a gold mine for study material because they cover almost every major unit in the curriculum. From the nuances of weak acid titration to the specifics of PES and chromatography, it's a comprehensive check of your chemistry knowledge. Use it as a diagnostic tool. If you can master the logic behind the AP Chem 2017 FRQ answers, you're well on your way to handled whatever the current exam throws at you.
Your Next Steps for Mastery
- Download the official PDF of the 2017 scoring guidelines from the College Board website to see the exact point breakdowns.
- Focus on the "Explain" prompts. Re-write your justifications for Questions 1, 2, and 3 until you can include terms like "effective nuclear charge," "polarizability," and "hydrolysis" without second-guessing yourself.
- Practice the math-heavy sections of Question 2 and 6 repeatedly to ensure you aren't making simple "calculator errors" or unit conversion mistakes with $R$ (the gas constant).