Starting with the atomic building blocks of matter, students will need to cover Dalton's and Bohr models of the atom through J.J. Thomson and Ernest Rutherford's work, and the wave-mechanical model to examine the atom with its arrangement of a small, dense, positively charged nucleus surrounded by electrons moving in an "electron cloud" through orbitals. Learning about Nuclear Chemistry and Isotopes, concepts of nuclear fission and fusion, will be required, as will be chemical bonding and concepts of endothermic and how and why forming a chemical bond is an exothermic process; in addition to concepts of ionic, covalent and metallic bonding; Electron-dot diagrams (Lewis structures) to represent the valence electron arrangement in elements, compounds and ions; and electronegativity of how strongly an atom of an element attracts electrons. With that bonding foundation, the Regents Exam explores chemical formulae and compounds; ions in aqueous solutions, salts, acids and bases (including Arrhenius acids and bases) and acid-base titration; chemical equilibrium and collision theory and oxidation-reduction (redox) reactions involves the transfer of electrons.
With naming based on the IUPAC system (
https://iupac.org/what-we-do/periodic-table-of-elements/), concepts in saturated and unsaturated Hydrocarbons containing only single carbon-carbon bonds and at least one multiple carbon-carbon bond respectively are covered as are isomers and organic acids, alcohols, esters, aldehydes, ketones, ethers, halides, amines, amides, and amino acids as categories of organic molecules that differ in their structures, are covered. Lab skills will also explore organic reactions include: addition, substitution, polymerization,
esterification, fermentation, saponification, and combustion.