CHEMISTRY TEST
Purpose of the
GRE Subject Tests
The GRE Subject Tests are designed to help graduate
school admission committees and fellowship sponsors
assess the qualifications of applicants in specific fields
of study. The tests also provide you with an assessment
of your own qualifications.
Scores on the tests are intended to indicate knowledge
of the subject matter emphasized in many undergraduate
programs as preparation for graduate study.
Because past achievement is usually a good indicator of
future performance, the scores are helpful in predicting
success in graduate study. Because the tests are standardized,
the test scores permit comparison of students from
different institutions with different undergraduate
programs. For some Subject Tests, subscores are provided
in addition to the total score; these subscores indicate
the strengths and weaknesses of your preparation, and
they may help you plan future studies.
The GRE Board recommends that scores on the
Subject Tests be considered in conjunction with other
relevant information about applicants. Because numerous
factors influence success in graduate school, reliance
on a single measure to predict success is not advisable.
Other indicators of competence typically include undergraduate
transcripts showing courses taken and grades
earned, letters of recommendation, and GRE General
Test scores. For information about the appropriate use
of GRE scores, write to GRE Program, Educational
Testing Service, Mail Stop 57-L, Princeton, NJ 08541,
or visit our Web site at www.gre.org/codelst.html.
Development of the
Subject Tests
Each new edition of a Subject Test is developed by a
committee of examiners composed of professors in the
subject who are on undergraduate and graduate faculties
in different types of institutions and in different regions
of the United States and Canada. In selecting members
for each committee, the GRE Program seeks the advice
of the appropriate professional associations in the subject.
The content and scope of each test are specified and
reviewed periodically by the committee of examiners.
Test questions are written by the committee and by
other faculty who are also subject-matter specialists
and by subject-matter specialists at ETS. All questions
proposed for the test are reviewed by the committee
and revised as necessary. The accepted questions are
assembled into a test in accordance with the content
specifications developed by the committee to ensure
adequate coverage of the various aspects of the field
and, at the same time, to prevent overemphasis on
any single topic. The entire test is then reviewed and
approved by the committee.
Subject-matter and measurement specialists on the
ETS staff assist the committee, providing information
and advice about methods of test construction and
helping to prepare the questions and assemble the test.
In addition, each test question is reviewed to eliminate
language, symbols, or content considered potentially
offensive, inappropriate for major subgroups of the
test-taking population, or likely to perpetuate any
negative attitude that may be conveyed to these subgroups.
The test as a whole is also reviewed to ensure
that the test questions, where applicable, include an
appropriate balance of people in different groups and
different roles.
Because of the diversity of undergraduate curricula,
it is not possible for a single test to cover all the
material you may have studied. The examiners, therefore,
select questions that test the basic knowledge and
skills most important for successful graduate study in
the particular field. The committee keeps the test
up-to-date by regularly developing new editions and
revising existing editions. In this way, the test content
changes steadily but gradually, much like most curricula.
In addition, curriculum surveys are conducted
periodically to ensure that the content of a test
reflects what is currently being taught in the undergraduate
curriculum.
After a new edition of a Subject Test is first administered,
examinees responses to each test question are
analyzed in a variety of ways to determine whether
each question functioned as expected. These analyses
may reveal that a question is ambiguous, requires
knowledge beyond the scope of the test, or is inappropriate
for the total group or a particular subgroup of
examinees taking the test. Answers to such questions
are not used in computing scores.
Following this analysis, the new test edition is
equated to an existing test edition. In the equating
process, statistical methods are used to assess the
difficulty of the new test. Then scores are adjusted so
that examinees who took a difficult edition of the test
are not penalized, and examinees who took an easier
edition of the test do not have an advantage. Variations
in the number of questions in the different
editions of the test are also taken into account in
this process.
Scores on the Subject Tests are reported as threedigit
scaled scores with the third digit always zero.
The maximum possible range for all Subject Test total
scores is from 200 to 990. The actual range of scores for
a particular Subject Test, however, may be smaller. The
maximum possible range of Subject Test subscores is
20 to 99; however, the actual range of subscores for
any test or test edition may be smaller than 20 to 99.
Subject Test score interpretive information is provided
in Interpreting Your GRE Scores, which you will receive
with your GRE score report, and on the GRE Web site
at www.gre.org/codelst.html.
Content of the Chemistry Test
The test consists of about 136 multiple-choice questions.
A periodic table is printed in the test booklet as
well as a table of information (see page 10) presenting
various physical constants and a few conversion factors
among SI units. Whenever necessary, additional values
of physical constants are printed with the text of the
question. Test questions are constructed to simplify
mathematical manipulations. As a result, neither
calculators nor tables of logarithms are needed. If the
solution to a problem requires the use of logarithms,
the necessary values are included with the question.
The content of the test emphasizes the four fields
into which chemistry has been traditionally divided
and some interrelationships among the fields. Because
of these interrelationships, individual questions may
test more than one field of chemistry. Some examinees
may associate a particular question with one field,
whereas other examinees may have encountered the
same material in a different field. For example, the
knowledge necessary to answer some questions classified
as testing organic chemistry may well have been
acquired in analytical chemistry courses by some
examinees. Consequently, the emphases of the four
fields indicated in the following outline of material
covered by the test should not be considered definitive.
I. ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY 15%
A. Data Acquisition and Use of Statistics
Errors, statistical considerations
B. Solutions and Standardization
Concentration terms, primary standards
C. Homogeneous Equilibria Acid-base,
oxidation-reduction, complexometry
D. Heterogeneous Equilibria Gravimetric
analysis, solubility, precipitation titrations,
chemical separations
E. Instrumental Methods Electrochemical
methods, spectroscopic methods,
chromatographic methods, thermal
methods, calibration of instruments
F. Environmental Applications
G. Radiochemical Methods Detectors,
applications
II. INORGANIC CHEMISTRY 25%
A. General Chemistry Periodic trends,
oxidation states, nuclear chemistry
B. Ionic Substances Lattice geometries,
lattice energies, ionic radii and radius/
ratio effects
C. Covalent Molecular Substances Lewis
diagrams, molecular point groups,
VSEPR concept, valence bond description
and hybridization, molecular orbital
description, bond energies, covalent and
van der Waals radii of the elements,
intermolecular forces
D. Metals and Semiconductors Structure,
band theory, physical and chemical
consequences of band theory
E. Concepts of Acids and Bases Brψnsted-
Lowry approaches, Lewis theory, solvent
system approaches
F. Chemistry of the Main Group Elements
Electronic structures, occurrences and
recovery, physical and chemical properties
of the elements and their compounds
G. Chemistry of the Transition Elements
Electronic structures, occurrences and
recovery, physical and chemical properties
of the elements and their compounds, coordination
chemistry
H. Special Topics Organometallic chemistry,
catalysis, bioinorganic chemistry, applied
solid-state chemistry, environmental
chemistry
III. ORGANIC CHEMISTRY 30%
A. Structure, Bonding, and Nomenclature
Lewis structures, orbital hybridization,
configuration and stereochemical notation,
conformational analysis, systematic IUPAC
nomenclature, spectroscopy (IR and 1H and
13 C NMR)
B. Functional Groups Preparation, reactions,
and interconversions of alkanes, alkenes,
alkynes, dienes, alkyl halides, alcohols,
ethers, epoxides, sulfides, thiols, aromatic
compounds, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic
acids and their derivatives, amines
C. Reaction Mechanisms Nucleophilic
displacements and addition, nucleophilic
aromatic substitution, electrophilic
additions, electrophilic aromatic
substitutions, eliminations, Diels-Alder
and other cycloadditions
D. Reactive Intermediates Chemistry and
nature of carbocations, carbanions,
free radicals, carbenes, benzynes, enols
E. Organometallics Preparation and reactions
of Grignard and organolithium reagents,
lithium organocuprates, and other modern
main group and transition metal reagents
and catalysts
F. Special Topics Resonance, molecular
orbital theory, catalysis, acid-base theory,
carbon acidity, aromaticity, antiaromaticity,
macromolecules, lipids, amino acids, peptides,
carbohydrates, nucleic acids, terpenes,
asymmetric synthesis, orbital symmetry,
polymers
IV. PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY 30%
A. Thermodynamics First, second, and
third laws, thermochemistry, ideal and
real gases and solutions, Gibbs and Helmholtz
energy, chemical potential, chemical
equilibria, phase equilibria, colligative
properties, statistical thermodynamics
B. Quantum Chemistry and Applications
to Spectroscopy Classical experiments,
principles of quantum mechanics,
atomic and molecular structure, molecular
spectroscopy
C. Dynamics Experimental and theoretical
chemical kinetics, solution and liquid
dynamics, photochemistry
Preparing for a Subject Test
GRE Subject Test questions are designed to measure
skills and knowledge gained over a long period of time.
Although you might increase your scores to some
extent through preparation a few weeks or months
before you take the test, last-minute cramming is
unlikely to be of further help. The following information
may be helpful.
_ A general review of your college courses is
probably the best preparation for the test. However,
the test covers a broad range of subject
matter, and no one is expected to be familiar
with the content of every question.
_ Use this practice book to become familiar with
the types of questions in the GRE Chemistry Test,
paying special attention to the directions. If you
thoroughly understand the directions before you
take the test, you will have more time during the
test to focus on the questions themselves.
Test-Taking Strategies
The questions in the practice test in this book illustrate
the types of multiple-choice questions in the test.
When you take the test, you will mark your answers
on a separate machine-scorable answer sheet. Total
testing time is two hours and fifty minutes; there are
no separately timed sections. Following are some
general test-taking strategies you may want to consider.
_ Read the test directions carefully, and work as
rapidly as you can without being careless. For
each question, choose the best answer from the
available options.
_ All questions are of equal value; do not waste
time pondering individual questions you find
extremely difficult or unfamiliar.
_ You may want to work through the test quite
rapidly, first answering only the questions about
which you feel confident, then going back and
answering questions that require more thought,
and concluding with the most difficult questions
if there is time.
_ If you decide to change an answer, make sure you
completely erase it and fill in the oval corresponding
to your desired answer.
_ Questions for which you mark no answer or more
than one answer are not counted in scoring.
_ As a correction for haphazard guessing, onefourth
of the number of questions you answer
incorrectly is subtracted from the number of
questions you answer correctly. It is improbable
that mere guessing will improve your score
significantly; it may even lower your score.
If, however, you are not certain of the correct
answer but have some knowledge of the question
and are able to eliminate one or more of the
answer choices, your chance of getting the right
answer is improved, and it may be to your advantage
to answer the question.
_ Record all answers on your answer sheet.
Answers recorded in your test book will not
be counted.
_ Do not wait until the last five minutes of a
testing session to record answers on your
answer sheet.
