Regents Physical Setting/Chemistry (NYSED): complete guide to the exam, the four parts, the Reference Tables and the lab requirement

The New York State Regents Examination in Physical Setting/Chemistry is the statewide end-of-course exam for high-school chemistry. It is built directly from the Physical Setting/Chemistry Core Curriculum, it is three hours long, and it is worth 100 raw-score points across four parts. Two things make it distinctive: you sit it with the Reference Tables for Physical Setting/Chemistry in hand, and you must have completed a 1,200-minute laboratory requirement before you are admitted. This page is the index for our Regents Chemistry library: below is the exam format, the role of the Reference Tables, the lab requirement, and how to study each core topic.

The four parts of the exam

The exam has four parts. Parts A and B-1 are multiple choice on a single answer sheet; Parts B-2 and C are constructed response written in a separate answer booklet.

Part A (30 questions, multiple choice)

Broad, stand-alone questions across every core topic, from atomic structure to nuclear chemistry. These reward quick recall and confident use of the Reference Tables.

Part B-1 (about 20 questions, multiple choice)

More data-driven items, often tied to a graph, diagram, table or short passage, but still answered by choosing one option. Parts A and B-1 together give 50 multiple-choice questions.

Part B-2 (short constructed response)

Numeric answers with units, short written explanations, completing or balancing equations, drawing Lewis (electron-dot) diagrams, and labelling diagrams. Quantitative work (moles, gas laws, heat, pH, half-life) features heavily, and you must show your working.

Part C (extended constructed response)

Longer, multi-step tasks that often combine several topics and lean on laboratory skills: titration data, calorimetry, particle diagrams, equilibrium shifts, redox and nuclear decay. Part C is where evidence-based reasoning and careful use of the Reference Tables earn the most points.

The Reference Tables

Every candidate is given the 2011 Edition Reference Tables, and the exam is written on the assumption that you will use them. They are not just a formula sheet: they are data, constants, classification charts, graphs and equations. The key tables are:

• Table A Standard temperature and pressure (STP).
• Table B Physical constants for water (specific heat, heat of fusion, heat of vaporization).
• Table C and Table D Selected prefixes and units.
• Table E Selected polyatomic ions (names, formulas, charges).
• Table F Solubility guidelines (which ionic compounds are soluble).
• Table G Solubility curves (grams of solute per 100 g water against temperature).
• Table H Vapor pressure of four liquids against temperature.
• Table I Heats of reaction at 101.3 kPa and 298 K.
• Table J Activity series of metals and hydrogen.
• Table K and Table L Common acids and common bases.
• Table M Common organic substances.
• Table N Selected standard reduction potentials.
• Table O Symbols used in nuclear chemistry.
• Table P Organic prefixes (meth-, eth-, prop- and so on).
• Table Q Homologous series of hydrocarbons.
• Table R Organic functional groups.
• Table S Properties of selected elements (atomic number, mass, electronegativity, first ionization energy).
• Table T Important formulas and equations (density, mole calculations, percent composition, percent error, the combined gas law, the heat equations $q = mC\Delta T$ and $q = mH_f$, titration, and the half-life relationship).

Throughout our dot-point pages we tell you exactly which table a question expects you to open.

The laboratory requirement

New York State requires a minimum of 1,200 minutes (20 hours) of hands-on laboratory experience, with satisfactory written reports, before a student may sit a Physical Setting science Regents exam. This is a state rule, certified by your school, not a local option. The skills it builds are tested directly: measuring mass, volume and temperature; reading a meniscus and a buret; plotting and reading graphs (heating curves, solubility curves); performing titration and calorimetry; using the activity series and solubility guidelines to predict reactions; and identifying and reducing sources of experimental error.

How to study Regents Chemistry

1. Learn the Reference Tables actively. Practice locating Table G, Table H, Table N, Table S and Table T fast. A large share of marks is simply reading the right value.
2. Show your working on constructed response. Part B-2 and Part C award points for the setup and the units, not only the final number. Carry extra digits and round at the end.
3. Reason at the particle level. Many questions ask you to explain a macroscopic property (boiling point, conductivity, polarity) from particles and bonding.
4. Keep the math tidy. Regents calculations are one- or two-step algebra. Identify the formula on Table T, substitute with units, and solve.
5. Rehearse the command words. "State", "Determine", "Explain", "Calculate" and "Compare" each expect a specific shape of answer.

The core topics, module by module

Each dot point below has a Core-Curriculum-level answer page with Regents-format practice questions and cross-links, plus a deep-dive guide and a paired quiz per module.

• Atomic concepts and the periodic table: subatomic particles and atomic structure, isotopes and average atomic mass, electron configuration and energy levels, the periodic table and its organization, periodic trends, ions and nuclide notation.
• Chemical bonding: types of chemical bonds, electronegativity and bond polarity, Lewis structures and molecular polarity, intermolecular forces, properties of ionic and molecular substances.
• The mole and stoichiometry: the mole and molar mass, chemical formulas and percent composition, balancing equations and conservation of mass, types of chemical reactions, stoichiometric calculations.
• Physical behavior of matter: states of matter and kinetic molecular theory, the gas laws, heating and cooling curves, heat and calorimetry, solutions and solubility curves, concentration and molarity.
• Kinetics, equilibrium, acids and bases: reaction rates and collision theory, potential energy diagrams, equilibrium and Le Chatelier's principle, acids, bases and the pH scale, neutralization and salts, titration.
• Redox, organic and nuclear chemistry: oxidation numbers and redox reactions, half-reactions and balancing redox, electrochemical cells, organic chemistry and hydrocarbons, organic reactions and functional groups, nuclear chemistry.

For the official documents

NYSED publishes the Physical Setting/Chemistry Core Curriculum, the Reference Tables, and every past exam with its scoring key and conversion chart at nysedregents.org/chemistry. Always study from the current Reference Tables and the Department's own released exams, because the question style and the tables are specific to New York.