How to answer Regents Chemistry constructed-response questions
About 40% of the questions ask you to write your own answer. Each is worth 1 credit: answer exactly what is asked, and use the cluster's data or substances to show it.
Share of the test
About 40% of the questions
Credit
1 per question
Often on
A passage, a data table, a graph or a particle model
Here
Written answers read against the creditable answers, with your next step
Write to the question
Find the task word first: identify, describe, explain, predict, calculate, use data to support a claim.
Answer in one or two sentences, and name the substance, the variable or the number you used.
When a question asks for a calculation, show the equation, the values with units, and the answer with its unit.
Use the cluster
Each question builds on the cluster's storyline. An answer that ignores the passage or the data is rarely the one that earns the credit.
Try 2 questions
Question 1
Voltages of cells with copper
Metal paired with copper
Voltage (V)
Magnesium
2.1
Metal X
1.6
Zinc
1.1
Iron
0.8
Students build cells that each pair a strip of copper with a strip of another metal and record the voltage (table). In every cell the other metal is the one oxidized, and a larger voltage means that metal gives up electrons more readily compared with copper. Where does metal X fit?
Question 2
Melting points of sodium compounds
Compound
Melting point (degrees Celsius)
NaF
993
NaCl
801
NaBr
747
NaI
661
The table gives the melting points of four sodium compounds. Which explanation of the pattern is consistent with the data and with Coulomb's law?