Purdue CHM 11600: General Chemistry
CHM 11600 is the second semester of Purdue general chemistry: kinetics, equilibrium, acids and bases, thermodynamics, and electrochemistry, with the lab continuing alongside. It's required for chemistry-adjacent majors and pre-health tracks, and the material is noticeably more conceptual than CHM 11500's.
Fennie is independent and not affiliated with Purdue University. This is an unofficial study guide.
What makes it hard
Equilibrium is the spine of the semester: acid-base, solubility, and electrochemistry are all equilibrium wearing different clothes, and students who memorize each unit separately drown in what feels like endless new material. ICE-table problem types multiply, the math gets logarithm-heavy, and the curved exams still run on time pressure.
What you'll cover
- • Chemical kinetics
- • Chemical equilibrium
- • Acid-base chemistry and buffers
- • Solubility equilibria
- • Thermodynamics and free energy
- • Electrochemistry
The CHM 11600 study guide
How to study for Purdue CHM 11600, step by step.
- 1
Learn equilibrium as the semester's one big idea
Acid-base, buffers, solubility, and electrochemistry are all the same equilibrium machinery in different contexts. Master K, Q, and Le Chatelier deeply in the equilibrium unit and every later unit becomes a variation, not new material.
- 2
Drill ICE tables until they're reflex
Half the semester's problems run through an ICE table. Practice the setup across contexts (gas equilibria, weak acids, buffers, solubility) until choosing the table's entries is automatic.
- 3
Get comfortable with logs and significant algebra
pH, Nernst, and rate-law problems are logarithm-heavy. If log manipulation is rusty, rehab it early; algebra friction inside long problems is a silent point-killer.
- 4
Connect thermodynamics to equilibrium explicitly
Free energy and K are one relationship, not two chapters. Studying ΔG and equilibrium as a single story makes the back half of the course cohere instead of fragmenting.
Today
Today's CHM 11600 plan
What a Fennie Daily Plan looks like for CHM 11600. Yours is built from your own syllabus and adapts every day to your deadlines and progress.
First plan free, no card required. Fennie is independent and unaffiliated with your school.
FAQ
Is CHM 11600 harder than CHM 11500?
Most students find it more conceptual: equilibrium reasoning replaces 11500's computation-heavy style. Students who genuinely understand equilibrium find the back half repetitive in a good way; students who memorize units separately feel buried by week ten.
How do I study for CHM 11600 exams?
Drill ICE tables across all contexts (gas, acid-base, buffer, solubility) and practice deciding what kind of equilibrium problem you're looking at before computing. Timed mixed sets before each exam, since the curve still rewards speed and accuracy together.
What's the hardest topic in CHM 11600?
Buffers and acid-base equilibria by most accounts (multi-species reasoning where picking the dominant reaction matters), with electrochemistry close behind. Both yield to the same fix: see them as equilibrium applications, not new subjects.