Skip to content

About the AP Chemistry Interactive Intelligent Textbook

Welcome! Hi, I am Catalyst — your guide through the wild and wonderful world of chemistry. Get it? Catalyst? No? OK, moving on.

My job is to help you fall in love with chemistry! I will pop up throughout this textbook to welcome you to each chapter, share tips and encouragement, and help you celebrate when you power through a tough section. Think of me as your personal lab partner — one who never spills reagents and always knows where the safety goggles are.

Although I was generated by AI, students tell me I am genuinely helpful. They also keep suggesting I start my own Insta account. Maybe someday. For now, let's react!

What is a Level 2.9 Interactive Intelligent Textbook?

This course is currently a Level 2.9 Interactive Intelligent Textbook. By Level 2 we mean it is a LOT more interactive than a static Level 1 printed textbook, but it does not gather any personal student information like a Level 3 textbook. Versions of this textbook might be moved to level 3 in the future where content is customized to the needs and curiosity of each student. However that would require me to store information about each student and that information needs to be protected. So for now, it is one size fits all.

What This Course Covers

This course covers all nine units of the College Board's AP Chemistry Course and Exam Description, organized into 18 chapters spanning 500 concepts. Unlike traditional textbooks, every chapter includes interactive MicroSims, hover-enabled diagrams, and a learning graph that maps concept dependencies so you always know what to study next.

The textbook emphasizes:

  • Conceptual understanding over memorization
  • Mathematical modeling of chemical systems
  • Interactive simulations for hands-on exploration
  • Visual learning with molecular structures, reaction diagrams, and flowcharts

Who This Textbook Is For

  • High school students preparing for the AP Chemistry Exam
  • Students planning to major in chemistry, engineering, medicine, or other STEM fields
  • Motivated learners seeking a rigorous, college-level chemistry experience
  • Anyone with a first-year chemistry course and Algebra II background

How to Use This Textbook

Use the navigation menu on the left to explore:

  • Chapters — 18 chapters of detailed content with embedded MicroSims
  • Search - Note the search form in the upper right corner of the web pages
  • MicroSims — Interactive simulations for hands-on concept exploration
  • Learning Graph — Visual map of 500 concepts and their dependencies
  • Glossary — Key terms and definitions
  • FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
  • References - References are also given at the end of each chapter
  • Appendices — Reference tables and supplemental material

Getting Started

Start with Chapter 1: Foundations of Chemistry to begin your journey. Let's react!

How Was This Book Generated?

This book was generated by using a series of Agent Skills created by Dan McCreary. Dan used mostly Anthropic Claude Opus 4.6 with some help from OpenAI ChatGPT 5.2. Dan also reused MicroSims from other intelligent textbooks.

How to Cite This Book

If you use this textbook in your coursework or research, please cite it as follows:

APA format:

McCreary, D. (2026). AP Chemistry Interactive Intelligent Textbook. GitHub Pages. https://dmccreary.github.io/chemistry/

Plain text:

Dan McCreary, AP Chemistry Interactive Intelligent Textbook, 2026, https://dmccreary.github.io/chemistry/

Key References

  1. A Five-Level Classification Framework for Intelligent Textbooks:Lessons from Autonomous Vehicle Standards - November 30, 2025 - Dan McCreary
  2. MicroSims: A Framework for AI-Generated, Scalable Educational Simulations with Universal Embedding and Adaptive Learning Support - 25 Nov 2025 -Valerie Lockhart, Dan McCreary and Troy A. Peterson