Free DAT Chemistry Practice Questions (Gen Chem & Ochem)

Yes — here are 10 free DAT chemistry practice questions (5 General Chemistry, 5 Organic Chemistry) in the exact style, length, and difficulty of the real exam, with a full explanation for every answer. We scored in the 97th+ percentile on the DAT and built these the same way we built our own prep: realistic, no filler. Work through them below, then use the study plan at the end.

What's Actually Tested in DAT Gen Chem and Ochem

Chemistry lives inside the Survey of Natural Sciences section: 100 questions in 90 minutes, split into Biology (40), General Chemistry (30), and Organic Chemistry (30). Both count toward your Academic Average, and Organic Chemistry is also reported as its own individual subtest score.

Gen Chem draws from a predictable set of topics: stoichiometry, gas laws, thermodynamics, kinetics, equilibrium, acids/bases, electrochemistry, atomic structure, and periodic trends. Ochem draws from mechanisms (SN1/SN2/E1/E2), nomenclature, stereochemistry, resonance, aromaticity, and spectroscopy. No calculus, and no penalty for guessing — never leave a blank.

Free DAT General Chemistry Practice Questions

Time yourself: on the real DAT you get roughly 54 seconds per Gen Chem question inside the shared 90-minute science clock. Try each of these cold before reading the explanation.

1. Combustion stoichiometry. How many moles of O₂ are required to completely combust 2 mol of butane (C₄H₁₀)?
   (A) 6.5  (B) 13  (C) 26  (D) 4  (E) 10
   Answer: B. The balanced equation is 2 C₄H₁₀ + 13 O₂ → 8 CO₂ + 10 H₂O, so 2 mol of butane needs exactly 13 mol of O₂. Read the coefficients directly instead of guessing at a "per mole" ratio.
2. Combined gas law. A gas occupies 4.0 L at 300 K and 1 atm. What's its volume at 600 K and 2 atm?
   (A) 2.0 L  (B) 4.0 L  (C) 8.0 L  (D) 1.0 L  (E) 16 L
   Answer: B. Using P₁V₁/T₁ = P₂V₂/T₂, temperature and pressure both double, so their effects cancel and volume stays at 4.0 L. Plug in the actual numbers instead of assuming volume must change.
3. Le Chatelier's principle. For N₂(g) + 3 H₂(g) ⇌ 2 NH₃(g), which way does equilibrium shift if the container's volume is suddenly decreased?
   (A) Toward reactants  (B) Toward products  (C) No shift  (D) Depends on temperature  (E) Depends on catalyst
   Answer: B. Decreasing volume raises pressure, and equilibrium shifts toward the side with fewer moles of gas. The product side has 2 mol of gas versus 4 mol on the reactant side, so the reaction shifts right, toward more NH₃.
4. Strong acid pH. What is the pH of a 0.010 M HCl solution?
   (A) 1  (B) 2  (C) 4  (D) 7  (E) 12
   Answer: B. HCl is a strong acid and dissociates completely, so [H⁺] = 0.010 M and pH = −log(0.010) = 2. Memorize powers of ten and skip the calculator.
5. Electrochemistry. In a galvanic cell, oxidation occurs at which electrode?
   (A) Cathode  (B) Anode  (C) Salt bridge  (D) Both electrodes  (E) Neither
   Answer: B. Oxidation happens at the anode in both galvanic and electrolytic cells — "An Ox, Red Cat" is worth memorizing cold.

Free DAT Organic Chemistry Practice Questions

Ochem questions reward pattern recognition more than raw memorization. These five hit the highest-yield categories: oxidation reagents, substitution mechanisms, IR spectroscopy, stereochemistry, and aromaticity.

1. Oxidation state control. Which reagent converts a primary alcohol to an aldehyde without over-oxidizing it to a carboxylic acid?
   (A) KMnO₄  (B) PCC in DCM  (C) CrO₃/H₂SO₄ (Jones)  (D) O₃  (E) NaBH₄
   Answer: B. PCC is a mild, anhydrous oxidant that stops right at the aldehyde. Jones reagent and KMnO₄ are strong enough to push straight through to the carboxylic acid.
2. SN1 reactivity. Rank in order of increasing SN1 reactivity: methyl bromide, isopropyl bromide, tert-butyl bromide.
   (A) methyl < isopropyl < tert-butyl  (B) tert-butyl < isopropyl < methyl  (C) isopropyl < methyl < tert-butyl  (D) all equal  (E) tert-butyl < methyl < isopropyl
   Answer: A. SN1 rate tracks carbocation stability, and stability increases with substitution: tertiary > secondary > primary > methyl. Methyl cations essentially never form, which is why methyl halides never go SN1.
3. IR spectroscopy. A spectrum shows a strong, broad absorption around 3300–2500 cm^-1 along with a sharp peak near 1710 cm^-1. What functional group is present?
   (A) Primary amine  (B) Alcohol  (C) Carboxylic acid  (D) Ketone  (E) Alkyne
   Answer: C. The unusually broad O–H stretch paired with a carbonyl peak near 1700–1725 cm^-1 is the signature combination for a carboxylic acid. Learn this pair as one unit, not two separate peaks.
4. Stereoisomer counting. How many stereoisomers exist for a compound with two stereocenters and no internal symmetry (no meso form possible)?
   (A) 2  (B) 3  (C) 4  (D) 6  (E) 8
   Answer: C. With n stereocenters and no meso compound possible, the number of stereoisomers is 2ⁿ. Two stereocenters give 2² = 4: two pairs of enantiomers.
5. Aromaticity. Which of the following is NOT required for a ring system to be aromatic?
   (A) Cyclic  (B) Planar  (C) Fully conjugated pi system  (D) 4n+2 pi electrons  (E) Made of only carbon atoms
   Answer: E. Aromatic rings can absolutely contain heteroatoms — pyridine and furan are both aromatic. The real requirements are cyclic, planar, fully conjugated, and obeying Hückel's rule (4n+2 pi electrons).

How to Actually Use These Free DAT Chemistry Practice Questions

Ten questions won't move your score by themselves. How you use them tells you a lot about how you should study for the next few months:

• Time yourself. Needed more than a minute per question, or second-guessed a rule you should know cold? That's a real signal, not bad luck.
• Explain the wrong answers, not just the right one. If you can't say why each wrong choice is wrong, you don't actually know the concept yet.
• Log misses by concept, not by question. "SN1 vs SN2" is a concept; "Question 7" is not. The same handful of concepts resurface across hundreds of questions.
• Redo them cold in a week. Still missing the same ones? The concept — not the question — is the problem.

Why Free Practice Questions Only Get You So Far

We're not going to pretend ten questions can replace real prep — the DAT draws from dozens of sub-topics across these two sections. That's the honest limit of any free sample, ours included.

Here's the gap we built DATPractice to close: 40 full-length practice tests mirroring the real DAT's format and difficulty, plus an 11,000+ question bank with a written explanation for every answer choice, not just the correct one. Our AI tutor finds the exact concept behind each miss and re-teaches it properly — but only to the depth the DAT requires, never more.

If you're deciding how to split your study hours between the two subjects, our guide on Gen Chem vs. Ochem on the DAT: Which Is Actually Harder? breaks down where students actually lose points. And if you haven't built a timeline yet, How Long Should You Study Gen Chem & Ochem for the DAT? will help you set a realistic schedule.

We built DATPractice around one idea: the DAT is standardized, so your consistent practice score becomes your real score. That means practicing correctly, learning only what the test rewards, and cramming the smallest amount of material in the least time possible. Complete all 40 tests, clear every concept our AI tutor flags, and hit consistent final scores — or get your money back; see datpractice.com for full terms.