Chemistry Regents Reference Tables 2011/2025

8 min read

New York has two Chemistry Regents reference tables. The twelve-page 2011 Reference Tables for Physical Setting/Chemistry are for the legacy exam through its last sitting on June 23, 2027. The four-page 2025 Reference Tables for Physical Science: Chemistry are for the new exam, which New York first gave in June 2026.

Both are free PDFs from the New York State Education Department (NYSED): the 2011 edition and the 2025 edition. NYSED doesn't print them for the exam. Your school prints a clean, unmarked copy for every student taking it (Educator Guide).

Which reference table do I use on the Chemistry Regents?

You use the edition for your exam, and you can tell which exam that is from the reference table your class uses now. NYSED asked schools to start teaching with the 2025 tables in the 2025–26 school year, and "the first examination for which these tables will be used is the June 2026 Regents Examination in Chemistry," NYSED says on the 2025 tables' page. If your class has the four-page set, you're taking the new exam; if it has the twelve-page booklet with Tables A–T, you're taking the legacy Physical Setting/Chemistry exam. Your school chose which course to teach during the changeover, so your teacher can confirm, and students retaking after a legacy course can sit the legacy exam through June 2027.

On exam day, NYSED names the edition on the booklet's cover. On the cover of the August 2026 legacy booklet, NYSED wrote that "a copy of the 2011 Edition Reference Tables for Physical Setting/Chemistry must be available for you to use while taking this examination."

	Legacy exam	New exam
Exam	Physical Setting/Chemistry	Physical Science: Chemistry
Reference tables	2011 Edition, Physical Setting/Chemistry	2025 Edition, Physical Science: Chemistry
Length	12 pages: a periodic table and Tables A–T	4 pages
Calculator	Four-function or scientific	Scientific or graphing, memory cleared
2027 sittings	January 26; June 23, its last	January 26, June 23, August 18

NYSED replaced every earlier edition with the 2011 tables at the start of the 2011–12 school year (NYSED memo, September 2011), so a copy dated before 2011 is out of date for both exams. NYSED also posts a large-type 2025 edition for 11-by-17-inch paper, and schools can request a Braille edition.

What's in the 2025 Chemistry Reference Tables?

The 2025 Reference Tables for Physical Science: Chemistry are four pages:

Page 1, the periodic table. Each element's box has its atomic number, symbol, name, and average atomic mass, which is blank for technetium, promethium, and most elements past bismuth. There are no electron configurations and no oxidation states. Every element through 118 has its name, oganesson included. NYSED took the masses from the 104th edition of the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics.
Page 2, the electromagnetic spectrum. A wavelength scale from 10⁴ down to 10⁻¹³ meters and a frequency scale from 10⁵ to 10²¹ hertz, with visible light broken out from red to violet.
Page 3, nuclear symbols and ions. The notation for alpha, beta, and gamma radiation, the neutron, the positron, and the proton. Beside it, a six-entry list of "Selected Ions Forming Aqueous Solutions": Group 1 metals, ammonium, acetate, chlorate, hydrogen carbonate, and nitrate.
Page 4, equations and constants. The combined gas law, three heat equations (q = mcΔT for a temperature change, and q = mH for a phase change, using the heat of fusion or of vaporization), parts per million, n = MV (moles = molarity × volume), and Coulomb's law, marked "qualitative analysis": you reason with it about how charge and distance change the force, rather than calculate one. Then K = °C + 273.15, 1 atm = 101.3 kPa, and the mole: one mole is the molar mass in grams, 6.02 × 10²³ particles, and 22.4 L of an ideal gas at STP (273.15 K and 1 atm). At the bottom of the page are eleven units and four metric prefixes.

In its Educator Guide, NYSED describes the table as information "students are expected to be able to locate and apply, but not necessarily memorize."

What's in the 2011 Chemistry Reference Tables?

The 2011 Reference Tables for Physical Setting/Chemistry are twelve pages: a periodic table and twenty lettered tables, A through T. By topic:

Units and constants: A (standard temperature and pressure), B (physical constants for water), C (prefixes), D (units).
Ions and solubility: E (25 polyatomic ions), F (solubility guidelines), G (solubility curves).
Energy: H (vapor pressure of four liquids), I (heats of reaction).
Reactions: J (activity series), K (common acids), L (common bases), M (acid–base indicators).
Nuclear: N (selected radioisotopes), O (nuclear symbols).
Organic: P (organic prefixes), Q (homologous series of hydrocarbons), R (functional groups).
Elements: S (properties of selected elements: first ionization energy, electronegativity, melting and boiling points, density, and atomic radius).
Formulas: T (important formulas and equations).

The 2011 periodic table has different information from the 2025 one. Its key lists the atomic mass, symbol, atomic number, electron configuration, and selected oxidation states, but no element name; the names are in Table S. Elements 113 through 118 still have placeholder symbols such as Uuo, where the 2025 table has oganesson.

What did NYSED change between the 2011 and 2025 reference tables?

In the 2025 Chemistry Reference Tables, NYSED kept the periodic table, the nuclear symbols, and a short set of equations, and dropped most of the rest of the 2011 edition. Here is what NYSED did with each 2011 table:

2011 table	In the 2025 edition
Periodic table	Kept, with element names added and electron configurations and oxidation states removed
A, standard temperature and pressure	Kept as a one-line note: STP is now 273.15 K and 1 atm
B, physical constants for water	Cut; the heat equations are still there, but water's values are gone
C, prefixes	Cut to kilo, milli, micro, and nano
D, units	Revised: atm, °C, and Hz added; minute, hour, day, year, ppm, molarity (M), and atomic mass unit taken off the list (ppm and molarity are still in page 4's equations)
E, polyatomic ions	Cut; five polyatomic ions from it are on the new six-entry ions list
F, solubility guidelines	Cut to the six-entry ions list
G through N	Cut: solubility curves, vapor pressure, heats of reaction, activity series, acids, bases, indicators, radioisotopes
O, nuclear symbols	Kept, with the same six particles
P, Q, R, organic	Cut
S, properties of elements	Cut
T, formulas	Shortened to the combined gas law, heat equations, ppm, and molarity (as n = MV); density, moles = given mass ÷ gram-formula mass, percent error, percent composition, and titration are gone
Not in 2011	Added: the electromagnetic spectrum, Coulomb's law, and a mole line: 1 mole = molar mass in grams = 6.02 × 10²³ particles = 22.4 L of gas at STP

The 2011 Table F lists every entry on the six-entry ions list as forming soluble compounds with no exceptions. NYSED left out the two soluble entries that had exceptions: the halides (chloride, bromide, and iodide) and the sulfates.

Avogadro's number and the 22.4 L molar volume are nowhere in the 2011 edition. NYSED also changed the temperature conversion by 0.15: K = °C + 273 on the 2011 tables, K = °C + 273.15 on the 2025 tables.

Where did NYSED put the cut data?

NYSED groups every question on the new Chemistry Regents into a cluster: several questions about one phenomenon, built on stimuli that "can include reading passages, data tables, graphs, diagrams, and photos," in the words of its Educator Guide. NYSED prints most of the data you need for a question inside its cluster, including data it used to print in the 2011 reference tables. It did that at both of the new exam's 2026 sittings, in June and August:

Indicators. On the June 2026 exam, NYSED printed a four-indicator chart for questions 9 and 10, and on the August 2026 exam, its own chart for question 25. In the 2011 edition, indicators were in Table M.
Water's specific heat. In August, NYSED listed water at 4.184 J/g•°C in a table of insulating materials. In the 2011 edition, water's value was 4.18 J/g•K in Table B. The two are consistent, since a change of 1 °C equals a change of 1 K.
Vapor pressure. In June, NYSED gave the vapor pressures and boiling points of five volatile organic compounds for question 48, on the forces between their particles. In the 2011 edition, vapor pressure was in Table H.
Radioactive decay. In June's radon passage, NYSED wrote that radon-222 releases alpha particles as it decays, then asked for the decay equation in question 47. A student writes it with the alpha symbol from page 3 of the 2025 tables. In the 2011 edition, radon-222's decay mode was in Table N.
Element properties. In August, NYSED printed the atomic radius and ionization energy of five elements in stainless steel. The ionization energies are exactly the values in the 2011 Table S.
Solubility. In August's pool-water passage, NYSED wrote, "Phosphates form insoluble compounds with most metals." In question 22, NYSED asked how phosphates would affect the pool's calcium, magnesium, and sodium ions, and the correct choice has calcium and magnesium precipitating while sodium stays dissolved. Sodium is a Group 1 metal, and on page 3 of the 2025 tables NYSED lists the Group 1 metals among the "Selected Ions Forming Aqueous Solutions."

NYSED doesn't print every number, though. In an August cluster on semiconductors, NYSED gave band gap energies for carbon, silicon, germanium, and tin, and no ionization energies. In question 15, it asked for a claim relating first ionization energy to conductivity in those Group 14 elements. In the rating guide that teachers score the exam with, NYSED credited "As first ionization energy increases, conductivity decreases," with evidence such as "Carbon is an insulator and has the greatest ionization energy." Neither the cluster nor the 2025 tables has an ionization energy for those four elements, so students had to rank them from the periodic trend: first ionization energy is lower at each step from carbon down to tin, because each element down Group 14 holds its outer electrons in a shell farther from the nucleus.

How should you study with the reference tables?

Study with your exam's edition of the reference tables, on that exam's past papers, with the tables open beside you.

For the legacy exam in January or June 2027: work past exams from nysedregents.org with the 2011 tables open until you know which letter has what without flipping. For a full study plan, see How to Pass the Chemistry Regents in 2027.
For the new exam: learn what's on each of the four pages, then practice on the June and August 2026 exams and their rating guides, posted at nysedregents.org. Learn the trends and relationships that aren't in the 2025 tables, because NYSED prints data in a cluster but can leave the rule to you, as it did with ionization energy in August. If a formula you used in class isn't on page 4, ask your teacher whether to know it by heart.

NYSED dropped the acid, base, and indicator tables and printed indicator charts at both new-exam sittings in 2026, but you still need to know what a pH of 4 means to read them. We teach acids, bases, and pH from the first idea in our free pH module, with no account needed.

Both editions include a periodic table, and it's faster to use when you know the symbols without looking them up. We built our element games so you can drill that recall.

Try it free. Bond Forge is free to play with a starter set of elements, no account needed. Full access is $59 for a year: every game and all 118 elements, with progress saved. No subscription.

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FAQ

Which reference table do I use on the new Chemistry Regents? The 2025 Edition Reference Tables for Physical Science: Chemistry, which are four pages. NYSED first used them on the June 2026 exam and requires that every student have a copy during the new exam.

Is the 2011 chemistry reference table still in use? Yes, on the legacy Physical Setting/Chemistry exam through its last sitting on June 23, 2027. New York also gives the legacy exam on January 26, 2027. After June 2027, New York gives only the new exam, with the 2025 tables.

Is there a solubility chart on the 2025 chemistry reference table? No. The 2025 edition has no solubility curves and no full solubility guidelines. It has a six-entry list of ions forming aqueous solutions: Group 1 metals, ammonium, acetate, chlorate, hydrogen carbonate, and nitrate. On the August 2026 exam, NYSED wrote the solubility rule for phosphates into the passage, then asked about it.

Where can I download the NYS chemistry reference tables? NYSED posts both as free PDFs on nysed.gov, along with a large-type 2025 edition for 11-by-17-inch paper. NYSED doesn't supply printed copies for the exam; schools print a clean copy for each student.

Are electron configurations on the chemistry reference tables? On the 2011 periodic table, yes: each element's box has its electron configuration and selected oxidation states. On the 2025 periodic table, no: each box has only the atomic number, symbol, name, and average atomic mass.

Sources

New York State Education Department. Reference Tables for Physical Science: Chemistry, 2025 Edition. nysed.gov.
New York State Education Department. Reference Tables for Physical Science: Chemistry (2025) (web page). nysed.gov.
New York State Education Department. Reference Tables for Physical Setting/Chemistry, 2011 Edition. nysed.gov.
New York State Education Department. Reference Tables for Physical Setting/Chemistry, 2011 Edition (memo to schools, September 2011). nysed.gov.
New York State Education Department. Educator Guide to the Regents Examination in Physical Science: Chemistry (2025). nysed.gov.
New York State Education Department. Regents Examination in Physical Science: Chemistry, June 2026 and August 2026 exams and rating guides. nysedregents.org/ps-chemistry.
New York State Education Department. Regents Examination in Physical Setting/Chemistry, August 2026 exam. nysedregents.org/chemistry.
New York State Education Department. Regents Examination Schedules. nysed.gov.