OAT Study Guide 2026

Everything you need to pass the OAT exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.

📋 OAT Exam Format at a Glance

230
Questions
235 min
Time Limit
70.00%
Passing Score

📚 OAT Topics to Study (68)

✍️ Sample OAT Questions & Answers

1. A battery of EMF 12 V and internal resistance 1 Ω is connected to a 5 Ω external resistor. What is the terminal voltage?
10 V

Current I = 12/(1+5) = 2 A; terminal voltage = EMF − Ir = 12 − 2(1) = 10 V.

2. Which of the following is the strongest acid?
Acetic acid (pKa ≈ 4.75)

Acetic acid has the lowest pKa (~4.75), meaning it donates a proton most readily due to resonance stabilization of the acetate anion.

3. Which phase of mitosis is characterized by chromosomes aligning along the cell's equatorial plate?
Metaphase

During metaphase, spindle fibers attach to kinetochores and align chromosomes at the metaphase plate.

4. What product forms when an ester is treated with excess Grignard reagent followed by aqueous workup?
Tertiary alcohol

Excess Grignard reacts twice with the ester—first to give a ketone intermediate, then again—yielding a tertiary alcohol.

5. Which reagent sequence converts a primary alkyl halide into a primary amine via the Gabriel synthesis?
Phthalimide/K2CO3, then N2H4

Gabriel synthesis alkylates potassium phthalimide, and hydrazinolysis cleaves the imide to yield the primary amine.

6. Which type of mutation results in a premature stop codon?
Nonsense mutation

A nonsense mutation changes a codon that encodes an amino acid into a stop codon (UAA, UAG, or UGA), causing premature termination of translation.

🎯 Free OAT Practice Tests

📖 OAT Guides & Articles

Your OAT Study Path
1. Learn with Flashcards → 2. Drill Practice Tests → 3. Take the Full Exam Simulation
Was this helpful?