Gen Chem starting off with Thermo? wut

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TheInstitute

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Hey SDN

I just got the syllabus for my gen chem course (not the honors version, still debating whether to sign up for it lol). We start off with thermochem: think Hess' Law, Enthalpy, q=mCdeltat, stuff like that.

Is this normal?

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I wouldn't say its normal, in fact it's quite out of order compared to where we started. But Gen Chem thermo is straightforward, so don't be intimated. Now, actual thermodynamics, where you have to use calc and dif EQ to derive equations, that is another beast entirely. You will likely have to find the temperature water will be after adding x grams of ice cube, you'll be fine.
 
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q=MCAT

Pretty sure my gen chem started with properties of bonds, basic reactions, etc. But thermo isn't too bad either...don't endothermally-evaporate-drops-of-fluid-off-your-skin it.

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The name is scarier than it actually is.
 
Lol gen chem "thermo". OP don't worry - keep up w/ your reading, notes, and he and you'll be fine
 
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fellas the only things I am scared of are gravitational waves xD. srsly tho, i thought a gen chem course would start with atomic theory ahah
 
Maybe your prof wants to keep you guys on your toes or maybe (s)he just wants to weed the class down a bit - all you can do is adapt and succeed
 
here wait, let me tell it to you:

1) heat travels from areas of high heat to low heat. Things of differing heat will eventually come to an equillibrium temperature:

It's a lot less scary than it sounds basically. If you still need help later, PM me. I TAed both this class and taught a small actual thermo class as well.
 
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If your algebra skills aren't good, you might get wrecked by bad luck. It's like 4 formulas though.
 
Different professors will teach it in different ways and they are only expected to cover all the material the department sets - not the order. This might be difficult if you're using a traditional textbook that goes through the elements and periodic trends and atomic properties first, but in some ways, thermodynamics is an easy place to start because its laws are some of the simplest, most beautiful laws in the universe (on par with gravitation, in my opinion). So don't let the order of the course faze you.
 
Hey SDN

I just got the syllabus for my gen chem course (not the honors version, still debating whether to sign up for it lol). We start off with thermochem: think Hess' Law, Enthalpy, q=mCdeltat, stuff like that.

Is this normal?

You'll be fine. Your syllabus seems to have topics arranged out of order but you won't be dealing with stuff like this in gen chem:

800px-Thermodynamic_map.svg.png
 
You'll be fine. Your syllabus seems to have topics arranged out of order but you won't be dealing with stuff like this in gen chem:

800px-Thermodynamic_map.svg.png
This brought back nightmares from thermodynamics. That was the second class I disliked the most, right behind physical mechanics.

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You'll be fine. Your syllabus seems to have topics arranged out of order but you won't be dealing with stuff like this in gen chem:

800px-Thermodynamic_map.svg.png

And then on an exam, all you have to do is to assume that most of those terms are zero or constant.

You can also spend a couple of million dollars running a distillation column with a wrong mass balance for years. All you have to do is to tweak some parameters in a control panel and everything will be fineeeeeeeeeeeee :D :D :D :D Because your model, if perfected, is about 80% off from the real operation. 95% off is no big deal! Why do we need to change anything, it's been running just fineeeeeeeeeeeee for years!!!!

I surely love ChEE, much creative so science.
 
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Concept-based with just "plug-and-chug" word/math problems. Not hard at all. Though, to be fair, I never grasped it from Gen Chem (why I got a B in the class) and I had to essentially teach it to myself for the MCAT.
 
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And then on an exam, all you have to do is to assume that most of those terms are zero or constant.

You can also spend a couple of million dollars running a distillation column with a wrong mass balance for years. All you have to do is to tweak some parameters in a control panel and everything will be fineeeeeeeeeeeee :D :D :D :D Because your model, if perfected, is about 80% off from the real operation. 95% off is no big deal! Why do we need to change anything, it's been running just fineeeeeeeeeeeee for years!!!!

I surely love ChEE, much creative so science.

One of my profs always used to say "within 20-30% is good enough for government work" lol
 
This brought back nightmares from thermodynamics. That was the second class I disliked the most, right behind physical mechanics.

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Sorry! :sorry::sorry:

And then on an exam, all you have to do is to assume that most of those terms are zero or constant.

You can also spend a couple of million dollars running a distillation column with a wrong mass balance for years. All you have to do is to tweak some parameters in a control panel and everything will be fineeeeeeeeeeeee :D :D :D :D Because your model, if perfected, is about 80% off from the real operation. 95% off is no big deal! Why do we need to change anything, it's been running just fineeeeeeeeeeeee for years!!!!

I surely love ChEE, much creative so science.

I agree. There's a lot of simplification and shortcuts in solving thermo problems, which is why Maxwell relations and Euler's cyclic chain rule (seen below) help a lot.

6d7f2d8755de188ad11f16c83560c5a0.png


If anything, thermo basically helped me get a lot better dealing with partial derivatives.
 
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I agree. There's a lot of simplification and shortcuts in solving thermo problems, which is why Maxwell relations and Euler's cyclic chain rule (seen below) help a lot.

6d7f2d8755de188ad11f16c83560c5a0.png


If anything, thermo basically helped me get a lot better dealing with partial derivatives.

Thermo and transport phenomena (heat/mass/fluids) really drilled those partials into my mind
 
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