A question for those who have survived p-chem !!

[GGONGCHI]

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I will be taking pchem next semester..

what makes pchem so hard?

is it because it involves a lot of calculus..?

 

[redchesus]

I'm a visual person, O-Chem was great for me because I could actually visualize the molecules in my head and the movements of the electrons in the reactions

P-Chem on the other hand... I couldn't really visualize thermodynamics or reaction kinetics, so I was out of luck

 

[soon2bedds]

physics + ochem + steriods = pchem😱
Thats why it sucks

 

[Charmm]

Pchem is a very very deep subject; the questions you see in the class make sense but in the exams you see twisted questions.

What to do?

Make sure you have a good reference book . From University of Washington, Thomas Engel's pchem texts are very well-knowns texts. Also, the bible, Mcguire red pchem book is a very good reference. Do as many problems as you can from these text books.

Also, even though you may be allowed to have an equation sheet, try to remember the formulas and derivations. Practice mathematical proofs.....


Here is a good reference : http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/chemistry/5-61-physical-chemistry-fall-2007/


this is the link to quantum mechanics course taught by Engel at UW
http://depts.washington.edu/chemcrs/course_index.cgi?bulkdisk/chem455A_aut08

Pdf files and HW solutions at University of California, Santa Barbara:
http://www.chem.ucsb.edu/coursepages/09fall/113A-Han/index.shtml

goooooooooooooooooooood luck




_________________
AA/TS/PA
24/26/21
Biochemistry 3.94
Columbia 2014

 

[flyingforever]

I will be taking pchem next semester..

what makes pchem so hard?

is it because it involves a lot of calculus..?

I love P-chem. I liked the thermodynamics. I hated quantum mechanics, "particle in a box." Yeah, so much calculus though. I hated P-chem lab. Overall I am satisfied with my grades. I have to study a lot for both classes.

 

[iluvdentistry]

I was going to comment and say that quantum kind of blows. I shivered when I saw particle in a box.

 

[GGONGCHI]

Pchem is a very very deep subject; the questions you see in the class make sense but in the exams you see twisted questions.

What to do?

Make sure you have a good reference book . From University of Washington, Thomas Engel's pchem texts are very well-knowns texts. Also, the bible, Mcguire red pchem book is a very good reference. Do as many problems as you can from these text books.

Also, even though you may be allowed to have an equation sheet, try to remember the formulas and derivations. Practice mathematical proofs.....


Here is a good reference : http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/chemistry/5-61-physical-chemistry-fall-2007/


this is the link to quantum mechanics course taught by Engel at UW
http://depts.washington.edu/chemcrs/course_index.cgi?bulkdisk/chem455A_aut08

Pdf files and HW solutions at University of California, Santa Barbara:
http://www.chem.ucsb.edu/coursepages/09fall/113A-Han/index.shtml

goooooooooooooooooooood luck




_________________
AA/TS/PA
24/26/21
Biochemistry 3.94
Columbia 2014

wow thank you..!
our class will use an atkins' pchem book.
hopefully this book is also a good one 🙂

 

[dentaldawg32]

For me, PChem was more about understanding the theory rather than the application of the theory. I never did tons of problems because the questions on the exams were very theoretical. In my opinion, the best text for this class (also comes with a practice manual if needed):

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Modern-Chemistry-David-Oxtoby/dp/0534493661