Destroyer GC

[vlct0ria]

So I'm working on Destroyer GC, and some of these calculation problems are really difficult without a calculator, and a lot of them are time-consuming and take up like a full page of explanation in the solutions (especially calculating the stupid rate constant for rate laws)...are there many long calculations on the actual DAT or is it relatively basic?

Thanks for the input.

Also- it seems like lately people are saying that the calculations are generally set up in the answer choices (as in we don't have to do the math)...is that the case or do I need to hurry up and teach myself how to estimate logs and scientific notation stuff?

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[razblo]

Estimating logs isn't bad.

I'll give you the basics. The log of 1 = 0 and the log of 10 = 1, so you just have to estimate what's in between.

-log "X" * 10^"-Y" = "Y" - log "X"


If we substitute some random numbers in there we get...

-log 5 * 10^-10 = 10 - log (5).

If log of 1 = 0 and log of 10 = 1 we can estimate that log of 5 is somewhere roughly in the middle of 0 and 1, like .5

10 - log (5) = 10 - .5 = 9.5


Hopefully that makes sense. I double checked it so I hope I didn't make any errors.

 

[alanan84]

A lot of mine were set up. So with Destroyer I'd practice getting them set up and then I'd see if I could solve it on paper.

I would definitely practice estimating logs and scientific notation.

 

[vlct0ria]

Estimating logs isn't bad.

I'll give you the basics. The log of 1 = 0 and the log of 10 = 1, so you just have to estimate what's in between.

-log "X" * 10^"-Y" = "Y" - log "X"


If we substitute some random numbers in there we get...

-log 5 * 10^-10 = 10 - log (5).

If log of 1 = 0 and log of 10 = 1 we can estimate that log of 5 is somewhere roughly in the middle of 0 and 1, like .5

10 - log (5) = 10 - .5 = 9.5


Hopefully that makes sense. I double checked it so I hope I didn't make any errors.

Is it really that easy? That's not bad at all if it is

 

[sixkiller]

To estimate logs you should memorize the following approximations

log 1 = 0
log 2 ~ 0.3
log 3 ~ 0.5
log 5 ~ 0.7
log 7 ~ 0.8

By memorizing the above, you can do just about any log calculation with the exception of prime numbers exceeding 7...

log 12 = log3 + log2 + log2 ~ 0.5 + 0.3(2)

You should also memorize the square root of 2 and 3.

Better safe than sorry; a few people on this forum have actually reported gchem sections that were computation heavy. Although this is probably not the norm, it's best to be prepared.

 

[bustedgrill]

I think everyone gets the wind knocked out of them when they start working the Destroyer. I was freting about the same thing but it turns out it's really simple. Once you learn how to estimate then you can do the square root of any number plus or minus a couple decimal places. Good luck.

 

[vlct0ria]

Bumping this...

I am wondering if any other people can share their opinion on Destroyer Gchem vs. the real DAT...a lot of these calculations are ridiculous and tedious, and I am curious if people come across a lot of calculations of similar difficulty on the actual DAT. I do just fine in gen chem on Topscore, but Destroyer is just really irritating me, especially since I am so short on time. I appreciate any responses (including those I have already received).

 

[ucla2134]

Bumping this...

I am wondering if any other people can share their opinion on Destroyer Gchem vs. the real DAT...a lot of these calculations are ridiculous and tedious, and I am curious if people come across a lot of calculations of similar difficulty on the actual DAT. I do just fine in gen chem on Topscore, but Destroyer is just really irritating me, especially since I am so short on time. I appreciate any responses (including those I have already received).

I took DAT twice, Gchem on both of them, the equations are all set up. For instance. If you do fine on topscore, beleive me, you nailed the gchem on real DAT. I think the calculations on topscore are tougher than the real DAT.
You will be fine

 

[Chrono]

Bumping this...

I am wondering if any other people can share their opinion on Destroyer Gchem vs. the real DAT...a lot of these calculations are ridiculous and tedious, and I am curious if people come across a lot of calculations of similar difficulty on the actual DAT. I do just fine in gen chem on Topscore, but Destroyer is just really irritating me, especially since I am so short on time. I appreciate any responses (including those I have already received).

what materials are you using to review gen chem, besides destroyer?

 

[vlct0ria]

what materials are you using to review gen chem, besides destroyer?

Went through KBB once while taking notes...took notes and watched all Chad's gen chem videos...and I've been doing practice problems all over the place (ADA sample questions, Kaplan's practice questions, Topscore, Barron's).

I got Destroyer because everyone raved about it..went through the Ochem and didn't think it was too bad...but this Gchem section is killing me.

 

[denner]

Read kaplan bb, watch chad's videos right before the exam again, and make sure you can recognize how to do all the problems in topscore/kaplan quickly and you will be fine. Could you miss maybe 1 or 2 that you might have only known by going through Destroyer? Maybe...but I would rather make sure I knew the other 28 really well before I would focus on those really tricky last couple of problems.