For those of you that have taken Physical Chemistry

[Knickerbocker]

Do you have any advice you could share about the course? I do know that I need to review some calculus.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[think]

how hard is it ....impossible to get an A?...harder than o chem ? and calc 2 ?

 

[thesauce]

how hard is it ....impossible to get an A?...harder than o chem ? and calc 2 ?

It's not impossible to get an A at all. I thought it was easier than O-Chem and harder than Calc2.

I aced it with the advantage of having chemical engineering thermodynamics at the same time. Our test averages were in the low to mid 60s. I think the key to any chemistry course is to do the homework and to understand it thoroughly.

 

[Omyss]

which phys chem are you guys talking about? i took phys chem last year (2nd year, so it was basically introductory, and i thought it was pretty darn easy)

 

[modelslashactor]

if at all possible, take the pchem that the biochem majors take. at our school this class is barely worthy of being called physical chemistry.

 

[Ari Gold]

you guys do realize that the difficulty varies within a school let alone across the country

 

[ADeadLois]

you guys do realize that the difficulty varies within a school let alone across the country

Agreed, P-Chem is different from Orgo, Gen Chem, Bio, etc in that content, timing and difficult can vary widely. The pre-med pre-req curriculum is pretty standard for all classes (bio sequences can vary, but not as much as P-Chem). A lot of schools follow curriculum for ACS certification and GREs, but outside the basic outline of Thermo, Quantum, and Kinetics, there's really no standard.

 

[Creightonite]

I got B+ in the first sem and C in the second (senioritis, lol). I would advice you to take it if it required for your major. You have to know derivitation ans stuff. I was able to get 85%+ on my tests but the teacher was nice on the test because we had to do little derriviations. Just had to know the formulas. A lot of things around you started to make more sense after taking the first semester of P.Chem. Second semester was a blur for me.

 

[Hernandez]

It depends on your prof. The guy who I took it from was a real ball buster, he worked our asses off and out of all 5 tests, the highest grade on any of them was a 72, the 2 of us in that class who went on to post grad work had an actual class average of 67ish and he gave us A's, 30-50s were B's and less than 30 was a C. So it would be better to ask someone at your school about the particular prof who teaches it instead of random people on the internet.

 

[seadizzle]

More than knowing how to derive and integrate, you need to understand what integrals and derivatives represent. In quantum, multiple integrals are crucial in manipulating probability density. Being able to interpret the meaning (and not be overwhelmed with the squiggles) of a triple integral is fundamental.

 

[SeventhSon]

Do you have any advice you could share about the course? I do know that I need to review some calculus.

if you['re doing thermo, you just need to be very familiar with the idea of the total derivative. Also be very comfortable with the idea of degrees of freedom.

If you're doing quantum, you really need all calculus incl. vector, multivariable, + linear algebra basic concepts like bases.

If you're doing stat mech, well good luck, i still don't know what you need to understand that stuff.

 

[Omyss]

thats weird cuz i'ma chem major, and non of the upper year physical/quantum classes require anything more than ist year calc.

 

[Omyss]

thats weird cuz i'ma chem major, and non of the upper year physical/quantum classes require anything more than ist year calc. (which is a requirement for virtually all science students regardless of major)

 

[NewKidin2block]

Need differential equation and partial differential equation. Every instructor is different. I have one instructor who placed more emphasis on interpreting equation and theorem. And then my pchem II (thermo/stat mech) are more into just like plain old problem setting. I ended up reading 2 books to understand the concept, but it's really enjoyable experience. Might want to get yourself some book with solved problem in Physical Chemistry. I know Atkins and McQuirre, both of their textbook come with solution to all problem. But I must warned you, the few days before the exam, is going to be hell.

another way people circumvent Pchem is wait till their senior year. that way, it would affect their application as much.

Do you have any advice you could share about the course? I do know that I need to review some calculus.