Level of Mathematical Skills Needed For Chemistry I?

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I will be taking general Chemistry I beginning 15 days from now and am tremendously afraid. I am poor at Mathematics and have not taken a Math course in over 4 years. What level of mathematical knowledge must one have to be successful in general Chemistry I? Is it imperative that I take Algebra or Calculus prior to taking Chemistry I? Will I definitely do poorly in Chemistry I since I don't have a strong background in Mathematics? Any input will be appreciated.

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I'm about to start gen chem 1 in the fall and I also haven't had a math course in four years. My chemistry professor told us if we got less than a B in high school algebra, then we should take intro to chem before gen chem. As it turns out, I took intro to chem at CC when I was in high school and had a wonderful professor and it was really easy. You definitely should be able to do unit factors. My professor sent us an email with this problem to assess where we are:

Unit factors:
1 lb = 454 g
1 g = 1000 mg

1 gal = 4 qt
1 L = 1.06 qt
1 L = 1000 mL
1 mL = 1 cm3 (centimeter cubed)

Density = mass in grams/ volume in centimeters cubed

Calculate the density in standard units of a substance that occupies 3 gallons and weighs 25 lbs and how many cubic centimeters are in 90 lbs of the substance?

The answers are D= 1.002583 g/cm3 to seven significant figures and
volume of 90 lbs of the substance is 40,754.7 cm3 to six significant figures.

He told us that if we were not able to complete the problem and get the correct answers in less than 15 minutes, we should consider doing intro to chem before gen chem 1.

Chemistry is basically math in disguise so it seems to me that to be successful, one should be doing a lot of practice problems. That's what I plan on doing.
 
My gen chem class had calc as a corequesitie, but it really was a prereq. In fact, calc I and II were both very helpful in the class.
 
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You won't need calculus for Gen Chem 1. There is a lot of math when dealing with stoichiometry and maybe gas equations but this is mostly simple math. In Gen Chem 2 you will need to be well rehersed in algebra to be able to do the equilibrium questions (ie. remember the quadratic equation).
 
You won't need calculus for Gen Chem 1. There is a lot of math when dealing with stoichiometry and maybe gas equations but this is mostly simple math. In Gen Chem 2 you will need to be well rehersed in algebra to be able to do the equilibrium questions (ie. remember the quadratic equation).

My gen chem class included a bit of statistical mechanics, and even the other topics required calc, like Schrodinger's equation and the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution.
 
My gen chem class included a bit of statistical mechanics, and even the other topics required calc, like Schrodinger's equation and the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution.


Yes, a basic understanding of algebra, which does include logs (for pH), quadratic- for equlibrium, and basic manipulation of units. Then you're golden, if the professor does a few problems, you'll easily pick up that way too
 
I will be taking general Chemistry I beginning 15 days from now and am tremendously afraid. I am poor at Mathematics and have not taken a Math course in over 4 years. What level of mathematical knowledge must one have to be successful in general Chemistry I? Is it imperative that I take Algebra or Calculus prior to taking Chemistry I? Will I definitely do poorly in Chemistry I since I don't have a strong background in Mathematics? Any input will be appreciated.


I responded to your other post about gen chem, but Ill reiterate the fact that any math in chemistry is made twice as easy if you understand why the math is doing what its doing. You will see that the math that may be more daunting to you on its own is not that bad when applied to chemistry.
 
basic algebra....the toughest math you'll do in general chemistry is probably the quadratic equation.
 
I will be taking general Chemistry I beginning 15 days from now and am tremendously afraid. I am poor at Mathematics and have not taken a Math course in over 4 years. What level of mathematical knowledge must one have to be successful in general Chemistry I? Is it imperative that I take Algebra or Calculus prior to taking Chemistry I? Will I definitely do poorly in Chemistry I since I don't have a strong background in Mathematics? Any input will be appreciated.


Most university-level General Chemistry courses require a strong working knowledge of college-level algebra/trig. If you do not have these skills, you should acquire them before you attempt this class. Do be aware that some medical schools require Calculus as a pre-req and thus, you may need to take this course at some point in your premedical studies.

You cannot afford to self-label as "poor" in any skills that you need to do well in the medical school pre-reqs. Either you have a skill or you don't have it. If you don't have the skill, acquire it and keep moving forward.

It goes without saying that if you do not have the skills necessary to do well in a particular class, you are likely not to do well in that class. Get you skills up to par by refreshing what you need and head on into your coursework so that you have the best chance of success.
 
For Chem I the only math you need to know is addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and algebraic manipulation. I took Chem I after not taking math for two years and didn't have a problem. Most of Chem I hinges on understanding how numbers and units work together. If you understand that Chem I is not so bad.

Again the question that was posted is pretty standard for Chem I. The sig. figs. were a little crazy but you will learn how to use them.
 
You'll need to know how to do logarithms, quadratic formula, and basic algebra.
 
My gen chem class had calc as a corequesitie, but it really was a prereq. In fact, calc I and II were both very helpful in the class.

For GEN CHEM? Do you go to MIT? What the hell did PChem entail?

My Chem I class required college level algebra and a calculator and that's about it.
 
My gen chem class had calc as a corequesitie, but it really was a prereq. In fact, calc I and II were both very helpful in the class.
You have your classes mixed up. There is no calc in gen chem. You're thinking of physics.
 
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I went to an engineering school for a year (before I realized I hate engineering...) and the general chemistry there didn't require calculus, but the teacher was always using calculus to prove things; I imagine you could have gotten through without it, but I doubt that you would have understood alot of what was going on. Assuming you have all the prereq's for the chemistry class and you want to find out what to expect, go back to the last math class you took and review the material*.
*Hopefully that's at least college algebra....
 
Calculus was also a co/prereq for my gen chem class, also to deal with the Schrodinger equation and wave functions and such.
 
I think as far as Calculus that it's useful for understanding how a lot of equations are derived and things like that, but if you're willing to just accept that it works you'll be able to get by with decent algebra (like someone said, factoring especially).
 
For gen chem you'll only need basic algebra and that's about it; that and being able to handle unit conversions (i.e. L -> cm3) and scientific notation. That's essentially it. I didn't even have to think about a derivative or integral until physical chemistry. if you know that if (ab=efg) then (g=ab/ef) then you've got most of the math for gen chem covered.
 
I will be taking general Chemistry I beginning 15 days from now and am tremendously afraid. I am poor at Mathematics and have not taken a Math course in over 4 years. What level of mathematical knowledge must one have to be successful in general Chemistry I? Is it imperative that I take Algebra or Calculus prior to taking Chemistry I? Will I definitely do poorly in Chemistry I since I don't have a strong background in Mathematics? Any input will be appreciated.

Brush up on algebra skills, you will need them.
 
You did Schrodinger in Gen Chem??

Yes. Gen chem isn't just acid-bases, thermodynamics, etc. My class included topics on quantum mechanics, wave functions, transition-metal complexes, molecular orbital theory, symmetry elements, etc., stuff I didn't see in ChemAP.
 
OP, have you gotten enough advice to confuse you even more?

I'll add my experience to the rest. The prereq for mine was basic college alg. I had special circumstances & all my prereqs for everything were waived. No, I hadn't taken any college level math. If you understand plain ole arithmetic and high school alg. basics, you may be fine.

Another poster mentioned that chem is just math in context. That makes it so much easier because when you know how things relate, the way to solve them just makes sense. The prof. used calculus in the explanations often, but we didn't have to know it for the course. However, once again, it's easy to understand in context. Books tend to contain loads of problem sets. Just do them until you are comfortable and they're second nature.

I did things bass ackwards and took the chem before the math courses. Worked out well because I think doing that made the math classes a breeze.

So no, you won't definitely do poorly just because you don't feel up to par on the math. If you allow a fear of math to get in the way, that might adversely affect you, but if you tend to learn well in context, and go to the effort of doing problem sets as much as you need to, you'll be fine. Your level of interest in and dedication to mastering the subject may be the greater determining factors in how well you do.
 
No.



Yup. Only for the nice symmetric solutions though, like particle in a box, and proving that certain things can or cannot be solutions.


lol I remember particle in a box!
 
I will be taking general Chemistry I beginning 15 days from now and am tremendously afraid. I am poor at Mathematics and have not taken a Math course in over 4 years. What level of mathematical knowledge must one have to be successful in general Chemistry I? Is it imperative that I take Algebra or Calculus prior to taking Chemistry I? Will I definitely do poorly in Chemistry I since I don't have a strong background in Mathematics? Any input will be appreciated.

addition, substraction, multiplication, basic highschool freshman level algebra
 
For GEN CHEM? Do you go to MIT? What the hell did PChem entail?

I go to NYU. I havent taken PChem, but from what ive seen on the test solutions in the halls, it requires calc III, if not diff eq.
 
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