OChem lab is 4 hours?!?!?

[s1lver]

Seriously? Is OChem lab really this long? What the eff do you do in that lab that it takes 4 hours long?

Guess I'll have to aim for at least a C+ because there's no effing way I'll stay in a lab class for that long.

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[acegsm]

It goes by pretty quickly, thankfully. At my school Organic Chemistry I lab is four hours, and Organic Chemistry II lab is four hours twice a week.

 

[s1lver]

and organic chemistry ii lab is four hours twice a week.

oh.my.god

 

[orthomyxo]

Good thing orgo lab at my school is only 3 hours

 

[Tiktaalik]

Seriously? Is OChem lab really this long? What the eff do you do in that lab that it takes 4 hours long?

Guess I'll have to aim for at least a C+ because there's no effing way I'll stay in a lab class for that long.

You spend a lot of time boiling **** in superbongs (Oh, sorry, "refluxing"). Just bring a book or something to do while you wait.

Just be glad you're not taking it as a summer class like I did. 4 hours of lecture starting at 8 AM 5 days a week, with 4 hour labs after lunch tuesday, wednesday and thursday.

 

[Girfaroo]

Seriously? Is OChem lab really this long? What the eff do you do in that lab that it takes 4 hours long?

Guess I'll have to aim for at least a C+ because there's no effing way I'll stay in a lab class for that long.

Our lab was 5 hours, and there wasn't much downtime. Now they've changed it so it's 3 hours, but over 2 semesters instead of 1.

 

[s1lver]

You spend a lot of time boiling **** in superbongs (Oh, sorry, "refluxing"). Just bring a book or something to do while you wait.

So there's a lot of downtime then while waiting for stuff to finish?

Also, do you guys work in pairs or groups of 3 or 4?

 

[jla314]

we worked in pairs. 3-4 would be too much...with 2, you already start to get in each others' way at the fume hood

 

[Tiktaalik]

So there's a lot of downtime then while waiting for stuff to finish?

There was for me, even with a crappy lab partner who foisted all the work off on me while he walked around visiting with his friends. I don't know your school's labs, but they'll probably be kinda like mine.

If you know what's going on conceptually, it's fairly easy to "cheat", too - for example, if you're doing a melting point analysis, you could either (a) sit there and fiddle the knob all the way from zero to the mp one step at a time, like a lot of my labmates did, or you could (b) use your brain and look up the mp of the product you were supposed to get first, crank the machine to 5º below that, and then go slow. Picking up little tricks on the analysis procedures will save you hours over the semester.

I usually got out early, too. They can't write all labs to run the full 4 hours, so they don't.

Edit: We did pairs, too. You're sharing a fume hood, so I'd say this is typical. Be prepared to defend your work from your partner's stupidity - mine was fond of crimping the water hose so it would blow off and soak everything.

 

[ArkansasRanger]

Good thing orgo lab at my school is only 3 hours

2:50 here although that even seems excessive.

 

[circulus vitios]

Gen chem lab is 3 hours and I usually get out half an hour to an hour early.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Now that I think about it, the only days I stayed the full time were the days my lab partner screwed something up or lit something on fire.

 

[JJMrK]

Mine was 6 hours/week total. You will likely need all/most of that time.

 

[ThaliaNox]

Mine was three hours but we were cautioned not to schedule anything directly after it. Depending on how things went, you could be in there four hours. When you get to unknowns things can be twitchy too, if you get the unknown with the highest boiling point or the one that has to reflux for ten years or the one that is only marginally soluble in the solvent they tell you to use.

Heh, y'all had partners? We worked alone. Fifteen folks per lab session. So much for smaller state schools like mine being "worse equipped." No worries about crappy lab partners. Granted that if you mess up there is nobody to blame but yourself.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Looking at how all over the map our responses are, it probably depends on (a) what kind of person you are, (b) what school you go to, and (c) how much of a dick your lab prof is.

 

[schrizto]

Um, that's nothing out of the ordinary. My gen chem labs are set at 4 hours but occasionally ran over that. It's 1-5 pm but I think a few times it ended up being 5:30 or so.

 

[s1lver]

Any tips on picking a good lab partner? I'm thinking I should pick a girl 'cos they usually are more careful than most guys

 

[Jasgop]

Lol! my O chem is 5 1/2 hours long! I love it! I know its tiring! Trust me! I go to a christian university and I have to go to Bible class every day for 50 minutes. I like it. Its just I don't want it to be everyday! You know?!! I feel you!!

 

[schrizto]

Any tips on picking a good lab partner? I'm thinking I should pick a girl 'cos they usually are more careful than most guys

Pick the most attractive girl in the class so you will be more alert the whole 4 hours.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Any tips on picking a good lab partner? I'm thinking I should pick a girl 'cos they usually are more careful than most guys

Don't pick the good looking guy with a sarcastic sense of humor and a bad-boy attitude.

He'll entertain you, but he'll do it while destroying your fume hood.

Also, don't go for the chem nerd. It seems like the obvious choice, but if you screw up, 2 words: nerd rage. I saw this guy pitch the biggest fit when his lab partner (the hot girl who had gone for the nerd) totally messed up their product. It was crazy to watch.

They did not get out on time.

 

[Jasgop]

I agree. Haha! I'm really annoyed with my partner right now, because she wants to leave the lab and lets me do the work by myself! She is smart and stuff but she complains too much!

 

[minicow]

6 hours
oh joy

 

[byurazorhog]

O-chem lab at my school is 4 hours once a week for the first term and twice a week in the second for chem majors. Non-majors still only meet for 4 hours once a week in the second term. I'm usually slow in the lab so I always stay still the end. Things always seem to go wrong somehow Luckily I'm done with it once and for all. 2nd term also went much more smoothly and doing IR was my favorite part. Seriously though, I don't think you'll realize how fast time goes in the labs.

 

[Jasgop]

6 hours
oh joy

WoW! Thats long! I'm almost done though! Its only once a week! =D

 

[Jasgop]

O-chem lab at my school is 4 hours once a week for the first term and twice a week in the second for chem majors. Non-majors still only meet for 4 hours once a week in the second term. I'm usually slow in the lab so I always stay still the end. Things always seem to go wrong somehow Luckily I'm done with it once and for all. 2nd term also went much more smoothly and doing IR was my favorite part. Seriously though, I don't think you'll realize how fast time goes in the labs.

Regardless of what your major, it will be 5.5 hours a week for my school. Its fair! =D

 

[cliffhuxtableDO]

i thought orgo lab was fun. but, i'm also an orgo nerd. ours was never longer than 3 hours though.

 

[s1lver]

Pick the most attractive girl in the class so you will be more alert the whole 4 hours.

LOL! We all know OChem labs are filled with hotties. They all want to take this GPA-booster course.

So going for the dorkiest looking girl would be the best choice then if I want to leave lab early? One thing I notice about girls and labs is they usually have a friend in the same lab so they usually are lab partners. With guys, they mostly don't care and would take whoever's free or next to them.

 

[orthomyxo]

I'm surprised that the lab instructors let you stay later than the allotted time to finish. Of course, we don't have to write lab reports. We usually just answer a bunch of super hard questions and make some graphs depending on the experiment, but if you don't finish in time you get kicked out and you have to hand in whatever you did.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Were the people who took long writing the reports in class, too? We were required to keep notes, but the reports were typed homework due the next lab session.

They didn't let people stay after, but some people would come back during the other session if they went overtime.

 

[addo]

Organic lab was 6 hours at my school, once a week, working alone.
I took the first half of organic lab, and both halves of the class during summer- that was 4 days a week for 4 hours each day... again working alone, and the lecture was another 2 hours, monday-thursday with a test every friday. It was 2 and a half months of hell, but much worth it.

 

[mspeedwagon]

It has been a while, but if I recall correctly it was 5 hrs from me (1 p.m. to 6 p.m.) once a week. The way the lab building was set-up made it even worse (especially in the spring). There were huge windows so you could see outside and it overlooked a grass field where you could see people playing soccer, girls tanning, bbqs and people generally having fun. Eventually we put a sign up on the glass window ("Don't feed the pre-meds"). I hate being in a lab in general. I don't think I learned any thing, but it was required as part of the course.

Seriously? Is OChem lab really this long? What the eff do you do in that lab that it takes 4 hours long?

Guess I'll have to aim for at least a C+ because there's no effing way I'll stay in a lab class for that long.

 

[CyclistOK]

Ours was 2hrs of credit and 4hrs of lab time twice a week + 1 hr lecture. Luckily that class was easy.

 

[tlaloc87]

Being a Chem major I had the pleasure of 10 hours for Orgo labs--twice a week for 5 hours each. Never in my life have I heard so much b!tching.

 

[Xcited392]

If you're lucky, there will be stools at your lab bench, so you can sit down during the refluxes.

Otherwise, expect to stand or lean over the table for 4 hours!

 

[s1lver]

For Gen Chem labs, we were required to wear goggles and lab coats or aprons... are these still required for OChem? If so, that means I also have to wear pants and shoes... ugh.

What about Physics--goggles required, too?

 

[dingyibvs]

Any tips on picking a good lab partner? I'm thinking I should pick a girl 'cos they usually are more careful than most guys

except mine, she accidentally dumped her products and kept the rest

 

[Tiktaalik]

For Gen Chem labs, we were required to wear goggles and lab coats or aprons... are these still required for OChem? If so, that means I also have to wear pants and shoes... ugh.

What about Physics--goggles required, too?

We didn't need goggles for physics, but they'll be really strict about the dress code for orgo, b/c the chemicals you work with are actually dangerous this time.

@ dingyibvs
Haha, my partner did that with our final project! We had to borrow a sample from another group that was making the same thing to do the analysis.

 

[Xcited392]

For Gen Chem labs, we were required to wear goggles and lab coats or aprons... are these still required for OChem? If so, that means I also have to wear pants and shoes... ugh.

What about Physics--goggles required, too?

If you take OChem at the same school where you took GenChem, then I'd assume the dress code is the same.

I took GenChem at one school and had to wear a lab coat. I took Orgo at a different school and they didn't make us wear a lab coat OR gloves!

 

[circulus vitios]

If you take OChem at the same school where you took GenChem, then I'd assume the dress code is the same.

I took GenChem at one school and had to wear a lab coat. I took Orgo at a different school and they didn't make us wear a lab coat OR gloves!

Most of the stuff you use in gen chem can't really hurt you anyways. The worst stuff I've used was 6M HCl and 6M KOH. Everything else was so dilute that it could be washed off with tap water.

 

[zmb96c]

Just do what I did...pretend to do something for like 30 minutes, then just make your numbers up. I got an A- and the only lab I actually did was the first one.

 

[sike08]

Just do what I did...pretend to do something for like 30 minutes, then just make your numbers up. I got an A- and the only lab I actually did was the first one.

u might be on to something bahaha

 

[bozeefus]

At UIC, it's 4 hours, twice a week. 1 credit only!


I think they are changing it to 2 next year.

 

[rxnfiend]

Mine was 6 hours/week total. You will likely need all/most of that time.

Mine also. Stop complaining because I would have LOVED only 4 hours a week...

 

[ZeusonRoids]

Seriously? Is OChem lab really this long? What the eff do you do in that lab that it takes 4 hours long?

Guess I'll have to aim for at least a C+ because there's no effing way I'll stay in a lab class for that long.

Cry me a freaking river... seriously. I just had class from 8-4 straight today and then again tomorrow and the next day ohhh and then we have a test early next week covering material from the past 8 weeks.

OChem lab is like 1-2x per week and you ALWAYS finish early if you dont mess up.

 

[Pills Of Soap]

chem lab is not so bad if you take it with friends. everyone just jokes around most of the time, since most of the time youre just waiting for something to happen

 

[cfx]

Yup, mine was also 4 hours/week for 1 credit. The time really flew, though, and it seemed much easier and shorter than my genchem labs.

The partner stories make me laugh. So aggravating at the time, but pretty comical after the fact. There's no real strategy to picking someone, since it's usually done the first day. People can shock you with their stupidity/helplessness, so I would just hope, at a minimum, to find someone lazy enough to just let you do everything without arguing to do something different and completely WRONG. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if your ochem lab has a lot of (or all) individual work, or if your instructor is receptive to you working alone if you prefer. A few years out, I might be getting my memories mixed up, but I think mine was mix of individual and group projects (probably depending on the cost of the reagents or the amount of components in the procedure). My instructors were pretty forgiving when things didn't go well, though.

 

[yoman786]

I typically left after 2 hours, I work fast.


And yes, thats what she said too

 

[schrizto]

At UIC, it's 4 hours, twice a week. 1 credit only!


I think they are changing it to 2 next year.

I hate that! I gave up my Friday afternoons every semester for 1 freaking credit!

 

[n4pher]

My ochem lab was 6h once a week. And since my professor liked to make it more advanced than it was (quite like synthetic or qualitative lab) some ppl would stay hours after the lab period was done just to finish their experiments.

Oh! And one more thing...I don't know if any of you had to do this, but my class had to attach MSDS for ALL chemical compounds used in my labs... Believe me, it was a pain.

 

[Excelsius]

Seriously? Is OChem lab really this long? What the eff do you do in that lab that it takes 4 hours long?

Guess I'll have to aim for at least a C+ because there's no effing way I'll stay in a lab class for that long.

It all depends on how quickly you can finish. If you outline what you need to do and understand what you're doing, you can mostly be out of there an hour or more early, depending on whether there are any particularly long reactions. I was pretty close to the TA and after the course was over I found out that there were always some students who had to stay after the lab was over. I am not sure why it takes so long.

By the way, you'd be better off finishing your experiment as early as possible because as the lab proceeds, students sometimes tend to mix the reagents and screw up everyone's experiment. Once I had to ask a TA why a reagent that was supposed to be colorless was blue. Needless to say the entire class had to redo the experiment! The rule of thumb is get to the lab 10 minutes before the lab starts, set up everything, and leave the lab an hour or more early.