review for new classes

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chucktown

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So I start organic chemistry tomorrow and was wondering if anyone who did well in the class can give me some advice as to what ch 101 topics to review?

I haven't had any chemistry in over a year and don't remember any Ch 101 and am determined to ace organic, so I am trying to start of as prepared as possible

thanks

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Protons are negative, electrons are positive.



Or is it the other way around...
 
organic chemistry is completely different from the gen chem you took (at least the one I took) i think you still need to know the stereochemistry you learned and the different types of bonds that are formed between molecules. no more ice tables and concentrations. instead you get to learn about all the EXCITING types of reactions and all the exceptions to the general rules
 
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So I start organic chemistry tomorrow and was wondering if anyone who did well in the class can give me some advice as to what ch 101 topics to review?

I haven't had any chemistry in over a year and don't remember any Ch 101 and am determined to ace organic, so I am trying to start of as prepared as possible

thanks

Pick up "Organic Chemistry I As a Second Language" by David R. Klein and r*pe it dry. If you master that, you'll get a guaranteed A on the first test. I'm rather confused why you are asking this question the day before your class though..?
 
pka's are a big deal
 
*basic acid/base properties, basic thermodynamics. Those are the main things we used from gen chem, which my book and prof did an excellent job of reviewing

Don't stress!...O chem is not as hard as ppl say it is... Keep up, and work practice problems regularly and you'll be fine. Good luck!
 
Read chapters. It will review what u need from Gen Chem
 
for my class, HOMO LUMO stuff was absolutely critical. it is extremely important to be able to know how electrons are going to act and where they'll want to go (depending on whether the rxns are kinetic/thermo favored or neither) in terms of bonding so i suggest looking up molecular orbital & quantum mechanics stuff in in addition to the pka (though it is pretty basic), thermodynamics (gibbs stuff), and just be comfortable with bond dissociation energy stuff.. pay attention in class and you'll be fine tho. your prof will likely go over stuff you need from gen chem so you should be fine.
 
one word: resonance
very true, but that can also be broken down into HOMO/LUMO (paying atention to pi systems, knowing which orbitals are free, paying attention to electronegativy, which atoms are better at stabilizing neg charges, etc.)

so yea i'll add being comfy with trends in the periodic table of elements
 
Organic Chemistry As A Second Language I is a God-send. Read the introductory chapter.
 
Organic Chemistry As A Second Language I is a God-send. Read the introductory chapter.
the book is pretty good imo. its a great book to get the basics but unless you take the class w/ klien it wont be nearly enough to do well.
 
Acid/base (esp Lewis acids and bases), VESPR, resonance, bonding, maybe some atomic theory. These things were all covered in the first few chapters of the book and the first couple weeks of class. We didn't dwell for too long on them though. Organic chemistry is very different from general chemistry and I found that I had to use different study techniques with organic. But definitely make sure you understand resonance because it will be very important, especially once you start predicting the productsw you will get from certain reactions. Good luck with it...it's not that bad once you get into it.
 
I knew nothing about Orgo when I started it. It's just not that hard of a class compared to what else is out there...study and get an A.

Maybe people who think its hard have a tough time memorizing? I just used flashcards and it wasn't bad at all
 
You took the class with Klein? Lucky..
no he only teaches summers now (for the last few years) but i have dumploads of friends who took him last summer. from what i heard, he mostly tests from his own lecture notes and his books so most ppl could get by w/o the textbook. 1 of the reg semester profs is the same, but mine definitely was not. lecture was good, but the book was necesary because lectures assumed you read the book beforehand.
 
learn the CONCEPTS and don't just memorize mechanisms like most people do

seriously the most overrated class ever.
 
remember to draw your electrons and (-) or (+) signs, and write H at the end of bonds when you are trying to denote a methyl group and want to make it look pretty. I learned the hard way.
 
learn the CONCEPTS and don't just memorize mechanisms like most people do

seriously the most overrated class ever.

I did that, but I ended up with an AB in ochem 2.

A friend of mine got an A, we were in same class, and she honestly knew very little about the concepts in ochem and just memorized everything..


So it's better to mix and match the two, but if you had to pick one, then memorize is better for your gpa
 
Resonance will answer almost every single question for the first third of the course.

Learn to draw resonance structures of molecules.
 
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