So... no calculators huh?

[CyborgNinjaX]

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I just did a chemistry problem by hand (without using any calc) and I really found it to be long a drawn out (about 2 minutes). I'm honestly worried about the whole no calculator thing here. How did you guys (as in the people that have taken the DAT) get past it? I'm honestly thinking I'm going to fail.

On a side note: I have a confession to make. I have difficulty multiplying and dividing decimals... 😱 I have relied on calculators ever since I could not really grasp it way back in high school.

 

[dds_sdc]

lol. okay. ur post just made me feel so much better. ive completely relied on calculators since the day laid my hands on one. lol i dont really have problems multiplying or dividing.. i just think its really long and tedious and thats where i make stupid mistakes bcoz im tempted to do them really fast..sometimes mentally if im really lazy to write everything out.

uh yeah... the whole no calculator thing is what worries me the most.

 

[CyborgNinjaX]

On that fast note: make sure you read the chemistry problems correctly. I'm going through Stoich. in chem. and I'm getting the examples wrong since I don't ready the question fully. Its frustrating sometimes.

 

[SuperC]

The math on the DAT is quite simple.... but if you are ******ed like me, this should help...

http://www.amazon.com/Rapid-Math-Tricks-Tips-Number/dp/0471575631

-C

 

[Streetwolf]

Kaplan and other practice books give you messed up numbers. Use a calculator for those.

DAT gives you easy problems. Even if you have like 134.42 grams of something, the molecular weight will be something like 67.24 g/mol or 268.84 g/mol or even 134.42 g/mol.

 

[bruinpredent]

Kaplan and other practice books give you messed up numbers. Use a calculator for those.

DAT gives you easy problems. Even if you have like 134.42 grams of something, the molecular weight will be something like 67.24 g/mol or 268.84 g/mol or even 134.42 g/mol.

my suggestion is to do everything by hand, even kaplan's "******ed" numbers. it might be a hassle doing them out by hand now, but trust me...it'll be a life saver if you start practicing. I too have relied on calculators my whole life, but post-exam, i calculate most things by hand now because its FASTER.

trust me, your 2 minutes will become 15 seconds with enough practice, and the beauty of it all is that on SOME versions of the exam (like mine), you don't even need to calculate anything, you just need to set up the equations. nonetheless...its very useful to start practicing those calculations without a calculator asap

best of luck