Somethings missing..Chemistry.

[chman]

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I am starting chem 1 next quarter.

Looking on my school's website, they say I a should be done with calc 1 by the time I start. Nobody has ever said this to me before.

I have been studying on my own before I start the class. I watch the "Open Coursware" on the MIT website. From what I can tell the level of math used in basic chem is no more than intermediate algebra.

Am I going to be in trouble, or is this just something the school is saying to have me take more classes? It seems if calc is not required for some med schools then it does not really make sense.

 

[Isoprop]

calc placement was required for chem 1 for me even though there was no calc in the class.

see if you can take calc concurrently.

 

[shiftingmirage]

Looking on my school's website, they say I a should be done with calc 1 by the time I start. Nobody has ever said this to me before.

should=/= has to, must, cannot enroll without.

There was no calc in my gen chem, and I highly doubt any gen chem. I think what the school is trying to do is prevent the huge amount of drops. My gen chem class lost about half it's people as the year went on; that's probably the norm for gen chem across colleges. I think recommending calc, the school feels those that enter gen chem will not have a problem with the math components, and therefor, maybe more will pass.

If your school recommends it, than it's up to you to decide. If it's required, kids from my UG got bumped from classes because they didn't have the pre-reqs. Usually the prof could re-enroll the student, but some profs chose not to because the pre-reqs are there for a reason.

 

[boaz]

I am starting chem 1 next quarter.

Looking on my school's website, they say I a should be done with calc 1 by the time I start. Nobody has ever said this to me before.

I have been studying on my own before I start the class. I watch the "Open Coursware" on the MIT website. From what I can tell the level of math used in basic chem is no more than intermediate algebra.

Am I going to be in trouble, or is this just something the school is saying to have me take more classes? It seems if calc is not required for some med schools then it does not really make sense.

Is kinetics on your syllabus? If so, they might be throwing in some basic differential calculus concepts. If you take calc I concurrently you're probably good to go.

I guess the prof just wants to go off on a tangent about rates but does not consider this stuff integral to the course.

 

[Yudid]

I am starting chem 1 next quarter.

Looking on my school's website, they say I a should be done with calc 1 by the time I start. Nobody has ever said this to me before.

I have been studying on my own before I start the class. I watch the "Open Coursware" on the MIT website. From what I can tell the level of math used in basic chem is no more than intermediate algebra.

Am I going to be in trouble, or is this just something the school is saying to have me take more classes? It seems if calc is not required for some med schools then it does not really make sense.

You dont need any calculus for chemistry, however, college algebra will be helpful

 

[ReptarBar]

i remember some integration was used for expansion work and kinetics. thats about it, though...

you dont need to worry. they only write that because if they DIDNT and someone failed chem, he/she could easily blame the school for not suggesting calc.

 

[Yudid]

i remember some integration was used for expansion work and kinetics. thats about it, though...

you dont need to worry. they only write that because if they DIDNT and someone failed chem, he/she could easily blame the school for not suggesting calc.

Probably depends on instructor...

 

[Baller MD]

You dont need any calculus for chemistry, however, college algebra will be helpful

HS Alge is enough.

 

[Yudid]

HS Alge is enough.

Agree, i took gen chem 2 years ago, and as i remember we didnt really use math, there is only a little math in kinetics, in some topics we used logarithms, and finally ppl need to be comfortable with formulas and conversions.... And in o-chem there is almost no math at all...

 

[chman]

I am up to pre-calc. So that should be good I guess as long as I take calc next quarter.

 

[apumic]

While calc isn't necessary for most gen chem courses, it is helpful. That is, having a good calc 1 background will help you to understand rate laws and a few other gen chem topics more easily, just as that same background can be helpful in understanding how many physics formulas are derived (even in an algebra/trig-based physics course). So not necessary but definitely helpful. The look on the students' eyes who hadn't taken calc when the prof in my gen chem class started talking about d[A]/dt was...priceless, but I think most students eventually caught onto it and understood what was going on.

 

[psharma02]

I am up to pre-calc. So that should be good I guess as long as I take calc next quarter.

Yeah, I am in Washington too and you will be perfectly fine with no calc. The most math you will do is maybe... logarithms and everything else is pretty straightforward. you'll be set. just take concurrently just in case the professor tries to throw in things just for knowledge 🙂