Taking general chemistry sequence over summer - I am struggling

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XWing5000

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I commute an hour 20 mins to school, classes Monday-Thursday 8:00 am-1:00 pm, the commute is killing me. 6 weeks for each class. Got a C in gen chem I. Half way through gen chem II. Failed my last test with a 52. Any advice for studying?
 
Do practice problems. Study with someone else.
My advice isn't specific for gen chem but I just took organic chem and my grade significantly improved after I began studying with other people after self studying. I would review all the content on my own then meet up with a friend or two in class and we'd go back through the all the notes and then do practice problems on a board together. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know until someone else who knows it says it and youre like oh ****, howd you know that. Also other people might have come up with good tricks for problems that you didn't think of and it'll help you. Good luck!
 
Read thru material and understand it.
Start again, but now write out high yield info and memorize it.
Do practice problems.
 
Put in more time on practice problems. Listen to lectures / videos during commute to make it more useful I commuted 4.5 hours a day during summer classes and was able to utilize that time to learn difficult concepts. The commute definitely wears you out to where you don't want to do much when you get back, but you need to stay motivated with your end goal.
 
For general chemistry 2, the math isn't the complicated part. The highest level of math you will encounter in Gen Chem 2 is with chemical kinetics, and using the first order integrated rate law. Even that is given to you, if not, you can just memorize it.

Chem 2 is more conceptual with plugging in numbers into equations, most kids will blindly plug in numbers into random equations, or won't make sure that the units need to cancel out, eg.. Arrhenius' equation What I suggest is, understanding the concepts inside and out, and knowing basic periodic trends. Once you understand concepts, you can easily do the calculations as they are not that difficult. What textbook are you guys using?

I didn't do as well as I would have liked on my general chemistry 2 course over summer because I got too absorbed with the material, and wanted to understand everything. So for a summer class, understand the main notes your professor puts on slides, and know how to do lecture problems. Redo the homework. Understand the concepts. And try a few problems from the book. As long as you understand the concept, you can essentially do any problem from the book, as it's all fairly simple.

Make sure you know the basic periodic trends from CHEM 1 because they carry on over to organic.

Also, if you got a 52.. And you do well in lab, and on exam 2 + 3 you can still probably get around a B - B+. Depending on if there's a curve, you can maybe get an A- or slightly an A.

For instance, for colligative properties, how many ways can they ask you to solve a freezing point depression question? They can throw you off, by not telling you the second component so you need to assume the total is 100g etc. Or, you might need to find MW of a compound using this formula. You get the idea? Concepts --> Problems

If you need gen chem 2 help, you can pm me
 
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Put in more time on practice problems. Listen to lectures / videos during commute to make it more useful I commuted 4.5 hours a day during summer classes and was able to utilize that time to learn difficult concepts. The commute definitely wears you out to where you don't want to do much when you get back, but you need to stay motivated with your end goal.

Wow, 4.5 hours is a lot. I have no room to complain. I never thought about listening to the lectures in the car, that's a great idea. That drive gives me a lot of time to think about my future and there's nothing more than I want then to be a doc. I'm not giving up, I just need to fix my study habits. Getting enough sleep is the hardest for me, I should probably start with that. Thank you for the advice.
 
Sorry for veering slightly off topic, but do you feel you're getting a healthy amount of sleep each night? I just ask because of your long commute so early in the morning. On top of Foreverlearner02's and others' excellent suggestions, my advice is to carve out a chunk of time each day to study and then stop when that chunk's passed. Never sacrifice sleep for studying.

Honestly this is the hardest thing for me. I am not an early person. But this class has forced me to adjust, which is fine. During chem I I did the mistake of trying to balance work and do research at the same time. I initially worked as a behavioral therapist working with kids that have autism, but I left the job to focus on these classes (I worked there for 2 1/2 years). Research went well, managed to give a poster board presentation, no pubs though. I really wanted to push myself this summer and see how much I could handle. But ultimately these things effected my grades. - I am a non traditional student by the way.
 
For general chemistry 2, the math isn't the complicated part. The highest level of math you will encounter in Gen Chem 2 is with chemical kinetics, and using the first order integrated rate law. Even that is given to you, if not, you can just memorize it.

Chem 2 is more conceptual with plugging in numbers into equations, most kids will blindly plug in numbers into random equations, or won't make sure that the units need to cancel out, eg.. Arrhenius' equation What I suggest is, understanding the concepts inside and out, and knowing basic periodic trends. Once you understand concepts, you can easily do the calculations as they are not that difficult. What textbook are you guys using?

I didn't do as well as I would have liked on my general chemistry 2 course over summer because I got too absorbed with the material, and wanted to understand everything. So for a summer class, understand the main notes your professor puts on slides, and know how to do lecture problems. Redo the homework. Understand the concepts. And try a few problems from the book. As long as you understand the concept, you can essentially do any problem from the book, as it's all fairly simple.

Make sure you know the basic periodic trends from CHEM 1 because they carry on over to organic.

Also, if you got a 52.. And you do well in lab, and on exam 2 + 3 you can still probably get around a B - B+. Depending on if there's a curve, you can maybe get an A- or slightly an A.

For instance, for colligative properties, how many ways can they ask you to solve a freezing point depression question? They can throw you off, by not telling you the second component so you need to assume the total is 100g etc. Or, you might need to find MW of a compound using this formula. You get the idea? Concepts --> Problems

If you need gen chem 2 help, you can pm me

I agree the math isn't hard and formulas are easy to follow. You're exactly right about the plugging in numbers blindly - I found myself doing this on a number of equations on the last test. Going through the homework right now, it's a matter of practicing more than I did previously. Right now we are learning Kp/Ka problems, using the ICE table, and finding the PH - and these concepts are manageable with enough practice. We are using Openstax Chemistry textbook. It's free. Our lab manual is also free, which is great. . Thank you for offering to help, I really appreciate it. I may take you up on that offer.
 
I agree the math isn't hard and formulas are easy to follow. You're exactly right about the plugging in numbers blindly - I found myself doing this on a number of equations on the last test. Going through the homework right now, it's a matter of practicing more than I did previously. Right now we are learning Kp/Ka problems, using the ICE table, and finding the PH - and these concepts are manageable with enough practice. We are using Openstax Chemistry textbook. It's free. Our lab manual is also free, which is great. . Thank you for offering to help, I really appreciate it. I may take you up on that offer.
Yeah just let me know if you need any help. Acid/Base equilibria was really fun.
 
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