Taking Physics and Chemistry at the same time

[The_Sunny_Doc]

Did anyone else find that taking these two classes together made so much more sense for them? I tried to take chemistry years ago as a freshman, and I didn't have any contextual framework to all those disjointed chemistry concepts into without physics. Physics I and Chem I and Physics II and Chem II even seem to cover the same concepts at the same time (ex: ideal gas laws, electrolytes and electricity/conductors) so each field of knowledge explains the other, basically. The Physics provided the connections between the concepts to really "get" everything the second time around. Not sure why more premed advising centers at colleges don't recommend taking the two courses at the same time (or taking Physics first).

Then again I'm finding Physics to be the most fun class ever. It's so interesting and intuitive! 😍 Going to be sad when it's over.

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[Beandog]

I see it in Phy1 and Chem 1, but I'm taking Chem 2 and Phy 2 right now - and not finding that.

PV=NRT and pressure stuff...those did seem to flow together. But right now I'd in reaction rates and solubility in Chem 2, and not seeing anything similar in capacitors and electric fields in Phys 2

 

[blue0rchid]

not physics and chem, but i was taking chem and ochem together and they do make lots of sense together, some info even repeated.

Edit: Oops, I meant taking chem and bio together

 

[ChodeNode]

I took Gen Chem at the same time as Bio and found the two to go well together. Bio starts off with a lot of generic chemistry. When you get to those sections in chem, you have a general understanding and filling in the gaps is pretty easy.

I'm glad I took Physics on its own. Although I wish I'd done it last rather than first.

 

[The_Sunny_Doc]

I took Gen Chem at the same time as Bio and found the two to go well together. Bio starts off with a lot of generic chemistry. When you get to those sections in chem, you have a general understanding and filling in the gaps is pretty easy.

I'm glad I took Physics on its own. Although I wish I'd done it last rather than first.

I didn't find Bio enlightening with respect to Gen Chem at all, but your course may have been structured differently. Physics first would have tied all those chem concepts together like it did the second time taking Chem.

If Physics isn't your cup of tea I can see how it wouldn't make sense to take it first. I've just not been crazy about any premed courses till taking Physics. It's so much more fun than the memorization heavy courses we have to deal with. I realize med school is all about memorization, so I gotta get over this attitude.

 

[ChodeNode]

Yeah, I dunno, maybe just taught differently. I felt the high-level view of molecular interactions in biological processes went pretty well with Gen Chem. Also, the sections on cellular respiration and the electron transport chain seemed to go well with Gen Chem. Other than that though, yeah, there wasn't a lot of common material.

I actually rather enjoyed Physics. I just didn't find much application for most of the E&M parts of the second semester. It made it difficult to really learn it and I know I'll be spending a lot of time re-learning it come MCAT time. Kinematics all made perfect sense and is the reason I look back fondly on the course.

O-chem is currently destroying my morale. I always feel on the cusp of fully understanding something, but then a problem comes along that completely shatters what I thought was a thorough understanding. Luckily this is my last lab science, ever. I got an undeserved A last semester. I'm not so optimistic this semester.

 

[The_Sunny_Doc]

Yeah, I dunno, maybe just taught differently. I felt the high-level view of molecular interactions in biological processes went pretty well with Gen Chem. Also, the sections on cellular respiration and the electron transport chain seemed to go well with Gen Chem. Other than that though, yeah, there wasn't a lot of common material.

I actually rather enjoyed Physics. I just didn't find much application for most of the E&M parts of the second semester. It made it difficult to really learn it and I know I'll be spending a lot of time re-learning it come MCAT time. Kinematics all made perfect sense and is the reason I look back fondly on the course.

O-chem is currently destroying my morale. I always feel on the cusp of fully understanding something, but then a problem comes along that completely shatters what I thought was a thorough understanding. Luckily this is my last lab science, ever. I got an undeserved A last semester. I'm not so optimistic this semester.

OChem is really that scary, huh? I hope it gets better for you this semester! Does it not follow as much of a pattern as Physics does? Is it a lot more memorization heavy than other premed courses?

Was thinking of taking Ochem over the summer, but heard that was a bad idea because there's not enough to time absorb the material... what do you think?

I agree with you - Kinematics and forces were more fun and easier to visualize! I find that relating electricity to gravity and water pressure is incredibly helpful for memorizing the equations (q being like mass, voltage being like the gh in the F = mgh equation) My teacher is kind of crazy and hilarious so that helps.😀

 

[MedPR]

Then again I'm finding Physics to be the most fun class ever. It's so interesting and intuitive! 😍 Going to be sad when it's over.

That's how I felt about Organic 1 when I retook it last semester 🙂

 

[docelh]

I've been taking two pre-reqs a semester until last semester, when I loaded on two + Genetics.

I think the big issue is lab. How much you have to work for just 25% of the total grade. Doing two labs has to be budgeted in addition to the coursework themselves. The other thing is that these classes can be pretty unreasonable in terms of scheduling assignments. In the last two weeks of last semester, the three science classes I took scheduled 15 different assignments in addition to the final exam. Think about that.

 

[crazycooljoel]

I took A&P I before any biology or chem and it was HARD! It covered biology and chemistry and I was not informed of the recommended prereqs. I still did very well in the class despite going out of country for two weeks during the nervous system chapter for a military TDY. This was back when I was younger and didn't think to look at prereqs, but it was still HARD!

 

[ChodeNode]

OChem is really that scary, huh? I hope it gets better for you this semester! Does it not follow as much of a pattern as Physics does? Is it a lot more memorization heavy than other premed courses?

Was thinking of taking Ochem over the summer, but heard that was a bad idea because there's not enough to time absorb the material... what do you think?

To me, it feels more memorization than other classes. Gen-Chem and Physics gave you equations which helped you to understand the relationships of certain things in your environment. You know that if you increase this, while keeping these constant, it does this. O-chem seems like a bunch of, well, guidelines, on how to form certain types of molecules. These molecules react this way with each other because they have this evidence supporting it, and it works, so they use it. They give you some rules for why it works that way, but then you find some other special kinda molecule where those rules just don't seem to work.

For example, my book talks about cracking an epoxide ring and that the mechanism for the reaction doesn't fully fit under just one of the two substitution reaction categories (Sn1 or Sn2).

There's just always a lot of little rules to keep in mind when evaluating syntheses and I sometimes miss the forest through the trees. Some people see to just get o-chem. I haven't figured out an effective way of studying it yet.

I was faced with taking o-chem 1/2 or A&P 1/2 (for my major) over the summer. I took A&P and have absolutely no doubt I made the correct decision. I would have failed hard taking o-chem over the summer. But I'm probably not as smart as a lot of people on here.

 

[Quizlet04]

For example, my book talks about cracking an epoxide ring and that the mechanism for the reaction doesn't fully fit under just one of the two substitution reaction categories (Sn1 or Sn2).

Those aren't the only two substitution categories. Epoxide cracking fits into a third: nucleophilic substitution.

The best way to think of this is as a reaction map. Make yourself an interconnecting series of lines that shows all the ways you know to get, say, from alkenes to alcohols and then back again. So you can make an alcohol with an epoxide. Can you get the alcohol back to the alkene to make the epoxide again?

Etc.

 

[The_Sunny_Doc]

Those aren't the only two substitution categories. Epoxide cracking fits into a third: nucleophilic substitution.

The best way to think of this is as a reaction map. Make yourself an interconnecting series of lines that shows all the ways you know to get, say, from alkenes to alcohols and then back again. So you can make an alcohol with an epoxide. Can you get the alcohol back to the alkene to make the epoxide again?

Etc.

If you understand the theory will you understand why the reactions work the way they do? Is there a discernable pattern to the reactions?

The more abstract and pattern-based, the easier the class seems to be. If it's just a lot of memorization of disjointed facts then orgo does sound truly miserable.

 

[blue0rchid]

OChem is really that scary, huh? I hope it gets better for you this semester! Does it not follow as much of a pattern as Physics does? Is it a lot more memorization heavy than other premed courses?

Was thinking of taking Ochem over the summer, but heard that was a bad idea because there's not enough to time absorb the material... what do you think?

I agree with you - Kinematics and forces were more fun and easier to visualize! I find that relating electricity to gravity and water pressure is incredibly helpful for memorizing the equations (q being like mass, voltage being like the gh in the F = mgh equation) My teacher is kind of crazy and hilarious so that helps.😀

I know in my previous post, I said I took chem and ochem together. What I meant was I was taking bio and chem together in the same semester and it made lots of sense. I took ochem1&2 in the same summer (2 sessions, 6 weeks each) and it was pretty easy, i think (A's for both)... There's quite a lot of info, but it's not unmanageable. Just dedicate your time for it. I found that in the short time, my professor went straight to the important parts of ochem instead of meandering around.

 

[Quizlet04]

If you understand the theory will you understand why the reactions work the way they do? Is there a discernable pattern to the reactions?

The more abstract and pattern-based, the easier the class seems to be. If it's just a lot of memorization of disjointed facts then orgo does sound truly miserable.

There is definitely a pattern to the reactions. You can predict where something will "attack" and what functional groups will interact. What people have the most trouble with, I'm guessing, are remembering the reagents and the circumstances.