What was your hardest topic in General and Organic Chemistry?

[bottlecap1990]

I am a high school senior who will start prerequisites for pharmacy school at a local community college next fall. I am a senior and currently taking general chemistry (NOT AP CHEMISTRY) but I feel like I am not learning much. Our teacher lets us use calculator all the time so it almost feels like there is no math involved. We are also not learning in great DETAIL and all she wants us to do is to understand to do the problem, not learning the material. I am also in pre-calculus so algebra should not be a big problem for me.
So my question is what did you find the most difficult in Chem 1 and 2 and also organic ? I am just terrified I will not do well in these classes.

Also do you think I should take an intro chem class first since I didn't take AP chem?

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[luwical]

Carbon-13 NMR. Hate it so much. It was even in the ACS exam.

 

[Venicat]

Carbon-13 NMR. Hate it so much. It was even in the ACS exam.

Yes, this. We were basically expected to teach ourselves how to interpret H- and C-NMRs since it was not covered in lecture.

 

[rjk]

I liked the NMR stuff
although me and IR spectra did not get along well

 

[pcproduct]

I'm of the same opinion as the people above me. Now I'm having to relearn that crap for the ACS exam final that I have tomorrow.

 

[mike36]

For gen chem, I thought solubility and electrochemistry were both confusing at the time. Now I think it's easy.

 

[rycetrix]

Yes, this. We were basically expected to teach ourselves how to interpret H- and C-NMRs since it was not covered in lecture.

Isn't it supposed to be a requirement to be taught H-NMR and C-NMR? I tend to think IR is easier than NMR because IR is just stretch frequencies to determine functional groups. NMR is actually more detailed and will get you the identity of the compound.

I think the hardest part of ochem was memorizing the oxidation/reduction reagents of carbonyl's and alcohols (PCC, chromium reagents) because there were just so many and it was pretty overwhelming because it was all used for synthesis without any mechanisms shown. My favorite part was probably mechanisms with carbonyl chemistry because with mechanisms, you can see the whole picture and why things happen the way they do.

 

[lav9048]

The first general chem doesn't require a whole lot of calculations. I found that it was good preparation for organic chem. However the second general chem is pretty much all calculations. So if you're good at that then you will pass with flying colors. Organic on the other hand requires hardly any calculations. You have to be able to understand sort of abstract concepts. If you can get a grasp on it then you shouldn't have any trouble. The most difficult part for me was simply memorizing all of the reagents and what they reacted with.

 

[inquirer89]

Just finished my OrganicII exam yesterday...so glad to be finished with organic! Learning the IR and NMR stuff sucked because it was rote memorization. But overall, I liked organic better than general even though it was more work. I don't like calculations as much (although there will be more in pharmacy school).

 

[SHC1984]

general and organic chemistry are both pretty easy. It was Physical chemistry that sucked big time.

 

[pharmacygopher]

IR and NMR

 

[matt48]

In gen chem, probably the hardest part is the quantum chemistry, you know the spin number/electron density/ energy level diagram thing... I tried so hard to understand that but still its difficult for me.

O chem is easy for me since chemical reactions though long but they all follow certain rules.

Biochem and molecular biology, on the other hand, is a beast... If you think memorizing all of the chemical reactions mechanisms is hard, you will be overwhelmed by the shear number of metabolic pathways and all of the enzymes in all of those pathways... At least there are rules in o chem, in biochem, there seems to be no rule at all... just straight memorization...

Lol don't even get me started on the molecular biology... The only class that I feel confident and comfortable with in molecular biology is the enzyme kinetics/thermodynamic class... the rest are just junk for me. I mean there are like 20 different ways the professor can test you on the same concept and the homework is just 1 way of approaching that same concept. So good luck on the test to tackle the remaining 19 ways in a timed and stressed environment. Probably I have a hard professor for this class but still, Ive done all of the homeworks and understand how to do those and then on the test when i read the problem its something completely different but it still applies to the concept...

Anyway, there are classes where you study hard, do all of the homeworks and understand the materials, you get good grade on the exams. For me, gen chem, o chem, p chem and enzyme kinetics fall into this category. There are also classes where you study like hell and still on the test the concept is so broad you don't see anything similar to the homework you have done at all... In these classes, no matter how much I study, I still can't get A.. Biochem/molecular biology fall into this category for me.

 

[charfdorn]

I am a high school senior who will start prerequisites for pharmacy school at a local community college next fall. I am a senior and currently taking general chemistry (NOT AP CHEMISTRY) but I feel like I am not learning much. Our teacher lets us use calculator all the time so it almost feels like there is no math involved. We are also not learning in great DETAIL and all she wants us to do is to understand to do the problem, not learning the material. I am also in pre-calculus so algebra should not be a big problem for me.
So my question is what did you find the most difficult in Chem 1 and 2 and also organic ? I am just terrified I will not do well in these classes.

Also do you think I should take an intro chem class first since I didn't take AP chem?

Metals. I don't freaking understand them. Seriously. Organic was no big deal for me, but throw in the middle of that periodic table and I lose it.

 

[BenUstudent]

In Gen Chem. Buffers problems are my weakspot. a example is (at what Ph will a .15M Cu2+ begin to precipitate as Cu(OH)2? Ksp for Cu(OH) is 1.6x10-19). I have a Final tommorrow over this stuff and I have no clue, I hope I get it within the next 16hrs 47mins

 

[triumphbr]

I feel like a dork putting this but thermodynamics/kinetics caused me the most trouble and I still feel like i"m shaky on them. It was my lowest grade for a test through all four semesters.

I thought o-chem was a breeze and really liked it.

 

[STEV0]

+1 on the spectroscopy

 

[trailrider400]

I am a high school senior who will start prerequisites for pharmacy school at a local community college next fall. I am a senior and currently taking general chemistry (NOT AP CHEMISTRY) but I feel like I am not learning much. Our teacher lets us use calculator all the time so it almost feels like there is no math involved. We are also not learning in great DETAIL and all she wants us to do is to understand to do the problem, not learning the material. I am also in pre-calculus so algebra should not be a big problem for me.
So my question is what did you find the most difficult in Chem 1 and 2 and also organic ? I am just terrified I will not do well in these classes.

Also do you think I should take an intro chem class first since I didn't take AP chem?

You're terrified you won't do well yet you haven't even tried it? You'll do fine.

 

[tahi193]

Kinetics killed me in general chem. Kinetics just killed me in biochem.

Also NMR and IR, like everyone else, was just not fun for me but I know people who really enjoy it. It's very much like solving a puzzle but I got frustrated with it too easily.

 

[drpharMD]

Solubility! By far, it is the hardest topic in General Chemistry. There are SO MANY ways to ask a question. With the H-H equation, the curve (where the base and acid are equal, where the anion and acid have equal concentrations, where the concentration tweaking is saturated and it doesn't matter how much acid/base you add...). I haven't even discussed the solubility rules, the multiple precipitation experiments, and the Ka, pka, pH manipulations. Hard stuff.

 

[BenUstudent]

Can anyone compare Organic Chem to Gen Chem. is it more conceptual, involve more math, do you still deal with buffers? Also any main topics in Gen Chem that are worth going over this summer to get ready for O.Chem this fall. I would really appreciate any feedback

 

[dahopeful]

Can anyone compare Organic Chem to Gen Chem. is it more conceptual, involve more math, do you still deal with buffers? Also any main topics in Gen Chem that are worth going over this summer to get ready for O.Chem this fall. I would really appreciate any feedback

from gen chem know:

1. Resonace structures
2. hybridization (sp, sp2, sp3)
3. acid and bases (arrhenius, bronsted-lowry, and gn lewis)
4. polarity
5. gn lewis dot structure

that's all i can remember off the tope of the head

is it more conceptual

yes

involve more math

no

pick up the book called "pushing electrons" for the summer. that'll help you draw the structures.

 

[BenUstudent]

from gen chem know:

1. Resonace structures
2. hybridization (sp, sp2, sp3)
3. acid and bases (arrhenius, bronsted-lowry, and gn lewis)
4. polarity
5. gn lewis dot structure

that's all i can remember off the tope of the head

pick up the book called "pushing electrons" for the summer. that'll help you draw the structures.

Thanks dahopeful for your insight. I will certainly pick up that book. Thanks again

 

[IrishHammer]

Can anyone compare Organic Chem to Gen Chem. is it more conceptual, involve more math, do you still deal with buffers? Also any main topics in Gen Chem that are worth going over this summer to get ready for O.Chem this fall. I would really appreciate any feedback

Organic Chemistry is conceptual; instead of looking at equations like in Gen. Chem, you're looking at reaction mechanisms among families of chemicals (alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alcohols, carboxylic acids, amines, ethers, esters, etc.). There's a lot of "If I mix this reagent in with this compound, what is my product?" There are a few topics in Gen Chem that would be worth going over...but dahopeful pretty much nailed them. The first few chapters are all pretty much review intensive anyway.

 

[IrishHammer]

Solubility! By far, it is the hardest topic in General Chemistry. There are SO MANY ways to ask a question. With the H-H equation, the curve (where the base and acid are equal, where the anion and acid have equal concentrations, where the concentration tweaking is saturated and it doesn't matter how much acid/base you add...). I haven't even discussed the solubility rules, the multiple precipitation experiments, and the Ka, pka, pH manipulations. Hard stuff.

I concur. Organic was a challenging course, but nothing I couldn't pick up on. Solubility, however, was just brutal. What made it worse was that my professor was out for three weeks of the semester right around the time that we learned that stuff, so we had a substitute whom no one could understand. Yikes.