Why have so many of you taken PChem?

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quaileggs

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Are you chem majors? I'm honestly curious. Are there schools out there that require Pchem for biological sciences majors? Or did you choose to take it? Educate me. That is a legendarily nasty class.
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I was a biochem major and I was required to take Physical chemistry. No doubt a very difficult and abstract class.
 
I took it, and I was a chem minor. It's no big deal. A lot of review from gen chem, if your gen chem course was in depth like mine was. I previously took a lot of other chemistry classes for fun, and it was the one class remaining that I needed to get a minor so I said what the hell and took it. It isn't so bad.
 
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P-Chem was a requirement for my major: Biochemistry/ Biophysics. Chemistry and Chemical Engineers are the only other majors on my campus that are required to take it. Yes, it is not a fun class, but it is definetly possible.
 
I never took it..but I heard that that class can definitely make you loose your sleep!!!
 
My friend took it as an elective. (idiot!) I didn't see him that entire semester. Infer what you will.
 
I took it because I am a chem major. I can assure you that at my school, p-chem is definitely a big deal. It is a very difficult course. However, I really enjoyed p-chem. What really sucked was the lab. I cannot use enough words to describe the pain that the lab inflicts. Other people have posted that they had to do a whole bunch of lab reports, which added up to ~215-20 pages. I did not have to do a bunch. I will, when I am done with the greatest haunt of my life, write 4 labs that are roughly 50 pages. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />
 
I was a biochem major so I took two quarters of it, because it was required. But, I switched majors, basically so I could take those classes. It was a lot of fun, at least quantum was.

Adam
 
I'm a biochem major, so had to take first semester (quantum chem). I actually really enjoyed it...although I admit that the final was the worst exam I've ever taken (well, aside from the MCAT).

If you have a good, enthusiastic prof, quantum can be deeply fascinating!
 
It is NOT a requirement for any medical school in the country! That would be horrible.
 
Also a BioChem major and had to take P.Chem as a requirement. Loved the lecture but the lab was a drag, lots of lab reports etc. If you like chemistry and physics--pchem could be an amazing course.I busted my ass to make a "A" so there's hope out there.
 
gosh, so many biochem majors out there!
i'm one too and i'm taking pchem this semester.

let me tell you, IT SUCKS.
 
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!@*$*^#%!@*^(%&@#^*&$^

Just got back an hour ago from my P Chem exam (the retake). The first time my class took the exam (not the exact same exam, of course), I knew we did poorly (I earned a 13%, as I've said before). I didn't know how poorly until I talked with some of the other students tonight. Apparently 3 people earned 0%!!! This poor girl I was talking to earned a 5%! This isn't a large class, btw. I expected the retest to be much easier, but it wasn't. I'll be lucky if I earn a 40%, which is 7% less than the highest grade on the first exam. I'm not saying I think I will be at the top of the class. I can assure you I won't.

My life is hell. I feel so helpless. The professor thinks we are partying all the time, but most of us sit at home studying this stuff. :mad: Maybe I should go out partying instead of studying. It's probably as productive!

If you found P Chem to be easy, thank your favorite god that you attend the school you do. I can assure you it is not easy at my school (for the most part).

The lab is pure hell. This 2 credit class required the most work of me, by far! Every week I would go 48 hours in a row without sleep. This is every week of the semester, mind you. We had a 15 page paper due each friday.

Anyway, to answer the original question...I am a chem major. Life sucks right now. Why the hell didn't I stick with a microbiology major?!?

:p
 
SwampMan, every tom, dick, and harry at UF is a microbio major. You know how hard it is to stand out as a micro major at UF? They're a dime a dozen. Who knows, maybe your Chem major helped you stand out, and maybe the difficulty of it is what got you in? Keep ya head up. :)
 
I was a Chem/Biochem major, so two quarters of it were required to graduate. Very heavy on the calculus, but I guess in some sick and perverted way I was fortunate that I had been through some serious calc-based physics. I actually loved the class and the lab, but then I'm a chem freak.
 
Hang on Swampman!!! Life sucks now, but remember you are going to be going to medical school in the fall!!! And I don't think you will ever be asked to explain such mundane topics as the particle in the box (although you may have not gotten to that yet), transition state theory, kinetic molecular theory of gases, etc <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> Oh, but that lab....
<img src="http://216.40.201.155/s/cwm/cwm/puke.gif" alt="" />
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by daisygirl:
•And I don't think you will ever be asked to explain such mundane topics as the particle in the box (although you may have not gotten to that yet)...•••••<img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> I wish we were dealing with a particle in a box. Noooooo! We're dealing with a particle restricted to a circular trajectory with a wave function of !#@#%!%!$% &lt;- enter the most insane combination of greek symbols here! I would have loved to see a particle in a box question on the exam tonight. :mad:

Thanks for the support, daisygirl and PapaSmurf. It's going to take a lot of pep talking to drag me out of the dumps I'm in. :( I hope I'm going to med school next year. Actually, I hope I can graduate this semester.
 
It was also required in my major, physiology.
 
I majored in Chemical Engineering so I had to take four semesters of the advanced Phys Chem. So, it was treacherous, but you learn to appreciate the material. Out of all the chem classes, I'd say I liked it the best, just because it was very elegant in its philosophy.
 
Biochem major - had to take a full year of it (ThermoD and Quantum). I loved it - real challenging stuff.
 
This is a dumb question, I'm sure, but you have to use calculus in P-Chem, right?

I wasn't a science major.
 
its like the question, how much coffee do you want in your sugar? how much pchem do you want in your calculus?

•••quote:•••Originally posted by vkrn:
•This is a dumb question, I'm sure, but you have to use calculus in P-Chem, right?

I wasn't a science major.•••••
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by vkrn:
•This is a dumb question, I'm sure, but you have to use calculus in P-Chem, right?

I wasn't a science major.•••••It's not even like you use calculus in PChem - it's essentially another calculus class, which is what makes it so difficult. The chemistry really gets blurred into all the math...

I think quantum went right by me without me learning any actual chemistry. I'm all about Hermitian polynomials, though...
 
hermitian operators are operators in matrix form (Dirac notation) that equal their transpose. if A is a hermitian operator, A = A*(transpose) or in functional form (Shroedinger notation) A = A*. where * denotes the complex conjugate of the ijth element or of the function in question. it falls out, then, that all hermitian operators must then have real eigenvalues.

what you're talking about are hermite polynomials (solutions to the harmonic oscillator wavefunctions) :) same guy, different discovery.

•••quote:•••Originally posted by rxfudd:
•••quote:•••Originally posted by vkrn:
This is a dumb question, I'm sure, but you have to use calculus in P-Chem, right?

I wasn't a science major.[/qb]••••It's not even like you use calculus in PChem - it's essentially another calculus class, which is what makes it so difficult. The chemistry really gets blurred into all the math...

I think quantum went right by me without me learning any actual chemistry. I'm all about Hermite polynomials, though...••••
 
Glad I dont have to take P-Chem! Sounds horrible, I dont know a single class in my major that requires me to write 250 pg labs!!!!! mY gah!!! Of course I'm a math major... so maybe I should take P-Chem for fun? =P
 
Heh...which is why I got a B :D

•••quote:•••Originally posted by imtiaz:
•hermitian operators are operators in matrix form (Dirac notation) that equal their transpose. if A is a hermitian operator, A = A*(transpose) or in functional form (Shroedinger notation) A = A*. where * denotes the complex conjugate of the ijth element or of the function in question. it falls out, then, that all hermitian operators must then have real eigenvalues.

what you're talking about are hermite polynomials (solutions to the harmonic oscillator wavefunctions) :) same guy, different discovery.

•••quote:•••Originally posted by rxfudd:
•••quote:•••Originally posted by vkrn:
This is a dumb question, I'm sure, but you have to use calculus in P-Chem, right?

I wasn't a science major.•••••It's not even like you use calculus in PChem - it's essentially another calculus class, which is what makes it so difficult. The chemistry really gets blurred into all the math...

I think quantum went right by me without me learning any actual chemistry. I'm all about Hermite polynomials, though...••••[/QB]••••
 
I am a biochem major and i took pchem 1,2, and lab. It wasn't too bad, and it made sense after a while. It was cool doing one problem that took up 2 pages to do, and then getting a reasonable answer. Now i am taking modern physics, which is just quantum mechanics physics style and also relativity. quantum is easier the second time you see it, but i dont know if i wille ever need to use it.
 
I agree, P-Chem is easier the second time around. I am essentially taking it again-in the form of Biophysics. There are several differences in that we deal more with application than theory.
 
We've all taken P.Chem because we have to. Surely nobody takes p.chem because they want to.
 
I took PChem b/c I wanted to graduate as a Chemistry major.
 
Some schools have a 1 semester PChem course for non-chemistry (i.e., biology, microbio, etc.) majors. If you don't want to do the real thing, look for that instead.
 
I'm also a chemistry major suffering through Pchem. In fact, I should be writing up labs right now, instead of procrastinating here! Sigh...back to work.
 
Great, now I know what awaits me....*sigh* I'm a freshman, I just declared chem. Well the cool thing at my school is that they got rid of the pchem lab and they integrated a bunch of labs from a bunch of chem classes into one big lab class. They call it "superlab." Very scientific. :rolleyes:
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by riotgurl:
•Great, now I know what awaits me....*sigh* I'm a freshman, I just declared chem. Well the cool thing at my school is that they got rid of the pchem lab and they integrated a bunch of labs from a bunch of chem classes into one big lab class. They call it "superlab." Very scientific. :rolleyes: •••••Got rid of PChem lab???? For CHEM majors????

PChem lab is what DEFINES chem majors - I'd petition it...
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by sacrament:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by trix:
•I majored in Chemical Engineering so I had to take four semesters of the advanced Phys Chem. So, it was treacherous, but you learn to appreciate the material. Out of all the chem classes, I'd say I liked it the best, just because it was very elegant in its philosophy.•••••Hey, another chemical engineer! I knew I couldn't be the only one. Let's talk mass transfer ops someday. :D

p.s. I hated P-Chem.•••••What was your fav ChemE class? Mine was probably fluid dynamics, just because you could visualize everything.
 
:mad: WHY!?!?! I feel so helpless. I just got my retest grade back...a whopping 20%! Wow! I increased my score by 7%! :( Whoop-de-doo! I just went from an F to a D! :mad:

This pisses me off!

Perhaps I should start a poll titled, "Will SwampMan pass P Chem?". I have a gut feeling that the answer is no (passing meaning greater than a D). <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />
 
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