Chem Spring 2008

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hi all,

Hoping to start a Chem study group for Spring 2008. I do not begin class until January 15th but figured I would see about getting a group together as soon as possible.

I have another month and a half left for Chemistry 101. Its a hard class and I'm really unhappy to tell you the truth - I was hoping for an A in the class but I can see now that I'll be lucky to get just an A- :crying2: I was wondering what everyone else's grading scale is like for their Chem. 101 class? Mine is a 94 to get an A and 90 to get an A-. The tests are really hard because my teacher (she's nice but tough) asks all these abstract questions. Do any of you think this is a overly hard grading scale?

Also, does anyone have any tips for memorizing the molecular and atomic geometric structures (tetrahedral, linear ect.) for each kind of atom and the whole polar/non-polar thing? I'm really confused! :confused:

I guess all I can do is pray :bowingpur and hope for a decent grade. At least I'm transferring to a school with a 90 or above to get an A across the board-type grading scale (I hate the whole A- thing). Thanks for your thoughts everyone! :loveya:

Don't pray -- make flashcards! :lol2: OK, pray AND make flashcards! :lol2:

Remember you first need to know the DOMAIN geometry and then you can figure out the MOLECULAR geometry. So a molecule with a tetrahedral domain geometry and no lone pairs of electrons will also have a tetrahedral MOLECULAR geometry, but a molecule with a tetrahedral domain geometry and one lone pair of electrons will have something different for the molecular geometry -- in this case, it will be trigonal pyramidal.

So make yourself some flashcards, either with drawings or words. I made word flashcards that said something like this: 4 Domains [around the central atom], 1 Lone Pair: Domain Geometry = Tetrahedral Molecular Geometry = Trigonal pyramidal.

Here's a website with some images (if you are more visually oriented) and quizzes (I am this guy's biggest fan):

http://chemistry.alanearhart.org/Tutorials/Shape/shape-part1.html

Just keep doing it; after a while you'll recognize patterns.

As for polarity, there are a couple of simple rules (it's a bit more complicated than this, but this is usually enough to know for chem I):

If there are 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 (linear, trigonal planar, tetrahedral, trigonal bipyramidal or octahedral) atoms around the central atom AND all of the atoms surrounding the central atom are the same, then the molecule is NONPOLAR. All the dipoles cancel out.

If the domain geometry is trigonal bipyramidal, but the molecular geometry is LINEAR, then it's also non-polar.

If the domain geometry is octahedral, but the molecular geometry is SQUARE PLANAR, then it's also non-polar.

Again, make yourself some flashcards. Mutter this stuff while you'll driving. Tell your SO over dinner. :lol2: Pretty soon it will be comfortable for you.

One trick profs often do is give you a molecule like CH3Cl. When you draw it, it is tetrahedral and you're tempted to say it's nonpolar. BUT notice that only 3 atoms around the C are the same; the 4th atom is a chlorine. Therefore, the dipoles do NOT cancel out and the molecular is POLAR.

Always, always, always draw the Lewis structure. That will help you quickly realize that CH3Cl is polar. Also, you'll learn to recognize patterns. As soon as you see an O surrounded by 2 lone pairs, it will start to look like the pattern in the water molecule and you'll know it's polar because it's angular (or bent, depending on your prof's lingo). (This will work for other atoms, such as sulfur, too. That's one that you often see.

Finally, remember that strings of hydrocarbons are always considered nonpolar. Always. So whether it's C3H3 or C20H20, or any other combination of Cs and Hs, hydrocarbon strings are always nonpolar. (The difference in their electronegativities is not 0, but it is small.) Again, draw a few of them and you'll see why.

Good luck!

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Ok, had to post really quick. I ended up being so tired last night that I went to bed at 8:45pm!! Good lord, I don't think I have ever gone to bed that early! LOL.

Then getting up with the birds this morning! Is this what a morning is suppose to be??? LOL.

Now i'm sitting here at my desk with my cup of coffee and about to start studing for my bio final that's tonight. Have to leave for work in a little bit but glad that i went to bed early to give me a little more time this morning to study.

I can't believe the semester is going to be over by tonight....don't get me wrong..i'm glad its done but will truly miss the classmates i have met along the way.....

Have a wonderful day everyone!

I was so tired after my Chem final that I took a nap! I never nap!! But boy, I needed it. Good luck on the bio final!

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good luck tonight on your final, allie!

i was exhausted after taking my psychology mid-term on friday. i felt weak and tired! :yawn:i wish i could have taken a nap! i think studying that hard takes a lot of brain work and it's tiring...now i know why my little ones can be so cranky when they come home from elementary and preschool. :redpinkhe

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Specializes in Telemetry and Psych.
i was so tired after my chem final that i took a nap! i never nap!! but boy, i needed it. good luck on the bio final!

thank you lori! i just got done with my bio final and my teacher went ahead and corrected your exam while you waited. i got a 94% on my bio final. then she gave me my final grade....i hate to wait so i was really glad that she gave me my grade.

i got an a for bio yeah!

good luck tonight on your final, allie!

i was exhausted after taking my psychology mid-term on friday. i felt weak and tired! :yawn:i wish i could have taken a nap! i think studying that hard takes a lot of brain work and it's tiring...now i know why my little ones can be so cranky when they come home from elementary and preschool. :redpinkhe

i so know what you mean busymom....right before class i took a 15 minute catnap. it really helped me with the test. i felt refreshed.

here are my final grades......

chem lecture: 99% - a

chem lab: 100% - a

bio lec/lab: 95% - a

woo hoo!!!

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:ancong!: Allie!

You must be so proud! Too bad you don't live closer, I'd hire you to tutor me Fall quarter.

Enjoy your break!

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Specializes in Telemetry and Psych.

Thank you sooo much! I'm very proud of myself and soooo glad its over! If you ever need help, please don't hesitate to send me a pm.

I'd be very happy to help in any way....

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Excellent job Allie! What a great semester for you! I'm not doing soo well. I just bombed on my exam 3 and have the final in 2 weeks. I'm hoping to pull off a miracle to get my B back. I can't believe I did soo badly. Even with doing all the available extra credit I still did horrible. I don't want to use it as an excuse but I've had many personal issues this semester and haven't been focused the way I could've been. I'm actually seriously considering quitting my part time job because I think my school work could use the extra hours. I'll probably end up with a C in this class and it's the only on my record, one B, and all A's. Unfortunately they don't apply to nursing so I'm really starting all over. Send some postive thoughts my way please! And hats off to your good work! :yeah:

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Congratulation Allieinaz!!! :yeah: :yeah: I'm so happy for you! Enjoy your break - you certainly deserve it! :ancong!:

And once again thank you for all your help! :nuke:

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I just wanted to give a hundred thousand thank you's to LoriS! :heartbeat I printed out all your advice and I visited the site! I'm a big fan of flash cards too, so I'll definitely do that. Thanks a bunch - I don't know where I would be without this board! :uhoh21: Nowhere good lets put that way! Everyone on this board posted such great website links (I collected them all LOL) and I really liked this one because it gave extra worksheets (sometimes drill & practice type stuff works best) so I thought I'd post the link again for anyone who needs help like I do.

http://misterguch.brinkster.net/practiceworksheets.html

Click on any of the links on the left and it will lead you to a ton of worksheets.

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Thank you Lori! I just got done with my Bio final and my teacher went ahead and corrected your exam while you waited. I got a 94% on my Bio final. Then she gave me my final grade....i hate to wait so i was really glad that she gave me my grade.

I got an A for Bio yeah!

I so know what you mean Busymom....right before class i took a 15 minute catnap. it really helped me with the test. i felt refreshed.

Here are my final grades......

chem lecture: 99% - A

chem lab: 100% - A

Bio lec/lab: 95% - A

woo hoo!!!

Great grades!! You sound a lot like me... :) But I don't expect to make 98 and 99 averages in Nursing School! :lol2:

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Specializes in Telemetry and Psych.
Great grades!! You sound a lot like me... :) But I don't expect to make 98 and 99 averages in Nursing School! :lol2:

LOL I feel you on that one! I'm scared about the grades once i get in. I'm actually in the process of saving up enough money to be able to not work once i'm in nursing school. I wanted to be able to put all my time in studing and keeping up.

I talked with both of my sisters, who are nurses, and my youngest sister stated she was glad she didn't have to work while going to nursing school. She said those were the years that were the toughest for her.

So here's to success for everyone! Are we dancing yet??? LOL.:lol2::lol2::clown::yeah:

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I just wanted to give a hundred thousand thank you's to LoriS! :heartbeat I printed out all your advice and I visited the site! I'm a big fan of flash cards too, so I'll definitely do that. Thanks a bunch - I don't know where I would be without this board! :uhoh21: Nowhere good lets put that way! Everyone on this board posted such great website links (I collected them all LOL) and I really liked this one because it gave extra worksheets (sometimes drill & practice type stuff works best) so I thought I'd post the link again for anyone who needs help like I do.

http://misterguch.brinkster.net/practiceworksheets.html

Click on any of the links on the left and it will lead you to a ton of worksheets.

You're welcome!

One word of advice about Mr. Guch's worksheets. I have done many of them and I have found A LOT of errors. Sometimes the answers are obviously the answer to a different question, because the units are different or something else is clearly wrong. Other times, the math is just plain wrong. So if you do his worksheets and you get the same answer as him, be happy. If you get a different answer than him, don't assume you did something wrong. Do the problem again and if you still get a different answer, just move on and don't be frustrated by it.

I have a folder on my computer desktop that contains all of my shortcuts to great websites. I renamed them all so I would instantly know which shortcut I need. I use that folder constantly!

Dang, I'm going to miss chemistry come September!

Good luck with the rest of the semester!! Here's some fairy dust for ya so you do great:

:wshgrt: :tinkbll:

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