Chemistry Fall 2008

dcgrrl, ASN, RN · Aug 27, 2008

They say for college courses you are supposed to spend 2-3 hours studying for every hour you are in class.
So for example, my chemistry class has 3hrs of lecture and 4hrs of lab per week. This would mean 14-21 hours of studying per week! If you only are reccomended 9 to succeed, consider yourself LUCKY LUCKY LUCKY!
Good Luck! I had my first lectures last week and my first lab yesterday, so far it has been pretty basic. I'm waiting for it to get harder.

You're absolutely right about the study hours. I should've been more specific in my post because that was info I received from my Chem professor who is doing the lecture component of the class. I have a completely different professor for labs. :no: All in all - -last night wasn't bad. We talked about class expectations, watched a movie on lab safety and got out early. I know this is the calm before the storm.

modelmama07 · Aug 27, 2008

So begins my last semester of sciences!!! Woo Hoo!! I've aced every other science so far with flying colors! For once, I am nervous about a science class. I've never been to good at Chemistry, so we'll see what happens!! Good Luck everyone!!

kristi1111 · Aug 28, 2008

Well, I have survived my first week of Chem (Lecture and Lab) and THANK YOU GOD!!! :bow:I appear to have a very good instructor for lecture and a good TA for lab. The best part is THEY BOTH SPEAK ENGLISH!!!!! I am soooo thankful for this as last Fall when I tried to take this class both my lecture instructor and my TA barely spoke English (and had two very different very thick accents.) Hope things went well for everyone else this week also.

We are studying physical and chemical properties of matter, the metric system, scientific notation, and the factor unit method/dimensional analysis. Our grade is based on three tests and one cumulative final (but the lowest test grade can be dropped.) Kind of scary . In lab we just went over safety procedures, "checked in our drawer," and picked lab partners.

CracklinRose · Aug 29, 2008

We have 5 exams and one final....ugh! Today we covered again basic stuff...energy, matter, etc....I like him and he certainly seems to know what he is talking about....uses lots of realistic examples when explaining something.....we started on the elements.

Katie, sounds like you have a winner.

Kristi, happy to see you are better off this time around...lol

ModelMama, I have my firsy wk down as well....a little of the anxiety is gone...looking forward to my respiratory class in the am

smellyacres, BSN, RN · Aug 29, 2008

My professor is so great. She's very laid back. She's really into making sure everyone "knows how to GET to the answer, instead of the answer itself". I think we have like four tests, and we get to use a page of notes for each one! She's not into memorizing elements or conversion factors or anything, she just wants to make sure we UNDERSTAND all of the concepts. Its amazing.

I'm enjoying it more than biology.. which I thought would be the opposite. We didn't even have lab the first week and this week we got out an hour early (of a 4 hour lab) and next week due to labor day holiday she cancelled lab. VERY cool. She's from southern europe too, so she has a cool accent and has a sense of humor too!

I just can't wait for the tests because thats the bulk of the grade, so I wanna know what I'm in for. She also does all her homework on an online program so you get your grade instantly. Its cool.

Anyone else? How's class so far??

phoenixRisin9 · Aug 29, 2008

My professor is so great. She's very laid back. She's really into making sure everyone "knows how to GET to the answer, instead of the answer itself". I think we have like four tests, and we get to use a page of notes for each one! She's not into memorizing elements or conversion factors or anything, she just wants to make sure we UNDERSTAND all of the concepts. Its amazing.
I'm enjoying it more than biology.. which I thought would be the opposite. We didn't even have lab the first week and this week we got out an hour early (of a 4 hour lab) and next week due to labor day holiday she cancelled lab. VERY cool. She's from southern europe too, so she has a cool accent and has a sense of humor too!
I just can't wait for the tests because thats the bulk of the grade, so I wanna know what I'm in for. She also does all her homework on an online program so you get your grade instantly. Its cool.
Anyone else? How's class so far??

Well, my professor is laid back and he seems cool and the lectures are straight-forward. The subject, however, is starting to get more difficult for me to understand. I guess it's because classmates' questions are so broad in range. The professor provides us with "sample" test questions and he mentions what specific topic may be on the test. So, I figure with all the links on this thread, and staying on top of the practice questions I should be okay....I think.

PreRN Katie · Aug 29, 2008

I made it through week 2 of chem...I really really love my lecture professor but my i'm not so sure about the lab instructor. She's brand new and seems nice...but she also talks 90 miles an hour (how many kilometers would that be?) and doesn't understand that we all don't come into this class with the knowledge base that she has. I think I drove her batty asking a million questions last night during lab. Oh well, better to ask too many questions than not understand the material and/or lose points. I just sincerely dislike when I ask a valid question and I get the scoff/"are you serious? you don't understand?" look...jeez lady, we don't all have our Ph.D.'s in geochem ok?! Sorry...I feel better now!

ForeverAmber305 · Aug 29, 2008

First week of chem and lab down... and I'm feelin pretty good about it overall. My chem teacher is a very no-nonsense kind of guy. On the first day he came in, wrote his name on the board and handed out notes to start teaching chp 1. I was surprised because all of my other teachers had the little "get to know me" thing in the beginning of class.

We're covering conversions and sig figs and such... so far I'm keeping up!

AOX4RN, MSN, RN, NP · Aug 30, 2008

I'm out. I "made it through" the first week but paid no attention to what I am doing. I was trying to take that, intermediate algebra, and pharmacology all with four kids, a husband, and a job as a midwife (with five home births on the horizon). Something has to give and since chem is a big subject I am going to put it off until Spring or Summer when I have fewer distractions.

Good luck everyone!

serendipity123 · Aug 31, 2008

Well, I was told by my advisor that I didn't need to take Intro to Gen. Chem w/ lab for my BSN, but I do need one Chem as a pre-req for Micro. So I am now back in Chem for Liberal Arts which is ridiculously easy. Aced my first quiz already... it's only the first week but I have a good feeling about this course AND teacher. Good luck to all! I will most likely be back with some silly questions because Chem is not my strong suit.

AtomicWoman · Aug 31, 2008

I'm out. I "made it through" the first week but paid no attention to what I am doing. I was trying to take that, intermediate algebra, and pharmacology all with four kids, a husband, and a job as a midwife (with five home births on the horizon). Something has to give and since chem is a big subject I am going to put it off until Spring or Summer when I have fewer distractions.
Good luck everyone!

You were smart to realize you didn't have the time to devote to everything in your life at this moment. You'll also enjoy Chem more when you have time to give it your full attention. Good luck!

kristi1111 · Aug 31, 2008

Have a question to anyone out there who is studying scientific notation right now. How do you know how many numbers to leave after the decimal point in the nonexpoental term. For example how do you know if 144 in scientific notation is 1.4 x 10 2 or 1.44 x 10 2 (please pretend the 2s are superscript)?

Thanks in advance.