<p>Does anyone know which textbook to buy for CH301 with Laude?</p>
<p>They haven’t released a list of textbooks for that class yet. Just wait for the teacher to tell you on the first day of class, or keep checking online to see if it gets posted.</p>
<p>I assume this class?
<a href=“https://utdirect.utexas.edu/registrar/nrclav/details.WBX?s_ccyys=20099&s_unique=53140[/url]”>Sign in with your UT EID - Stale Request;
<p>I tried finding a book for that class on the co-op website and it says “no text,” while it doesn’t say that for other classes that do not have the textbooks released.</p>
<p>In general UT uses Chemical Principles, 5th Edition, by Steven Zumdahl for CH301. It’s a customized version of his regular book which is actually just the regular book, but with a different cover and with a couple insert pages at the beginning that list the order in which the chapters will be covered (since UT does them out of order from Zumdahl’s presentation).</p>
<p>I’ve heard that Laude prefers the book that UT used before switching to Zumdahl, which is Atkins and Jones, Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight. If you’re already very good at chemistry and calculus, you might try this one. If you’re not, don’t even open the cover. (Although the green review pages in the very beginning can be very helpful.) Atkins and Jones begins with quantum physics, which nobody understands, and then tries to explain everything in terms of that, guaranteeing that you will never understand their explanation for anything else, either. Then they repeat this pedagogy by trying to explain fairly simple concepts in terms of the underlying thermodynamics, but if you don’t understand thermo, those previously simple concepts suddenly become ungraspable.</p>
<p>But Laude may tell you that you don’t have to have any specific text – if you already have a book you like, use that. Or use a text on reserve in the library, or just Google a topic until you find an explanation that makes sense. From Laude’s perspective, the important thing is that you understand the material wherever you get it from, not that you learn it from one particular book, and there are dozens of perfectly good chemistry textbooks out there. Personally, there’s a lot I like about Zumdahl (simple explanations and good graphics), while certain limitations of the English language prevent me from adequately expressing my distaste for Atkins and Jones.</p>
<p>Fair warning: Laude goes fast and you will have to do a good share of the work outside of class. Stay on top of it every day and you’ll enjoy the class, but if you don’t keep up on a daily basis, you’ll get buried.</p>
<p>what about lyon? is he a good ch301 professor? i’m thinking you might be able to answer my question benvolio, or anyone else who knows about lyon’s teaching style can answer this question :)</p>
<p>Donna Lyon isn’t teaching CH301 any more. She’s teaching the general chem lab, CH204, instead. The registrar’s listing still shows her teaching two 301 classes in the fall, but she won’t. I don’t know who will.</p>
<p>Thanks Benvolio! That was really helpful. Since the textbook Laude prefers is very difficult, does he make up for that by being a good lecturer?</p>
<p>Laude is probably the favorite CH301 professor, but he does go fast and he does expect you do put in hours outside of class. If all you do is go to class every day and then take the test, you probably won’t do better than a C. Here’s the URL for his 301 course web page last fall: [CH301</a> Principles of Chemistry Fall 2008](<a href=“http://laude.cm.utexas.edu/courses/ch301/ch301f08.html]CH301”>CH301 Principles of Chemistry Fall 2008) I just went to page 9 in the pdf syllabus and he says he only uses an electronic version of the book, which he marks up online and you can log in and see his edits. So that’s why it says “no text” for his sections – you have to pay for online access to the e-book, and there is no hardcopy.</p>
<p>damn. now i want laude. i’d love to learn about quantum mechanics and already like thermodynamics from what i learned in my ap physics class. plus, the stuff i see on his lecture notes seems very interesting and very understandable. is there any chance that people will be dropped from his class during the add/drop dates?</p>
<p>Laude’s 301 is a big class, and I would expect there are always a few drops, but I don’t know how many. Your best bet is to be on your computer as soon as the add/drop window opens, and see if there’s an opening. If there’s not, keep checking back.</p>
<p>i have two additional questions:</p>
<p>1) i see that laude is teaching only one CH301 class this fall. is that right? if this is correct, then i guess it will be that much harder to get into it during the add/drop period. </p>
<p>2) i’ve seen that most universities offer separate 2 hour lab classes for general chemistry 1 and 2. i haven’t seen any of these for CH301 at UT. why doesn’t UT offer them?</p>
<p>I can’t answer question 1. All it takes is for there to be one opening when you check, and you’re in. Good luck!</p>
<p>As to question 2, UT doesn’t have enough lab space (and enough graduate student TA’s) to accomodate all the students in 301 and 302 at the same time, so the general chem lab (CH204) goes with CH302. If you’re going to take chem lab in the spring, make sure you look into the Freshman Research Initiative option for 204. That option came too late for me, but it offers more opportunity to think and reason like a real scientist. Regular 204 is pretty much your standard general chem lab where you follow the recipe and get the expected result.</p>
<p>So, Benvolio would you recommend buying Chemical Principles, 5th Edition, by Steven Zumdahl if I have don’t have a strong background in chemistry because my high school chemistry class wasn’t that good? Also, how much does the online ebook cost that Laude annotates in? How hard are the tests and quizzes? I read his syllabus and he only has 3 tests worth 180 points each, 6 quizzes (lowest 2 are dropped) each worth 40 points, and a final exam worth 300 points. It seems that he uses the material from the old tests as he emphasized buying the packet of old tests and quizzes and lecture notes for $25.</p>
<p>The ebook costs $9x.xx. It’s cheaper to buy the paper copy from amazon: [Amazon.com:</a> Used and New: Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1429209658/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1429209658/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new), which I think gives you access to the ebook.</p>
<p>Bulletman, I would hold off on buying any textbook until you know you need it. Zumdahl worked well for me, but that doesn’t mean it will work for you. First I would try searching the Web, because there are so many decent chemistry web sites out there – even Wikipedia covers some chemistry topics well (while others are indecipherably and unnecessarily complex). Just Google the topic you’re interested in. You might also Google it and add “AP Chemistry” to the search, because there are some high school AP Chem teachers that have good web pages. Some UT students use their laptops during class to Google the topic while the teacher is talking about it.</p>
<p>If you’re in Laude’s 301 class, definitely buy the $25 course packet. It’s huge, and it’ll give you a good idea of what to expect. You can buy it from the Copy Center on the second floor of Welch Hall across the hallway from the main lecture rooms.</p>
<p>You’ll be taking Scantron (fill-in-the-dot) tests in 301. Everything is computer graded. The tests, quizzes, and homework in CH301 are almost always drawn from a gigantic computer databank of chemistry questions. The databank has thousands of questions in it and they are constantly adding more, so you won’t necessarily see the same questions as those in the course packet or on any previous exams. But it would be good to be familiar with the strange format of the questions before you see them on an assignment. Everything is done in a two-column format, and the columns aren’t always wide enough to show a chemical equation on one line, so you’ll see a lot of things get broken into two lines that would read a lot easier on one. You’ll get used to it. Some of the questions are multiple choice, and for some you bubble in a numeric answer.</p>
<p>I didn’t have Laude and don’t know how hard his tests are, or (more importantly) how hard they are compared to the homework. But I think the TA’s usually know ahead of time what’s going to be on the tests, and going to the TA help sessions might help you focus on what you’ll need to know. A lot of TA’s will answer questions about stuff they know will be on the test, and if there’s something on the test that nobody asks about, the TA might bring it up himself. He won’t necessarily say “this is on the test,” but if the TA brings up a subject that nobody has asked about during a pre-test help session, that’s usually the reason why.</p>
<p>I’m part of the FRI and I’ll be taking BIO 205L (lab). Is there a better one that goes with the FRI?</p>
<p>Benvolio, wouldn’t a textbook be easier to find information from like quickly if you have to look a certain topic up than trying to search the web and hoping that you find a good website? I usually have very slim luck in searching google for complex stuff which is why I kind of want to have a hard copy of a textbook so that I can reference it whenever I need to. Do you think I should just hold off right now on buying a textbook or should I go ahead and buy the Zumdahl one from amazon or some other online retailer? When do you think I will start to need the textbook like by what class day? It will take about at least one week for the book to come in if I order it online so it would be better to order it in advance so I have it whenever I need it. Do you think the Co-Op will have it? Thanks.</p>
<p>I personally prefer online for searching things. </p>
<p>I mean, I’m not in Chem but I used the internet for Calculus and it was much better than the textbook.</p>
<p>The benefit to online searches is that most things in chemistry can be explained in many different ways, and you’ll find different explanations at different levels online. Textbooks will usually offer only one explanation for a given concept, and if it doesn’t make sense to you, you’re left hanging.</p>
<p>If you feel more comfortable having a textbook in hand, then by all means buy one. Zumdahl in my opinon is a good one – but that doesn’t mean his explanations will work for you. I don’t know when you’ll first need to consult the book, though – that will probably depend on who you have for 301 and what your own chemistry background is like. And yes, the Co-op will have Zumdahl in stock. They’ll probably have used copies as well if you’re looking for a discount.</p>
<p>Oh ok. I have Laude for CH 301. My chem background is not that good but somehow I managed to get a 78% on the ALEKS Chemistry test.</p>