<p>I know this probably isn't relavent to UC transfers, but eh, I'm a UC transfer and this is the only part of CC I've been in.
What helped you guys get through Intro Chem.?? Was there any tricks or analogies that helped you understand Valance eletrons, pH, molarity, and all that stuff?</p>
<p>Heather… Math queen is having trouble in chem? Come on! <3 Im not sure, I got a B in intro chem the first time I took and I took it again just because I didn’t grasp the concepts that well. I can’t tell you what I did to understand it other than reading the book and looking up different explanation websites. Hearing how to do it from different sources really helps tie things together for me. Good luck love.</p>
<p>Hello Heather!</p>
<p>I’m a chem major, and I just love everything chemistry. Finishing my last semester of o-chem. </p>
<p>What helps me most definitely is picturing everything. I try to visualize all that is being calculated/studied. I found that extremely helpful. All chemistry has a physical basis. </p>
<p>Although picturing molarity won’t help you calculate it, understanding what the numbers represent help many. </p>
<p>It’s hard to generalize an entire course to help you in any meaningful way, but feel free to pm me with any particularly challenging aspects and I’d be happy to try to help. :)</p>
<p>Do as many problems as you can, like just don’t stop with it/</p>
<p>Date a chemistry major. They’re good at chemistry and </p>
<p>they like to do it on the table PERIODICALLY.</p>
<p>hahahahahhahaha</p>
<p>^ HEY, HEY, HEY Chem is some hard crap!
nah, I got an A in all my chem classes, but i just need to self study all of intro. to chem in one night for business (complicated) reasons.</p>
<p>However, I don’t remember any of it. I’ll pm you andrew, thanks.</p>
<p>Ok, so Chem is sort of the bridge between Chemistry and Physics so you need to take a mixed approach to this. Here’s what you do:
- Make a short list of each topic you wish to cover within a certain time frame. Try to mostly get in all of those topics you are having particular trouble with (or those that might be on tomorrows test):
1. Molarity
2. Buffers
3. Basic Stoichiometry
4. IUPAC labeling
5. etc.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Go find the section on these topics and write the page numbers on this list next to each respective topic.</p></li>
<li><p>Go to the ends of those chapters and find around 2 or 3 (settle on a small amount) problems for each topic and write the numbers of those problems down next to each topic.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>now for the next steps, the order can vary depending on which you might feel is best if you do first:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Start solving problems and if you can solve those 2 or 3 with little or no difficulty then just cross these easy topics off. If you struggle with any…</p></li>
<li><p>Go to each topic and read back up on them. What always helps then during your readings is to explain bits of what you read out LOUD to an invisible person (or annoyed sibling) as best you can. Really go into detail and tie ideas together. Take notes on important things you might need to memorize and/or any epiphanies you get during this time. Write down some of the explanations in your own words too iff you want.</p></li>
<li><p>If you struggle on the problems under certain topics try to read some more and understand the topic more and then, pick a few more questions to try out from that particular topic/section.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The whole process will take you about 4-6 hours if it’s a “the night before the test” kind of thing. If it’s not, then I suggest you first spend the enormous planning time first and get it out of the way and don’t take too long on it (not more than 30 mins) and then set your goals to cover lets say, 1 &2 tonight, 3 tomorrow, 5-6 on the weekend, and so on…</p>
<p>So what I do, solve problems, explain things out loud and WRITE explanations of what is going on. If done properly, you will get many MANY epiphanies throughout the process :)</p>
<p>*There is no surefire way to do better. You don’t even have to follow this guide to the word. Use your own common sense and tweek it around a bit to your comfort. Be creative and think of ways your can help yourself remember or understand things based on how you yourself think.</p>
<p>** Use the example problems in the textbook to guide you!!</p>
<p>Watch videos on youtube to help you understand. Once you get a bit of knowledge, just do a crap load of problems. Also check out Cramster.com. <– great site.</p>
<p>Luckily i had good chemistry buddies. Chemistry wasn’t my strongest so most of the time i was getting help from the tutoring center and friends. Youtube also helped me. to me reading the book doesnt help 
also too i had good professors who led me in the right direction and what</p>
<p>PS: @iZychr LMAO</p>
<p>Wow walleats, thanks for taking the time to write all of this! I know this stuff should be cake compared to physics and calculus but I’m kinda just cramping all of this stuff in one night. I started from Periods and groups and atomic number and working my way over to stoichiometry and deriving formulas and stuff, which isn’t too bad. naming the hydrocarbons is sucking at the moment. like the 1-2 ethyl benzene stuff. Eh, I’ll get the hang of it tonight. Thanks though. Much appreciated <3</p>
<p>No problem! The biggest problem is procrastination and it usually happens when you aren’t prepared enough and you’re disorganized and you’re overwhelmed. Organize and break it down and it should be no problem. I usually also make myself a cup of black milk tea (chai) and it gives me that slight caffeine boost I need when I feel particularly lazy. Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m an electrical engineering major so I only needed to take the first semester of general chem, but what helped me was just paying attention in class, working hard in the lab, and putting all of my effort into the lab reports. I never even touched homework problems unless if they were for a grade (not often). Now, following my example probably will not be a good idea, but I did get an A in the class. I really think it was the lab work that helped me understand it all.</p>
<p>You need to find some method that helps YOU understand chem, and stick to it!</p>
<p>a good professor and dedicating time outside of class (this is a big one!). last semester i remember i would spend a lot of time with study groups on weekends. if your school offers a tutoring center like mine, sign up for it! i hated chemistry in high school and didn’t understand a thing. once i got into college and thankfully had a really good professor my first semester for intro chem, everything started making sense. he set a really good foundation for me and i’ve gotten A’s in all my chem courses. good luck to you… you got this!</p>
<p>@iZychr: hahahahahahahaha…</p>
<p>^Hey everyone,
Took my two hour comprehensive exam this morning, and I did really well, so thanks for the help. It wasn’t for a class, so for the most part I was just asking for tricks and tips, and like for things I could visulize that could help me remember. Just a quick fix, pretty much. The long term tips were helpful too; I’ll use them for studying physics :9. </p>
<p>Thanks again. I really appreciated the websites that a few of you sent. <3<3<3 Love you guys.</p>