To peep that know chemistry: Why do I need Basic Chemistry for General Chemistry 1?

College Majors Science Majors
1

<p>Here are the course descriptions for the two classes from my school's catalog:</p>

<p>CHEMISTRY 121
Basic Chemistry I
Principles of general inorganic chemistry, including properties of matter,
dimensional analysis, fundamentals of stoichiometry, interpretation of the
periodic table, nomenclature, and introduction to solution chemistry and
commonly used concentration units. Writing assignments, as appropriate
to the discipline, are part of the course.
Prerequisite: Eligibility for English 101 and eligibility for Math 118 or
higher, or completion of Math 99 with a grade of C or better.
2 lecture and 4 lab hours per week. 4 credit hours.</p>

<p>CHEMISTRY 201
General Chemistry I
Topics include the periodic table of the elements, atomic structure, basic
concepts of quantum theory, bonding, stoichiometry of compounds and
reactions, thermo chemistry, the gaseous state, basic concepts of the
liquid and solid states, solutions, acids and bases. Writing assignments,
as appropriate to discipline, are part of the course.
Prerequisite: Eligibility for Mathematics 140 or higher and Grade of C or
better in Chemistry 121 or one year of high school chemistry, or Consent</p>

<h2>of Department Chairperson.</h2>

<p>I'm thinking about trying to convince the physical science department into letting me take general chemistry 1 without taking basic chemistry.</p>

<p>Do I really need basic chemistry in order to succeed in general chemistry. Is there a lot of stuff that I will need to know from basic chem that I will need in gen chem? Would skipping Basic chem be a wise choice?</p>

<p>Btw, I attend Harold Washington College in Chicago.</p>

<p>Thanks to whoever helps me with this question.</p>

2

<p>If you’ve taken chemistry in high school and understood it then you should be fine starting in the general chemistry sequence. If you haven’t then there might be problems - the general chemistry class might assume that everyone understands dimensional analysis and stoichiometry to some degree, and if you don’t already know those topics you will be very confused. Search on Google for stoichiometry problems - if you can’t do these then I recommend taking the basic class.</p>

<p>For example: look at this picture
<a href=“http://s3.amazonaws.com/answer-board-image/20091241042196339552013951670586927.gif[/url]”>http://s3.amazonaws.com/answer-board-image/20091241042196339552013951670586927.gif&lt;/a&gt;
Do you know what is going on?
Or this?
<a href=“http://www.chem.tamu.edu/class/majors/tutorialnotefiles/stoich9.gif[/url]”>http://www.chem.tamu.edu/class/majors/tutorialnotefiles/stoich9.gif&lt;/a&gt;
Do you understand where the numbers come from and why they are in the order that they are (some quantities are on top of the fraction bar and not on the bottom, and vice versa) and not some other order?</p>

3

<p>Did you take any kind of chemistry in HS? I was in General Chem this semester and the professor did teach like we all had had HS chem-- a lot of vocab (ionic, covalent, polarity, atoms, electrons, etc.) and stoichiometry/dimensional analysis was all already assumed. What they’re expecting in General Chemistry, it seems, is not mastery of every concept of HS chem, but that you remember the basic outline of that course.</p>

4

<p>201, like freshman general chemistry courses in many other schools, lists high school chemistry as a prerequisite. Looks like they offer 121 for students who have not had high school chemistry (which is probably common given that it is a community college).</p>

<p>Have you had high school chemistry?</p>

5

<p>Chemistry courses in college are different from other introductory courses that do not assume any prior knowledge of the subject such as Physics. Chemistry courses for science majors, even introductory ones, are taught with the presumption that you already have considerable basic knowledge of Chemistry. Unless you have had Chemistry in high school or a basic introductory course at a community college I would strongly advise you to take Chemistry 121 before tackling Chemistry 201 which sounds like the first in a series of courses for science majors.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the replies guys. You guys are awesome.</p>

<p>And no, I haven’t had any high school chemistry. :(</p>

<p>To the first poster: That math in the first pic doesn’t really look difficult (it looks like something is being combined/cross cancelled), but I can’t really say I know what chemical reaction is happening, and I don’t understand any of the vocab in that picture either. I also can’t really say I know what the dimensions are of the solid/thing in the second pic.</p>

<h2>We did a small amount of chemistry in cell biology (dealing with atoms/molecules ect), but I guess that won’t be enough. :(</h2>

<p>Anyway, I guess I will either have to take chemistry or skip it (I’m a computer science major). </p>

<p>OK so, one more question. If I were to take chem 121, with calculus 1, in spring of 2013, could I easily take chemistry 201 in the summer, or would that be too difficult of a course to take over the summer? I’m pretty good at algebra and trigonometry (both high A’s in those classes). I’m not too sure how relevant that is though.</p>

<p>Thanks for the help!</p>

7

<p>It depends on how ‘able’ you are and how much time you’ll have. Summer science classes are tough, and move really, really fast, but some people prefer them because you don’t have to hold onto material as long as in a long semester.</p>

8

<p>I might not be able to handle chemistry 201 in the summer. However, if I don’t take it in the summer I might be stuck with another problem, which is somewhat unrelated to this post, but I’m going to give it a shot anyway. </p>

<p>This is how my schedule would look for math and science for the next 2 years:</p>

<p>spring 2013:
Calc 1, chem 121</p>

<p>fall 2013:
calc 2, chem 201</p>

<p>spring 2014:
calc 3, engineering physics 1 (mechanics and heat)</p>

<p>fall 2014:</p>

<h2>differential equations, physics 2 (electricity and magnetism)</h2>

<p>Notice with this new schedule, I would have to take physics 1 with calc 3 (I wanted to take physics 1 with calc 2). </p>

<p>I’m just worried that a lot of the stuff involved in physics 1 is discussed in calc 1 and 2, so I might have to review a bit. On the other hand, this might work to my advantage if some of the same concepts are repeatedly used in all of the calculus classes that will be useful in physics 1.</p>

<p>What do you guys think?</p>

9

<p>There’s no downside to being a semester ahead in math than the physics requires. You don’t stop using Calc I and II skills because you’re in Calc III.</p>

<p>If you had any uncertainty at all about starting with Chem 121, I agree that that’s where you need to start. It’s been 20+ years since I had high school chemistry, and I still recognized the cubic-feet to liters conversion in the first image. I could follow the math for reacting hydrogen sulfide with iron chloride to produce hydrochloric acid and iron sulfide, and I might have been able to come up with the 3/6/2 parts, and I understand the grams-to-moles part, but I could not have come up with the solution independently if provided the problem. If I were considering those two classes, I’d put myself in 121.</p>

10

<p>You still need to be able to differentiate and integrate in Calc III. That schedule might actually be in your favor as you’ll be done with vector calculus before taking E&M.</p>

11

<p>It is actually advantageous to have completed calculus 3 (multivariable calculus) before taking the physics course with electricity and magnetism. Differential equations also helps for that physics course.</p>