What's so hard about chem 1a?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>I always hear people complaining about chem 1a and I can't figure out why they say its so hard (im taking it next semester). </p>

<p>What's so hard about it? Isn't it just molarity, titration, basic chem etc..?</p>

<p>and tests are mostly multiple choice with some free response? in physics its all free response, with no multiple choice so im thinking chem is easier than physics 7a.</p>

2

<p>yeah-i felt the same way as you. if you took ap chem, you will feel fine. i guess the hardest part for me was the labs which werent hard but were tedious somewhat</p>

3

<p>Chem 1A spring semester is a lot easier from what I hear and the cut off for an A is lower.</p>

4

<p>take it with nietsche if you can, it’s easy and he also gives extra credit for showing up to class</p>

5

<p>^
yea. ***. i should have taken it with nietsche</p>

6

<p>i’m gonna take it next spring with nietsche. hopefully it’s as easy as people say.</p>

7

<p>they try to trick you… so much for them telling us the tests were all concept based and based on the lectures. they really like to trick u… like the time that stacy told us not to worry about solubility rules, and BAM questions about precipitation that require basic knowledge about some of the solubility rules. And like in the lectures they are all like ya thats all u need to know, if u understand it, ur good. Then BAM they ask you to do something so different with the concepts. And *** we studied so hard for the titrations and NO titration problems on the last midterm. They knew we prepped for those ones.</p>

8

<p>You’re right. It’s quite easy, and assuming you’re equally good at chemistry and physics, it’s not even in the same league as Physics 7A. Just treat everything on the OWL homeworks as fair game for being on the midterm - e.g. Ksp and solubility were on the OWL, so why wouldn’t they test you on that? </p>

<p>Also, many people seem to get tripped up by how they test you on the applications of the concepts, but just remember that absolutely everything they ask can be explained away by a general concept they taught in class. So if you’re stuck on a test and feel like you don’t know where to begin, just run through all the periodic trends in your head and you’re sure to find the answer.</p>