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/sci/ - Science & Math

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1892154 No.1892154 [Reply] [Original]

Ask a graduate student chemist anything.

>> No.1892171

Why is your major so pointless?

>> No.1892170

How's it going?

>> No.1892172

what is your picture?

>> No.1892182

>>1892170
Slow. Data is taking a while to acquire.
>>1892171
Have fun without your pharmaceuticals and plastics.

>> No.1892190

1. how hard is p chem really, what math does it entail (i.e. what kind of calc.)
2. whats your focus?

>> No.1892192

What level graduate school?

I am going for my masters myself.

>> No.1892194

>>1892172
A copper(II) tetraphenylporphyrin complex

>> No.1892199

>>1892182
>implying there are only two types of science majors.

>> No.1892200

>>1892172
its a nigger

>> No.1892207

>>1892190
Thermo and Kinetics are simple derivatives and integration. Quantum is all just made up anyway so don't worry about the math. Just multiply by zero and add the answer. I didn't think either half was too hard.

Organic.

>>1892192
Ph.D. Almost no one bothers getting a masters in chem

>> No.1892205 [DELETED] 

>>1892199
It's so pretty...I liek symmetry.

>> No.1892210

>>1892194
It's so pretty...I liek symmetry.

>> No.1892221

>>1892207
Dont remind me.

It is because I got my bachelors in 3 so it only takes 1 year extra to get it. I figured why the hell not.

Also PChem blows so hard at my university. Everyone gets C's and D's

>> No.1892223

>>1892210
it's a D4h point group once you allow for conjugation

>> No.1892224

>>1892207
Focus?

Antibiotics and GABA receptors here. I'm on the easy track for a PhD. First year and publications in JoC and JoMC, feels good man.

>> No.1892231

I envy you so much, I would give up my FAA air traffic control license in a heartbeat to be in your position. My question is does it matter what school I got to to study chemistry? I want to go to Eastern Washington. Also do you know how to make LSD-25?

>> No.1892236

>>1892221
It blows at every school. It is a weed out class just like organic but they spring it on you too late for people to change majors. The people who should be chemists will still pass. The ones who should go to grad school will pass without too much hair loss.

>> No.1892252

>>1892236

That is the weird thing though, I had no problem in organic but I got killed in PChem.

>> No.1892258

>>1892224
I'm doing surface funtionalization and some possible methodology work. The surface stuff is with magnetite nanoparticles. None of it is published yet.
JOC page #?
>>1892231
if you have an ACS certified BS and can speak English then there will always be a school to take you. I'm not sure if you would get your choice, but you can find a school.

>> No.1892262
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1892262

Hey! I'm an undergrad biochemistry major, having trouble with a decision:

Should I do research and teach (going for a PhD in chemistry) or go to med school?

Both choices seem awesome and I know I would be great at whichever path I choose; so this is a fucking difficult decision.

What would you recommend?

Picture unrelated, but awesome.

>> No.1892271

>>1892252
if you are doing fine in your inorganic and biochem classes then all it means is you suck at p-chem. that puts you in a group with a lot of company

>> No.1892282

>>1892262
I was considering pharmacy school. I made the decision that I enjoyed research and wanted to spend 5 years getting paid to get a degree instead of paying for one.

>> No.1892286

>>1892282

What is the different between a pharm degree and a PhD in chemistry as you see it?

>> No.1892288

>>1892252
That's the thing, it's 2 different kinds of hard.

I feel like PChem at my school was kinda watered down. I managed an A in I and II, but a lot of calculus beyond simple integration was required, and we only were required to do it in practice in the most simple situations, in quantum especially.

>> No.1892291

>>1892282

I have an idea of the lifestyle of med-school (friends in it, talked to doctors, blahblah), but not so much what post-grad chemistry is like. More please? =D

>> No.1892299

>>1892288

At my uni we werent required to take any math classes besides basic calc 1, so we all went into it without knowing advanced calculus involving integration and such. THIS really fucked us over because none of us knew how to do the advanced math.

>> No.1892304

>>1892286
pharmacy has to learn to count to 30 (1month of pills)
chemistry has to learn to count to 18 (inorganic) or 8 (organic). I just wanted to play with fun chemicals instead of sick people.

>> No.1892305

>>1892288
>wasn't required

my apologies

>> No.1892312
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1892312

Do you know if this structural formula is correct?

>> No.1892313

>>1892291
plenty of late nights in the lab but I am able to party and go out most weekends and often during the week. It feels like a little watered down version of undergrad to me.

>> No.1892316

>>1892299
We had to take calc II, but it had been 2 years since most of us had taken it, therefore we forgot damn near all of what we learned.

I enjoyed PChem overall though, once you got past test weeks.

It felt kind of nice saying you passed a class in quantum mechanics, even if it meant you still aren't qualified to work for CERN

>> No.1892325

>>1892312
Damn it you parasite, I told you in the other thread that it is not right. Go away.

>> No.1892326

>>1892312
the 4,5 pi bond has the wrong stereochemistry

>> No.1892331

>>1892316
I can break magnets and punch holes in helium lines just fine. I cant totally work for cern

>> No.1892332

>>1892316

That was our problem though. None of us felt good throughout the entire course because we were just constantly getting ground down because we frankly felt as though we weren't learning shit.

Tough courses are great as long as I feel as if I am learning something, but this course was straight up "survive to get the degree."

>> No.1892341

>>1892332
I'd be willing to bet you came out of the class with a lot more than you think

>> No.1892342

>>1892312
it looked right, but maybe the e, z stuff is wrong.

>> No.1892345

>>1892332
I think it is that way at most places. Hence 'weed out' class.

>> No.1892349

>>1892313

Thanks man, best of luck with your career!

>> No.1892350

>>1892341

For sure, I just didnt think that while I was still in the course heh.

>> No.1892370

How the fuck do I clean Aluminum Phosphate from a semiconductor surface?

Chemical engineer here. Fucked at work.

>> No.1892373

how would you do the e,z part?

>> No.1892393

>>1892370
How clean do you want the surface? I would say sonicate in water then methanol then dip the whole thing in piranha solution

>> No.1892400

What happens on the molecular level when one puts dry ice in acetone to create a cooling bath?

>> No.1892397

>>1892393

Yeah we tried piranha and it stripped the contacts. Also tried sonication, IPA rinses, EKC solvent baths....

Also, I LOVE CHEMISTS. So there's that. Just seeing the words PChem and Quantum Chemistry takes me back to the good ol' days.

>> No.1892411

>>1892397
try washing with aqueous HCl then Crown-6 and DCM. You might be able to chelate the Al into solution that way.
>>1892400
Shit gets cold

>> No.1892412

>>1892411
That wasn't the answer I was looking for.

>> No.1892416

>>1892412
well you were an asshole with your subject line so I was returning the favor

>> No.1892418

What is the most badass, eat-through everything, definitely fuck you up, explode in your face, hazardous compound?

>> No.1892420

thanks i saw what you meant by the 4 and 5 pi bond i got my answer right thans Chem Grad your awesome you will go far in life :D

>> No.1892427

>>1892416
Wtv.

>> No.1892431

>>1892312
sapling learning? I had this same question last week

>> No.1892428

>>1892418
antimony pentafluoride and HF
that shit will protonate a saturated alkane and it explodes with water

>> No.1892432

op>what the hell is up with graphene?
is it all that or is it hype?

>> No.1892433

>>1892427
If you don't trust that I know the answer you are free to leave. I don't need to verify to you my understanding of the kinetics of thermal energy.

>> No.1892443

>>1892154

How important are the angles of molecular bonds in a given model? And does the importance of said angles change depending on what branch of chemistry you're in?

>> No.1892449

>>1892428
Lame.
"It is corrosive to the skin, eyes, and causes diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting if accidentally ingested."

These are not the symptoms of the most dangerous compound known to chemistry.

>> No.1892454

>>1892432
single layer of graphite. could be the real deal, but it is too early to tell. I'm not sure why it got a nobel prize. There is alot of work on it and it holds a lot of promise but we wont know if it was all really worth the work for another decade or so I suspect.

side note, it's about time Heck et. al. got their medals

>> No.1892464

>>1892454
why does it take a decade? lets make the stuff and see what the hell happens. i'll personally donate money to get this show on the road.

>> No.1892466

>>1892449
you have to combine the two for the fun to happen.
>>1892443
i'm not sure exactly what you are asking, but bond angles are important in O-chem because the larger the angle the more s-character the bond has and consequently the easier it is to ionize said bond

>> No.1892471

>>1892464
you have obviously never done research. It isn't a money issue, it is a time and manpower issue. Experiments take time and there are only so many people in the world that can do the work. And we all like to have personal lives.

>> No.1892477

>>1892454
Heck didn't deserve the Nobel prize.

Neigishi did, as did Suzuki.

They probably should have given it to Sonogashira instead of Heck.

>> No.1892484

yea that question was from the sapling:s are u in my class:?

>> No.1892485

Explain atomic theory as concisely as possible.
Seriously, I'm getting fucked by these orbitals and spins.

>> No.1892490

>>1892477
sonogashira in his original paper states that his work is only a variation of the Heck reaction. Had everyone been alive it would have been Heck, Stille, and Suzuki.

>> No.1892494

>>1892485
H Psi= E Psi
What else do you need to know?

>> No.1892502

>>1892494
I don't even know that equation.
(lolgrade12chemistry)

All I know right now are those little diagrams with the arrows in the circles, meant to represent the spins and energy levels.

>> No.1892511

Is plasma the fourth state of matter or not!?
My astronomy teacher keeps using "Gas laws" and "gas pressure" to explain certain parts of stars, but isn't it not gas? At first I thought he was just simplifying things by calling it a gas for the sake of making it understandable, but then he started applying these terms so I'm confused.

>> No.1892512

>>1892490
Just like in any science, of course it's built on previous work. Fact is that Sonogashira's reaction was discovered by Sonogashira.

Heck's reaction was discovered by someone else, and later reported by Heck as his reaction.

>> No.1892518

>>1892502
electrons wont occupy the same space, just as your car gets pissed when it tries to occupy the same parking spot as another car. so the end up occupying different levels of ever increasing energy. if you want someone to get mad at, blame these guys.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solvay_conference_1927.jpg

>> No.1892536

>>1892511
plasma is just ionized gas. it obeys all the same laws for the most part. it is a distinct state of matter because it does some very unusual stuff.
>>1892512
so the fact that Heck published seven consecutive papers in a single issue of JACS is just a coincidence.

Actually a lot of good science in that issue

http://pubs.acs.org/toc/jacsat/90/20

>> No.1892546

>>1892154
Why didn't you go into physics?

>> No.1892547

Why am I a biochem major when I want to study genetics of virology?

>> No.1892554

>>1892546
because I prefer to be employable
>>1892547
i don't know

>> No.1892570

>>1892536
It was the late 60's early 70's. If you were an American chemist you were in JACS all the time no matter what. You could probably make a list of nobodies who published 10+ JACS papers a year back then.

I'll admit that Heck made a mark on chemistry, it's just that his biggest mark wasn't really his mark - but he sure claimed it as his.

>> No.1892588

>>1892154
Brofist

First year PhD student at VT here

>> No.1892593

>>1892570
Look at the names in that issue. You have Corey, Hoffman, Cotton, and Zimmerman. That is the quality of work that JACS was accepting that month. Do you honestly think they would let something like that slip through? I've not read Mizoroki's papers but I'll wager that there are vast chunks of detail that are MIA.

>> No.1892615

OP, how difficult is it to get into graduate school for chemistry? I'm trying to get into pharmacy school and have been working in a pharmacy for about a year, but I happen to enjoy chemistry.

Is research absolutely necessary for admittance? I'm a 4th year student and barely finishing up ochem2 and biochem (long story). GPA so far is 3.8+, hopefully getting another 4.0 this semester.

>> No.1892633

>>1892615
it is easy to get into a school. it is harder to get into a good school. but if you are in your 4th year and just now getting around to o-chem I'm going to assume that you are a bio major. unless you get a certified degree in chemistry you are wasting your time when you apply for the most part.

and with that I retire

>> No.1892653

>>1892593
What are talking about slipping through?

Like I said back then anyone could get into JACS, now you have to do something pretty amazing as an organic chemist to get a JACS paper.

I'm not even saying Heck wasn't a great chemist, just that his greatest work - which won him the nobel prize - was first reported by someone else. Being a great chemist doesn't win a Nobel prize, I can list many great chemists who never did... It's that big discovery that changes the way we do chemistry that matters, and again Heck's wasn't Heck's.