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8446296 No.8446296 [Reply] [Original]

Freshman in college here

Im in general chemistry, have an exam on wednesday

I think chemistry is really interesting but it doesnt really come naturally to me, anyone have good advice on how to study or how to better understand the material?

I know this is a really broad question, but I just wanna hear if you guys have any tips

>> No.8446303

>>8446296
IMO the best thing to do is to work as many problems as you can.
Many textbooks are crap; get Zumdahl's 'Chemical Principles'
You can find the textbook and solution's manuals here:
http://bookzz.org/s/?q=zumdahl+chemical+principles&yearFrom=&yearTo=&language=&extension=&t=0

>> No.8446308

>>8446303
downloading now

thanks anon, ill work through some problems after I finish re-reading the lecture slides

>> No.8446309

Practice problems in your textbook and online. Literally just google "(topic here) practice" and you'll find a lot. Also check out Openstax's chemistry textbook. It's free.

Are you struggling with anything specific or just looking for tips on how to git gud?

>> No.8446313

>>8446309
>Are you struggling with anything specific or just looking for tips on how to git gud?
The only thing Im struggling with is not sleeping in class because its an early morning class and im tired, and also not procrastinating while studying

and also I guess I kinda suck at quickly doing conversions but thats just practice

>> No.8446315

>>8446308
btw I have the 6th ed, just saw on amazon that people are saying the 7th ed doesn't have end of chapter problems, which - if true - is ridiculous

I should have qualified my endorsement by stating the edition up front

>> No.8446321

>>8446313

Keep your bedtime constant, and exercise whenever you can. Employ coffee if that's your thing. Tired advice, I know, but it works. Exercise is seriously underrated. Even if it means going out and taking a brisk walk, it'll help keep you awake in the morning. I don't mean taking a walk before class, but you'll feel a lot less lethargic the more active you are in general.

As far as procrastinating goes, it helps a lot to practice non-zero days. That is, do at least some amount of work each day, like an hour of reading or practice problems. It will feel like much less of a slog as you settle into a routine.

>> No.8446328

>>8446321
thanks for the advice man, will do

>> No.8446367

the problem with how chemistry is taught is that it's not lab based (intro level), they teach u shit about orbitals, but that's not how chemistry STARTED
so if you love it, just remember the labs or try and get some extra lab time
should get easier as you progress thru the courses

>> No.8446379

Buy some very small bar magnets and play with them. It will help you develop an intuitive understanding of dipoles and electrostatics.

Most problems in genchem are just using conversion factors and checking units.

Learn how to balance reactions by using a linear system of equations.

>> No.8446400

here b some fuckin vids of reactions, none of that textbook shit. ideally you'd integrate the two

>> No.8446404

>>8446400
ops link
http://www.chemicum.com/chemistry-videos/

>> No.8446438

>>8446321
>That is, do at least some amount of work each day, like an hour of reading or practice problems. It will feel like much less of a slog as you settle into a routine.

From my experience as a ChemE, just spending a little time each day on hw or course material made it easier to retain the information. Studying for midterms/finals felt more like a review than trying to cram a lot of information in a short period of time.
(also helped for future semesters that went deeper into certain topics)

>> No.8446444

read the Atkins book

>> No.8446445

try to find old exams. then learn the answers to the exam questions instead of the course materials.

>> No.8446450

>>8446445
my teacher posts the old exams as well as the asnwer key to them and the worked out solutions

for the last midterm thats all I did to study, just figure out how to do the problems on the old exam, and I ended up with a 60 on the exam lmfao

soooo Im gonna do more this time