After my ‘Studying Biology’ post a lot of you have messaged me asking whether I would make a similar post about how I study chemistry :)
When making chemistry notes I would definitely suggest that you use a range of resources because a lot of the processes/info in chemistry is complex, and you won’t necessarily grasp it the first time you read it; it often helps if you read the same process explained in a number of ways.
I always read the chapter I’m making notes on before writing anything, and I read the chapter multiple times - usually 2/3 times to really ensure I know what I am about to make notes on.
I always make sure I read the chapter before the lesson at school too, this means that my initial class notes are better as I understand more initially - this helps when it comes to writing my ‘neat’ notes after the lesson.
In your notes make sure you use a lot of diagrams/pictures to help you remember processes (e.g. fractional distillation or titrations).
Make your notes detailed when you first make them; notes are meant to be a summary of information, but I find that with chemistry they need to be detailed at least at first, until you get your head around the info. Then you can condense and summarise your notes down - but it’s key you understand everything first.
A lot of people have asked me about the effective ways to study organic chemistry because there’s so much to learn.
The first thing I would say is to draw, draw, draw! When it comes to understanding skeletal formulas, complex molecules and the different groups (ketones, aldehydes, alcohols etc.) I think drawing these out will help you remember the different groups and rules associated with them a lot more easily - especially if you are a visual learner. Here’s an example of some of my organic chemistry notes:
Making reaction maps is something else I would suggest. You write (and draw) the name of a functional group in the centre, and then you can draw all the reactions it can be involved/associated with, and the products it forms - here is a simple example. Reaction maps can be hugely complex though, (it all depends on the depth and breadth of chemistry you’re studying), here is a complex example.
I’ve also had a lot of people ask about moles and titration calculations, and how to memorise the formulas and know which formulas to use in questions.
I suggest making a single page or mind-map which has every possible calculation that you need (moles, gas volume, concentration etc.) so that they’re all in one place; here’s a mind-map I made:
I think the best way to learn which calculations to use, is to practise exam questions. This will help you learn in what contexts to use the different calculations.
I think that one of the best ways to revise is to do past papers and exam questions - timed if you can as this will help you when it comes to the real exam.
I find that with chemistry the mark schemes seem to be very specific. You can write a technically correct answer, but not get all the marks because you don’t write the specific phrase (e.g. ‘charge-density’ or ‘thermal stability’) that they are looking for. I definitely recommend studying the marks schemes of exam questions, to see exactly where the marks are.
I find that the moles/calculations/titration questions are always really worth practising, as they are the ones that hardest to make notes on other than memorising formulas. Actually doing questions means that you can apply your knowledge to different questions/values etc.
STUDYING CHEMISTRY ONLINE:
Chem Guide is an absolute life-saver when it comes to studying chemistry. It covers pretty much everything you could need and I use it very frequently. The explantations are really clear, and the topics are covered in a lot of detail.
Khan Academy - this website is brilliant, there are videos and text explanantions for pretty much any topic in chemistry.
Physics and maths tutor has great notes for chemistry a-level (despite the website name!). The great thing about this is that it has notes for the new (2015) syllabuses for all the big UK exam boards.
Pass My Exams is a website that has good resources for GCSE Chemistry (and the other sciences).
Scool is a website that has both GCSE and A-Level notes for chemistry and for lots of other subjects. There are notes, questions and flashcards so it gives a range of resources.
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