#chem2001

[uni-for-your-life]

did the final exam for chem2001 include any questions covered by george regarding cft and molecular symmetry??

I think it does, but only a couple

[uni-for-your-life]

I'm really struggling with the physical chem part. Would it just be better to practice the problems or do I really need to go over the lecture slides as well? I also need to study for the organic chem part of the exam but haven't done so far. :-(

I found the practice problems the most useful. If you can do them, there’s almost no need to go over the lecture slides. However, some definitions will be thrown into the exam, and the lecture slides will be your saving grace for these. You need to know enough about everything in the physical part to define it. Some possible examples are Boyle’s temperature, the triple point, and some others that I can’t think of right now, sorry.

The organic part is easy enough. If you’ve done fine in the online tests, you will do fine in the exam. Review the practice problems for those, and everything will be fine.

I believe in you, Anon. You will do great :)

[uni-for-your-life]

for the organic chem part of chem2001's exam, is it also similar to the practice tests and exams gavin gave out for the unit?? and what's the best way to study that part?

Yes, those practice problems will be your biggest help. Heaps of practice, collaboration with peers, and general theory revision will be great ways to revise that section. If you didn’t finish all the exercises given in the lab book, definitely do those as well, or retry them if you have done them all. I can’t remember if I was given a table of general absorption ranges and chemical shifts. You would’ve been told by now if you do get them. If not, you’ll need to remember some basics, but most of it is more practice than knowledge. You’ll also need to know some theory so that you can explain what causes stuff like IR and UV-vis absorption and deshielding in H NMR (I think. Couldn’t hurt either way). If you send me your student number, I can email you the practice problems, exam and calculations assignment I was given so you have more resources. Some of the practice problems will probably be the same, but never hurts, just in case they’re not :)

[uni-for-your-life]

for prof. mckinley's part for chem2001 of the exam, would practicing the assignment and examples on the lecture slides help??

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. The calculations section of the assignment is pretty much exactly what you do in Prof. McKinley’s section of the exam, plus a few definitions from the slideshow. The calculations will be exactly the same, but the numbers may be a bit different so that you can’t just memorise your assignment answer. Best of luck, anon :)

[uni-for-your-life]

how did you study for the physical chem part of chem2001?? i find the lectures and lecturer to be lacking. ;(

I’m sorry you feel that way, Anon. I’m assuming that by the “physical part”, you’re meaning the first half, with all the thermodynamics and stuff? And the calculations assignment? CHEM3001 and that lecturer don’t get too much better, I’m sorry to tell you. I’m struggling to think how to study for that exam...

The calculations assignment is your best friend for studying that section of the unit. If you can do all the calculations, you will be fine for the exam. Also study all the definitions, he likes to throw some of those in as the first question.

If you come off anon or just send me your student number, I can email you my calculations assignment question sheet, which will be very similar to yours, just with some different numbers, so you can practice those calculations.

[uni-for-your-life]

how did you study and cope with the lectures for chem2001? I am really falling behind this unit. :-( help please!

I coped just fine, but that’s who I am.

Sorry if I sound cliche, but you have to keep up to date as much as possible, and study styles differ between people; it depends on what works for them. Your professors are there to help you and will answer questions that you have. Approach them after a lecture, or email and set up an appointment to talk to them about certain topics you’re struggling with.

Allan’s calculation assignment is a brilliant study tool for the exam. Pretty much all of his half of the exam is a re-hash of the assignment. You’ll need to know a few definitions as well, but those are easy.

The spectroscopy half of the unit is relatively easy when you get up to it. You’ll need to do all of the practice problems that you’re given if you’re struggling with it. I don’t know who you have for this half of the unit, because I had Murray, but I know he’s on sabbatical this semester, so I don’t know if you’ll get the same problems as I did, but I think you will get either the same or similar problems.

I can’t help you much more than that without you being more specific about what you’re having trouble with. You might want to reconsider what you’re studying if chemistry is your major and you’re struggling with this unit. It only gets harder from here.

[uni-for-your-life]

In experiment 7, how do you get the rate constant from the infinity point method? I really don't get it at all. And what chem book did you use for the chem2001 unit?

For the infinity point method, you are trying to find K (conductance) at time intervals. By plotting the natural log of K2-K1, you will get a negative graph in Linplot (have fun with that stupid program…). This gradient is the opposite of rate constant k (sorry about using two K/ks. Conductance is meant to be kappa, but you can’t easily do that in Tumblr). Rate constant will be different for each temperature. Hope I’ve helped a little. If not, maybe try Khan Academy or something similar. It has been a year since I’ve done this specific experiment.

As for textbooks, we used two. “Atkins’ Physical Chemistry” by Atkins and de Paula was the recommended textbook, and if you were going on to CHEM2003 (Synthetic Chemistry), we also used “Shriver and Atkins’ Inorganic Chemistry” By Atkins et al.

[uni-for-your-life]

hey how did you even survive chem2001? this unit is really killing me. :((

Keep up to date with the lectures. Do your lab reports over the week, don’t try and do them the night before they’re due. Find a tutor willing to take you on. Read through the textbook (if you don’t have it, tell me your student number and I can email it to you).

I known it doesn’t feel worth it doing your lab reports and knowing that they’re only worth 3% each, but if you do them well, that’s some marks you don’t need to get in the exam.

When you get to the spectroscopy half of the unit, do all the practice problems that you can. Once you get the hang of how to interpret NMR and IR and mass spec, it’s relatively easy. You also need to know this stuff for later units, no matter if you’re going into analytical or synthetic.

Allan’s calculation assignment is literally his section of the exam. If you do the assignment well, you will do well in the exam. I know that the lecture slides are confusing as hell for some of those questions, but you will get through it.

You will get there anon. This unit is a bitch, but the content is quite easy once it clicks.