Chemistry is difficult

[dethfire]

I think chemistry, especially inorganic chemistry to be one of the toughest sciences, even more so than mathematics or biology. In chemistry you have to remember an incredible amount of information. Whereas with math, you only need to learn a few principles for any one problem. What are your views?

[aman]

I hope God blessed you with a hi IQ. It really helps to be able to remember things that aren't of the greatest interest but valuable to store. Some people breeze and some people work.

Good luck

Just pay attention. And don't sleep in class.:zzz:

Just aman

[fafalone]

Organic chemistry and biochemistry are so much harder than inorganic. With inorganic, you're dealing with simple compounds like NaOH, XeF6, UO8, etc... but with organic molecules you're dealing with interactions and structure of molecules with atomic weights upwards of 50,000 daltons. These topics are harder than mathematics, but not nearly as hard as high level physics (QED, QM, relativity, etc). But the interesting thing is... chemistry and biology reduce to physics and mathematics at the sub-atomic levels.

[dethfire]

Organic Chemistry is quite a bit more interesting though,

 

yeah actually everything boils down to math, here is sort of a scale

 

 

Cosmology/Astronomy --> Geology --> Biology --> Chemistry --> Physics --> Mathematics

[aman]

Makes sense to me.

[fafalone]

Annoying/interesting disparity between the simplicity of mathematics and the difficulty of physics :/

[dethfire]

What can I say, I'm a complicated man

 

I never said math was easy, just easier than chemistry from my standpoint.

[aman]

Practical chemistry is only as good as the tools you have. If you have crappy equipment and sloppy procedures you wind up with crappy results. Pick your partner well and follow the procedures and clean and calibrate your scales. The rest is a piece of cake.

Just aman

[dragoon]

I think i fell in love with chemistry since the first day i took it... and physics is fun (my teachers moto, he requires us to write it on the top of every paper.. so i might be brain washed to say that) but i think physics is the most basic of itself, chemistry and then biology... i think it just takes a little time to get used to but if you dont have the intrest then it'll be a bear to work with... just stick to it and try it out -- it's not for everyone but it can be a great thing to master

[blike]

I dunno, I kinda come more natural at chem. General biology was harder for me, since it combined elements of gen chem and biology. I've yet to take chem2 or organic yet, so we'll see

[fafalone]

just wait till you hit cell&molec... it combines biophysics, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, general biology.. but its a great course.

[Guest Entropia]

well...

 

i hate memory work. in short, i have a rubbish memory.

 

what got me through a year of organic chemistry and advanced organic chemistry is the fact that THERE ARE patterns to work with.

 

recognizing the patterns and applying them saved my @ss.

 

synthesizing molecules is like trying to figure out the peices to a puzzle...

 

sure, there is memory work. -but with exposure and practice, i started to remember things, which gave me the tools to apply the patterns in synthesis.

[Dudde]

I find that inorganic chemistry is a lot more fun than organic chemistry, and it's a little more difficult to learn at some points^_^

 

inorganic chemistry has too many patterns and..organic stuff...whereas inorganic I get to convince my science teachers to let me play with...er I mean set up, the acids around the classroom^_^

[greg1917]

I prefer inorganic chemsitry, although thats probably because i prefer to be able to work with numbers. Inorganic stuff doesnt have to be a memory exercise; when you use it every day and go farther with it it explains itself and becomes less a set of learning outcomes and more a set of concepts which interwind that you can deal with.

 

in saying that, oragnics is fun. im sure everyones once had a bad day, whether it was cos they got out of bed too early or whatever, but anyway, as soon as those solvent bottles are opened (like ether) well, life isnt so bad after all. At least thats the feeling. Not that im condoning solvent inhallation, mind you ether is such lovely stuff...

[Zone Ranger]

I have never met a mathematician that had a problem grasping the concepts of biology and chemistry. I have met biologists and chemists that had a very hard time understanding mathematics.

I have a friend that earned a bachelors degree in math and chemistry. She flunked out of math grad school, but she didn’t have a problem getting a masters degree in chemistry.

[pulkit]

Most people I have known did not favour chemistry too much but it was my favourite subject throughout high school.

All the inorganic chemistry I ever did was just learning up loads of chemical reactions and properties but even that was fun, because of the diverse variety of inorganic chemicals.

Organic chemistry is a beautiful topic, which if taught in an organised manner is probably chemistry at its very best.

My experiences with physical chemistry off late have led me to repeatedly use calculus as an essential tool, so I don't appreciate it as much as the rest of chemistry, it becomes too mathematical beyond a certain point.

[Dragoncaviar]

I find some concepts in physics hard to grasp, and it almost irritates me to despare that there is nothing I can do about it. Like time travel, Is it going to happen, has it already happened, but we just don't know as we are in the past, or are we the furthest forward in future? Time is a difficult concept to grasp in my opinion.

And also, this is less physical I think (not sure though) but where do we go after death, I surpose that all depends on your religion. Wouldn't it be good if we all went to where we believe in rather than just one place, so christians went to heaven, and erm, well pardon my ignorance, but I don't know what happens to people after death in other religions, as I have only been taught about Christianity, but you get the point I was trying to get at. (Don't want to spark a violent religious argument, was just mentioning it).

 

But Chemistry to me just works, It all makes sense, everything glues together.

The mind is a wonderful and strange thing. If we only use 3% of our mind power (Like some scientists believe) then we all probably have the power to grasp all subjects to an advanced level, Unless the 97% of our brain that we don't use is used for something that we don't currently do, or haven't been able to, but not memory.

 

Sorry for rambling on.

 

Ahh well

[JaKiri]

but we just don't know as we are in the past, or are we the furthest forward in future?

 

What in the world does this mean?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

And why does he state that some scientists believe we only use 3% of our brain, when this thread refutes it?

[JaKiri]

And why does he state that some scientists believe we only use 3% of our brain, when this[/url'] thread refutes it?

 

Because he's wrong.

[pulkit]

Because he's wrong

You need to use just 3% to reach this conclusion

[Guest petergogo]

i think Organic chemistry and biology are buth easy especially biology

[badchad]

I've always found general biology and cell bio. to be easier then chemistry. For me, it's much easier to "see" or envision a cell, rather then a molecule. You can use a microscope to see cells and I go from there, but trying to imagine electrons and protons and the like just doesn'twork for me.

 

And responding to petergogo, every subject gets difficult if you study it at a high enough level.

[SurfSciGuy]

Personally I think what people find easy is a totally personal thing. I found physical chemistry easy when I was an undergrad and organic hard (hence when I was getting +90% in phys chem and about 60% in organic). Of course now I'm a researcher everything is difficult.

[badchad]

Agreed, "different strokes for different folks" as they say.....Isn't it only about 3 years for a Ph.D in the UK?, here in the U.S. we average about 5 since we have two years of classes before our thesis work.....