Chemistry is difficult

[SurfSciGuy]

Yeah 3 years (I did an undergrad Masters for my sins though!), I'm at the end of my 1st year so it's where the fun begins. We still get classes too, but they're of the wishy washy "time managment' and "relating to your supervisor"- type stuff. I find it's easy to relate to your supervisor when your stuck in a synchrotron about 100 miles from him!

 

PS do you think we should have a bit of a bigger representation on this board I mean Chemistry isn't exactly an "other science".

[budullewraagh]

awhile back we had general chem, organic chem and theoretical chem topics but recently chem has been swept aside. it's awful

[SurfSciGuy]

Once again biologists and physicists are stealing our space!

[budullewraagh]

tis a shame. ecological biology is useless to me and i dont consider it to be a true science. molecular biology is nothing without chem. theoretical physics can be quite dull when speaking of conditions that could never possibly exist. particle physics is dull because we dont know enough about sub-subatomic particles yet...i prefer chem.

[swansont]

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.

 

My experience has been different. When I was teaching we had several math majors fail once they got into the applications part of the curriculum because they couldn't grasp the concepts. Once it ceased to be "find an equation and plug numbers into it" they got lost. I also know some really smart mathematicians who can understand lots of concepts.

 

I think you just need to meet a broader spectrum of scientists and mathematicians.

[pulkit]

I am doing my grad with a major in computer sciences, does anyone know if computational chemistry is an area into which it is possible to do research........I have found chemistry to be the most fascinating of all sciences hence the interest in this particular field.

[badchad]

Probably. I would assume by "grad" you mean your undergraduate work. If this is the case then ask your professor's. Usually professor's at Universities have a substantial research requirement in addition to teaching (for example, my professor does very little teaching and almost all research).

 

You can also search pubmed, or google. If theres publications in the field, they are obviously achived through research. Without having any knowledge of computer science I can't really answer you're question any better then that, however there is a trend towards computer models of protein folding (it's in a thread here), as well as protein structure and such. Good luck!

[pulkit]

thnx for the reply.........wats pubmed ?

[dryan]

Chemistry is a heck of a lot easier than history. The latter is only memorization, and none of it makes any sense or follows a pattern.

[Zone Ranger]

dryan said

The latter is only memorization

 

How can it be hard if you only have to memorize stuff?

[YT2095]

Chemistry (organic or otherwise), Biology, History, geography, Mathematics etc...

can ALL be difficult! and there are any number of factors making it such. anything from a bad teacher, natural aptitude, lack of interest but doing it because mommy or daddy or friends say so (pressure) etc...

 

take away the limiting factors, and no subject is insermountable, difficult at times, maybe (there`s alot to learn, and not ALL will "sink in" right away) but you must give your mind a chance!

there`s an old but true saying: "the tools are in our hands, the rest are in our minds"

and I hold by that saying wholeheartedly.

if you`re Genuinely interested in the subject, and can elliminate as much pressure on yourself as possible, the rest will take it`s own course, and you`ll get there!!!

 

I have no reason to tell you lies!

[budullewraagh]

ah, the triumphant voice of reason and rationality has spoken. any class can be difficult. it all depends on one's specific skills, the level of the class, work, etc. also, one cannot compare the "level" of certain topic of one subject to the "level" of a certain topic of another

[badchad]

thnx for the reply.........wats pubmed ?

 

Pulkit, pubmed is an online database. It's a humungous database of journals maintained by the U.S. government. It contains the most recent literature, although it's content is difficult for me to describe. I guess I would say it includes the "biological sciences". Search on google and I'm sure someone else could comment on its content. It might not contain a lot of references related to computer science unless it's a description of some type of computer model used to describe a biological process.

[pulkit]

thanx again

[wolfson]

Allot of people who I am teaching at Summer college at University seem to be struggling with chemistry for applied science I think there are a number of factors the major is a giant step up from A-Level applied science to Undergraduate, the laboratory reports seem to be proving difficult for some. Also the grasp of equilibrium (Kc) and intermolecular forces. But hopefully with a bit of help from me they should start to realize the relationship between them.

[badchad]

Like budullewraagh and others have said, any class can be difficult. For me, the difficulty with chem. was not being able to "see" the molecules and the like. In bio, you can put a slide under the microscope and physically see a lot of the cell structure discussed. For me, I think thats the reason I stayed away from chem.

[benzex]

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.

 

NAH! ORGANIC CHEM,SO INTERESTIN AND EASY

[jdurg]

I personally think that Physical Chemistry is the toughest form, with Organic coming a close second. With P-Chem, you need a STRONG knowledge of complex mathematics as well as physics. A lot of the topics are fairly obscure as well. There are so many equations and exceptions that you have to learn and memorize that it can drive you nuts.

 

If you have a good memory, O-Chem isn't all that tough. It is, however, very difficult in regards to memorization of structures and names for those structures. Still, it doesn't compare with how P-Chem can drive you nuts. heh. Personally, I think analytical/instrumental chemistry is fairly easy. It's all logic and some basic math. I found it incredibly enjoyable and very easy since my brain works in a logical manner.

[benzex]

nothin is difficult if u try your best. try to devolop ur mind.things r easy if u take them easily.

[Gilded]

I never liked organic chemistry. Those C-C bonds look so eeeevil. However, lots of nice and very interesting compounds are organic, but I'll not go further as Unca YT told us not to.

[Goalfinder]

I agree with pullkit, at some point of time chemistry dissolves into mathematics and then it does become tedious and "boring", I have attempted to put concepts before calculations on my site - tackling subjects like atomic theory and why wood burns and explaining their concepts through animation so that memorization is done away with check out these links

chemistry of wood burning

Discovery of nucleus by rutherford

[xeluc]

This thread was 13 days away from being one year old.. aha...... ahem... Wait, I meant the last post was almost one year old..

[silkworm]

None of it's hard. If you can spell your own name and tie your shows you can kill anything like this.

 

You just have to realize that although none of this is difficult, there seems to be a desire by most professor's and textbooks to make it all seem as complicated as possible. I guess it's job security. Just break it down and simplify everything as much as you can.

[mississippichem]

I think many people confuse the term inorganic chemistry with general chemistry. I'm currently taking a 400 level inorganic course that recquires a lot of math/physics, and a healthy (though not outrageous) dose of quantum mechanics. All the example compounds are not simple salts like NaOH, many of them are frightening organo-metallic cluster compounds like (Fe)2(CO)8H. Look up organo-metallic clusters; interesting and scary.