I’m taking Chemistry and Physics in the fall at HES. It’s been a very long time since I’ve taken either, or any math. Has anyone happened upon some worthwhile books that I could use to prepare this summer? The class description suggests:
Physics: good working knowledge of algebra, trigonometry, and geometry.
Chemistry: previous study of chemistry is not required but is extremely helpful. Students with no previous background in chemistry should become acquainted with the material beforehand and be prepared to make extra efforts. A review of elementary algebra, particularly word problems, is highly recommended.
General Chemistry, an integrated approach.
U can buy older edition with solutions manual and pretty cheap with detailed solutions.
For rapid learning through material I would get An MCAT prep book which I do think has all the back ground information that you need condensed to 200-300 pages. Bad thing is that they don’t come with problems most of the time. (check Princeton review/Kaplan)
Internet is great resource, use wikipedia to your advantage. There is a physics forum that you could google and they help you with physics problems.
As far as physics I would get Nova MCAT physics since it is pretty easy and has a lot of solved problems.
I like EK - the set of 4 plus all the 1001 questions.
Tons and tons of questions. I used the EK books when I was in g-chem for clarification purposes.
I <3 Khan Academy. I ended up using it to brush up on Bio topics I hadn’t taken courses in for the MCAT last summer, and it’s just grown and grown. It’s free, it’s got a lot of videos, and they really make sense.
Physics - http://www.khanacademy.org/#physics
Chemistry - http://www.khanacademy.org/#chemistry
Math - http://www.khanacademy.org/#pre-algebra
Having said that, if you feel like you’re having trouble once classes start first use your school resources (learning resource centers, free tutors, etc). If that doesn’t work there are some good online services for finding a skilled tutor in your area - when you find a tutor you click with it’s worth the cost.
Thanks so much everyone!
My pre-med advisor suggested the O.Chem for Dummies book to me as a good primer. I would assume that they would have comparable books for most subjects.
Free premed courses at MIT, my NEW best friend!!
http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
I’m only reviewing Chemisty and Physics in my weak areas but so far, so good!
How fun is that??? Thanks so much for sharing this link!
- pathdr2b Said:
Free premed courses at MIT, my NEW best friend!!
MIT is also my best friend. That is pretty awesome, especially the sections that include all the exams.
Hey, So since many people seem to have recommended MCAT prep tools, I wanted to add something different. I started a physics course at Columbia a couple of years ago in my first semester when I thought I could do Calc, Gen Chem I and Gen Physics I all while working full time. Not! I dropped physics after the first exam, and only now am getting ready to restart it. Physics (not my strong suit) is its own animal, so I am heeding the advice of Gonnif and am have been looking around for methods on how to approach physics problems. I think it’s more important to develop an approach to physics than preparing for the content - a mistake I started to make the first time around. I think I am also going to go out and get a decent introductory problem book. My plan is to spend my breakfasts in July and August tooling around with physics games to get myself mentally primed (and interested) in the subject.
Hi, If you are looking for a really straightforward prep book for algebra, trigonometry in preparation for calculus and / or calculus - based chemistry and physics, then here is an enormously helpful one that is pretty inexpensive buying online:
Just In Time: Algebra and Trigonometry for Calculus, by Guntram Mueller and Ronald I Brent (both professors at University of Massachusetts Lowell, Mass), Third Edition 2005 ISBN 0-321-26943-8
It is only about 200 pages and a used one cost me about $8 a week ago. It was also the recommended review book for my calculus class at the major university where I am doing my DIY Post-Bacc from scratch. It’s extremely well organized, clear, has all the “Laws” and Rules, with worked out problems and solutions.
Best of Luck,
“Dr. Quinn” (to be)