I signed up for both GChemII and OChemI for this Fall. I tried taking GChemII over the summer but it clashed with my PhysicsI time.
I am taking both because I am planning to be done with prerequisites by next June and am taking OChemII in the spring.
Any pointers? What are topics that stick out in your mind that I could read ahead on in GChemII that would help me in OChemI?
I am posting this because the prof covered Acids/Bases in the first week as a review of background material and we haven’t done that yet in GChemI or GChemII (apart from the basic rudimentary stuff about them).
Thank you.
Errr anyone?
I think it’s likely to be too much.
Hmm…to read, I’d go through the stuff in the textbook and find a study buddy to work through it with you. You probably don’t need the detailed kinetics info you’re about to get in Gen Chem II for Ochem, but you need to understand what a K sub a value means (it’s a bit like Ph).
I don’t know how feasable GenChemII/Organic I will be for you - it sounds like a tall order. Most people consider Organic very difficult even after having solidified Gen Chem concepts.
That said, the focus of each course is different, which may be some help to you. In my experience, Gen Chem seems to focus on a lot of algebra and calculations, while organic is a more spatial and conceptual exercise.
If you are intent on taking this path, I think you’re doing well to read through the Organic text and see what “review” stuff is novel to you. That’s an obvious starting point for filling in any gaps.
In addition, of the top of my head, I’d look into:
- Lewis structures and resonance
- Thermodynamics - entropy, enthalpy, activation energy, Gibbs free energy
- orbital hybridization
- acids and bases - especially Lewis, but also bronstead-lowry, titrations, etc.
- solubility and K values (as Denise mentioned)
There may be more, as well. The first 2-3 chapters of my Organic book were pretty much just Inorganic review. If you haven’t yet, I’d go through those and make 100% sure that you understand everything in there. You’ll also want to pay attention to what avenues are available if you have trouble with a concept - office hours, supplemental instruction, tutoring, friends who teach well, etc.
Good luck with it!
How were you able to register for both classes simultaneously? Isn’t G-Chem a prereq for O-Chem? Anyway, if your college allowed you to take both courses simultaneously, most of what you need to know should have been covered in GenChemI. In regards to what Adam said, yeah, you should review those topics but those aren’t exactly topics you can cover in a week. My suggestion would be to drop O-Chem and maybe register for another course (maybe Genetics or BioChem). O-Chem was challenging for me but if you are finding it easy so far, maybe you should stick with it.