Physical Chemistry

Along the same lines as the Orgo question-(but I don't expect quite as rosy of an answer)-with Orgo I'm taking PChem this year. I took Calc I-III, Dif EQ, Physics, and General Chem 15-20 years ago. I am already taking a one month Physics II course this summer for review. What else do I need to review?

QUOTE (mrittman @ May 27 2003, 10:10 AM)
Along the same lines as the Orgo question-(but I don't expect quite as rosy of an answer)-with Orgo I'm taking PChem this year. I took Calc I-III, Dif EQ, Physics, and General Chem 15-20 years ago. I am already taking a one month Physics II course this summer for review. What else do I need to review?

Hi there,
For P-Chem, the math is what you need and you seem to have the bases covered. You can keep a good Gen Chem text handy but I found that I didn't even need physics for P-chem and I did well in the class. P-chem sort of stands on its own too and most every topic is a variation on a theme. I loved the problems and did lots of them. They were like puzzles and made this class one of my favorites.
Natalie
B.S. in Analytical Chemistry 1994

This is a very interesting thread, since I was just composing an email I plan to send to a few medical schools to ask if they’d recommend I take physical chemistry.
mrittman–why are you planning to take P-chem? Do you just like chemistry a lot, or did someone recommend it?
I met with an admissions counselor at the University of Minnesota last week, and he told me that if I took p-chem as I’ve been planning on doing (and looking forward to!), that it would suggest I was more interested in chemistry than in medicine. I’ve already registered for the prerequisite Calc 3 which starts in a couple weeks! This advisor also explained that while p-chem was recommended in the distant past, the U of MN at least no longer cares about it. Perhaps that’s just his personal view though.
Have others here found that it helped them in med school, or that it was seen as a positive during the application process? I’d love to take it, but I’m fearful of seeming “unfocused,” since I’m already come to the pre-med life from a humanities background, and that’s basically what the advisor was warning me against.
mrittman, your background sounds like it was more scientific than mine to begin with, so it’s probably pretty natural for you to take p-chem–but I’ll certainly appreciate anyone’s suggestions on this.

mrittman–I just read your other thread, so now I know that you're a chem major. That explains why you're taking the class.

QUOTE
For P-Chem, the math is what you need and you seem to have the bases covered.

Do you mean I actually have to remember my math? I haven't done an integral or derivative in 15 years.

Opps!

QUOTE (mrittman @ May 28 2003, 12:58 PM)
Quote:
Do you mean I actually have to remember my math? I haven't done an integral or derivative in 15 years.
QUOTE]

Hi!
I'm a chemistry major form both undergradaute and graduate school. While I throughtly enjoyed the classes, I found P-Chem extremely difficult because I had taken the prerequisite math courses 8 years before. I would suggest a review course in calculus before taking P-Chem.
PS- I earned a 'B" in both semesters of P-Chem but certainly could have earned an "A" had my math skills not been so rusty.
Good Luck !

you need to know calc 1 and 2 for pchem…
its simple… you just need to know how to solve integrals really and do basic derivative work…
calc 3 and diff eq is overkill they wont make you use that stuff in pchem

OK, I was about to panic and give up on being a Chemistry major. Then thought, “I’m taking just 7 credits this summer and I have three months to review my Calculus.” I began reviewing my Calculus today and checked out a PChem book from the library to see what the problems are like. I can also buy the book the course is using and get a pretty good head start. Thanks for the tip, MD/PhD. It is a lot easier to review Calc 1-2 than to review Calc 1-3 and Diff EQ.

QUOTE (MD/PhD slave @ May 28 2003, 08:23 PM)
calc 3 and diff eq is overkill they wont make you use that stuff in pchem

My P-Chem II course (Thermodynamics) heavily used diffeq.

QUOTE (spiritdoc2b @ Jun 2 2003, 02:37 PM)
QUOTE (MD/PhD slave @ May 28 2003, 08:23 PM)
calc 3 and diff eq is overkill they wont make you use that stuff in pchem

My P-Chem II course (Thermodynamics) heavily used diffeq.

Well technically speaking, chem 1 and 2 also use a signficant amount of diffeq.
HOWEVER, there is a HUGE difference between taking a full blown diffeq course and using the simplest techniques for solving diffeqs in pchem class. The vast majority of professors wont test you on the diffeq portion of it; they will use diffeq to derive the final algebraic result, and it is this algebraic result that you are expected to know and use on tests/exams.
There are some hard ass profs out there that will make you derive the diffeqs and solve them, but they are few and far between. Taking diffeq is almost never a prerequisite course for pchem; there are a couple of exceptions I'm sure but by and large most colleges do not require you to take diffeq first before doing pchem.

I had to take PCem with ChemE majors. Maybe that's the difference.

Anyone have an opinion as to how important physics 2 is for p-chem? Will I be ok if I take them at the same time? As far as diff eq's, it sounds like I can scrape by on my meager calc 2 exposure to some simple ones. I hope that's true, since I wasn't intending to take a special diff eq class. With so many bio classes to choose from, I don't see how I could really justify it.
I'm planning to take multivariable calc this summer, then p-chem and physics 2 in the fall. I'm mulling over taking biochem in the fall as well, but maybe that's too much all at once. Any advice? Is p-chem as grueling and time consuming as they say? How come, specifically?
And here's the question of the day: how do med schools evaluate p-chem grades? Do they carry as much weight as organic chem grades? See, I'll be taking p-chem voluntarily, and if I don't do so well AND it's super important–when I could have done better in an easier class–I know I'll be kicking myself.