Monash CHM1011 - Chemistry I (2013)

[JEStarr]

Never did VCE chemistry, the last time I ever studied it was back in year 10 but unfortunately I don't remember any of it. Anyway, I figured I should maybe study up on topics covered in vce chemistry units 1 and 2 to prepare myself and wanted to get some recommendations on any (cheap) helpful textbooks or websites/videos that I should go through before semester 1 starts.

p.s. sorry if i posted in the wrong section

[j-awad11]

Although I'm not a Chem student, I'm pretty sure that in uni it sort of doesn't make much of a difference whether you've done it in VCE. Like, for example, legal studies is relevant to like the 1st 2 weeks of intro to legal reasoning, and accounting only has little relevance in principles of accounting and finance. Bottom line is, yes, having done them in VCE gives you a slight advantage (yes, slight), but there are a lot of students out there who have done really well in their uni work and did not do them in VCE. So there really isn't anything to worry about - no extra work.

Hope this makes sense

[SenriAkane]

Never did VCE chemistry, the last time I ever studied it was back in year 10 but unfortunately I don't remember any of it. Anyway, I figured I should maybe study up on topics covered in vce chemistry units 1 and 2 to prepare myself and wanted to get some recommendations on any (cheap) helpful textbooks or websites/videos that I should go through before semester 1 starts.

p.s. sorry if i posted in the wrong section

http://www.chemguide.co.uk/ will cover what you need for 1st year uni chem.

[JEStarr]

http://www.chemguide.co.uk/ will cover what you need for 1st year uni chem.

Thanks

[JEStarr]

Although I'm not a Chem student, I'm pretty sure that in uni it sort of doesn't make much of a difference whether you've done it in VCE. Like, for example, legal studies is relevant to like the 1st 2 weeks of intro to legal reasoning, and accounting only has little relevance in principles of accounting and finance. Bottom line is, yes, having done them in VCE gives you a slight advantage (yes, slight), but there are a lot of students out there who have done really well in their uni work and did not do them in VCE. So there really isn't anything to worry about - no extra work.

Hope this makes sense

Thanks for the reply! I've been told that a lot actually, but I just feel that chemistry isn't one of those subjects where you can easily catch up on to be honest. Though I might just go over only the basics now.

[JinXi]

Contrary to what people had said about uni being different to VCE after the first two weeks, I like to say otherwise. The content taught in uni may differ from VCE, but without a strong foundation gained from VCE, it makes the subject very hard. You're expected to condense two years of thugs taught (even if its taught slowly, it's quite alot) into two weeks. Obviously there's going to be stuff taught in VCE that wot be covered. There's going to be times where you gape at the lecturer with no idea what he's talking about, while the rest of the VCE people seem to understand it.

This is my experience with physics. Don't listen to people who did VCE chem cause to them, they won't realize how hard is it to get into uni content with a weak foundation. I really suggest you getting a head start and at minimum read through all the VCE chem content and try to familiarize yourself.

[JEStarr]

Contrary to what people had said about uni being different to VCE after the first two weeks, I like to say otherwise. The content taught in uni may differ from VCE, but without a strong foundation gained from VCE, it makes the subject very hard. You're expected to condense two years of thugs taught (even if its taught slowly, it's quite alot) into two weeks. Obviously there's going to be stuff taught in VCE that wot be covered. There's going to be times where you gape at the lecturer with no idea what he's talking about, while the rest of the VCE people seem to understand it.

This is my experience with physics. Don't listen to people who did VCE chem cause to them, they won't realize how hard is it to get into uni content with a weak foundation. I really suggest you getting a head start and at minimum read through all the VCE chem content and try to familiarize yourself.

Thanks for the tip!
Do you by any chance know of any good free resources I could use to study? I don't really intend on buying any VCE textbooks

[JinXi]

Thanks for the tip!
Do you by any chance know of any good free resources I could use to study? I don't really intend on buying any VCE textbooks

Not sure about chem books but I get my engineering e-books for my seniors. If you're free you can head to Hargrave library in Clayton and look at some books. The library is open on weekdays from 8-6 everyday throughout the holidays. Don't think you can loan any yet but I believe you can once offers are out an you get your student I'd card from the campus centre.

I feel that most people under ultilize the library. Basically if you get an old edition textbook, you can renew and keep it for the entire semester at home lol. Renew once fortnightly and 6 times plus people hardly put holds on older edition books.

[JEStarr]

Not sure about chem books but I get my engineering e-books for my seniors. If you're free you can head to Hargrave library in Clayton and look at some books. The library is open on weekdays from 8-6 everyday throughout the holidays. Don't think you can loan any yet but I believe you can once offers are out an you get your student I'd card from the campus centre.

I feel that most people under ultilize the library. Basically if you get an old edition textbook, you can renew and keep it for the entire semester at home lol. Renew once fortnightly and 6 times plus people hardly put holds on older edition books.

thank you for your reply

[DisaFear]

Can you do CHM1011 without VCE Chemistry? Don't you have to do the Introductory Chem or whatever?
Curious, why do you want to do first year Chemistry? Is it a pre-requisite for another topic, like biochemistry, that you wish to pursue later on?

[JinXi]

Can you do CHM1011 without VCE Chemistry? Don't you have to do the Introductory Chem or whatever?
Curious, why do you want to do first year Chemistry? Is it a pre-requisite for another topic, like biochemistry, that you wish to pursue later on?

There's no pre-req's for CHM1011 so no, you won't have to do VCE chemistry to take the unit. Source: CHM1011 Handbook

Also, I believe Foundation Chem is only offered as an engineering unit. Source: ENG1070 Handbook I had a number a friends who did not do VCE chem and went into CHM1011. They did fine for the unit but had to put in some extra effort compared to students who had already done VCE chem.

[JEStarr]

Can you do CHM1011 without VCE Chemistry? Don't you have to do the Introductory Chem or whatever?
Curious, why do you want to do first year Chemistry? Is it a pre-requisite for another topic, like biochemistry, that you wish to pursue later on?

I had planned on doing the introductory chem but I checked the 2013 handbook and it seems that they took it out. Please correct me if I'm wrong (honestly hoping I am wrong though).

And I was reading http://monash.edu/pubs/handbooks/courses/0050.html. It says "The level one breadth of studies requirement can be satisfied in one of two ways" and I've decided to go with option 1 as I'm already planning on doing a pair of maths and bio units, and also Earth processes units dont really interest me

[JEStarr]

I had a number a friends who did not do VCE chem and went into CHM1011. They did fine for the unit but had to put in some extra effort compared to students who had already done VCE chem.

Are lecturers strict about students having to be at the VCE level when its not an introductory unit? Or do they take into account about students who have no VCE background knowledge in the subject?

[lynt.br]

the foundation chem unit was ridiculously easy and boring. It was probably equivalent to year 9-10 science. I don't recommend doing it at all.

I did chm1022 without vce chem and found it challenging but doable (managed to get 85). I watched khanacademy.org videos before semester to learn the basics and just went from there.

[JEStarr]

the foundation chem unit was ridiculously easy and boring. It was probably equivalent to year 9-10 science. I don't recommend doing it at all.

I did chm1022 without vce chem and found it challenging but doable (managed to get 85). I watched khanacademy.org videos before semester to learn the basics and just went from there.

Alright thanks! Just a question, I'm also gonna do bio (with no VCE background knowledge) in my first year, so would you recommend doing stage one units of chem in my second year (so far I have no plans on continuing chem after that)?