ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE Science => VCE Mathematics/Science/Technology => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE Chemistry => Topic started by: Tan on November 19, 2010, 01:52:26 pm
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Wanted to try getting ahead this holidays with chem. Maybe learning about 1/4 of the years course but I'm not sure if I need a tutor/school to help. Is it self learnable?
I did do units 1 & 2 btw
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Yeh, I'm doing the whole of Unit 3.
If you need help, just wikipedia/youtube it. Alternatively, post it here.
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If you are determined to do so it should work fine :)
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yeah it's not hard at all really to learn it.
depending on your interest levels it should be pretty okay, get a good tutor if you are having trouble. i learnt it before the term and it was definitely not a problem and made the year a breeze. go for it :)
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I'm interested in self-learning too... my Yr 11 teacher wasn't very helpful...
What's the best textbook to use during Yr 12? My school requires the Nelson textbook; i personally don't find it very good.
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yeah it's not hard at all really to learn it.
depending on your interest levels it should be pretty okay, get a good tutor if you are having trouble. i learnt it before the term and it was definitely not a problem and made the year a breeze. go for it :)
This.
Also when you get to Spectroscopy/Chromatography DON'T bother memorising all the filler in the textbook. The questions for these areas are quite straightforward, honestly. I remember they seemed quite daunting at first, but so long as you understand the basic principles and how to apply it to specific cases - which is obviously gained through the completion of several exam-style questions(which, coincidentally, are all very predictable, save a small section occasionally :P) - that's all you need to know.
In fact, come to think of it the same applies to most of chemistry; it is essentially all application, with little requirement for rote-learned information or obscure facts. It is because of this that I think chemistry can, if treated properly, yield a high return for minimal work. :D
So yeah, read over it, but don't become bogged down in the details.
What I personally did during the summer holidays with all my subjects was to treat the material purely for interest, ignorant of the common VCAA questions and other things of that sort which detract from the content itself. By doing this I learnt to appreciate the subject matter, which improved both my understanding and motivation as well as not starting to become "burnt out" before year 12 had even started.
So that's what I'd recommend you all to do, if you wish - you may even find that when unhindered by the confines of VCE you actually enjoy a subject you have traditionally detested. :)
Hmm, enough ranting for now, I think.
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^ yep agreed with spectro/chromo.
these seems to be really difficult, but after realising how much unneeded stuff there was, it become one of the easiest parts of the course!
organic chemistry is probably easier actually, this will be very fine to self-learn, use the Heinemenn i reckon, the others aren't as good.
i don't think any of the course should be too troubling, just as long as you can get over the initial bump of spectro/chromo you will be sweeet. and ask here for help if needed :)
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Oh okay. Cool. Do you guys recommend any study guides or anything like that for chem?
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Oh okay. Cool. Do you guys recommend any study guides or anything like that for chem?
Lisachem was probably the best study guide I found for chem. It cut all the crap that the textbook had and got straight to the point. I'd recommend getting it, none of the others really helped me that much.
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Oh okay. Cool. Do you guys recommend any study guides or anything like that for chem?
hmm...I found the A+ Notes to be really good.
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Just bought the A+ notes yesterday. Glad I did :)
I'll try get my hands on a copy of lisachem too maybe.
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Just bought the A+ notes yesterday. Glad I did :)
I'll try get my hands on a copy of lisachem too maybe.
I'm selling it. But another user has it reserved till Dec 1st. So I'll PM you after then if it's still available, I only have unit 3 though not unit 4. And yes, A+ notes are also pretty good.
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When are 2011 study guides/supplements generally released... january?
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Yeah teacher wasn't that great so had to learn most of it myself. It's sometimes complicated but ask the teacher any qs about what you don't understand.
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If you can get your head around a back titration and how to read nmr spectra on your own, then you have pretty much learnt unit 3 chem. :D
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LOL back-titrations are a hard concept? Never knew that.
But yeah, understanding the procedure and theoretical basis of NMR is a little ... confusing at first.
Also, as you said, the spectra appear complex initially, but they become really, really simple (VCE ones at least .. not the types which gave rise to discussion here.)
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LOL back-titrations are a hard concept? Never knew that.
haha not at all, but the first time you read it it's a little confusing. but yeah, unless vcaa puts uv vis + back titration in the same question (as in Q10 VCAA09) they are very simple.
hopefully you do one in class. much easier to understand once you've actually done it. :D
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I did most of unit 3/4 chemistry self taught. I regret having had a tutor cos it was jut a waste of time and made me exhausted. If you're really motivated to learn chemistry then it shouldn't be that hard. Plus , you got this forum lol
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I would think that it would be self learnable, I didn't in my experience find my teacher helpful. I find self teaching to be better seeing that yourself is the best teacher IMO. What's more you can go at your own pace during the holidays unlike the teacher that may act as if on speed or something.
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I self taught my self unit 3 over the holidays, it wasnt very hard at all, just an extension on from earlier stuff, and some of the stuff id done in 3/4 biol the year earlier. Spectroscopy is really the only new stuff.
just get your head around the calculations, dilutions etc. if you are comfortable with this stuff you should be alright.
Spectroscopy isnt hard, but rather confusing when you first encounter it, especially by yourself.
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Can anyone please explain to me as to why sodium hydride is a base?
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Can anyone please explain to me as to why sodium hydride is a base?
Because it is able to accept protons, especially from weak acids, hence it is a strong base.
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Can anyone please explain to me as to why sodium hydride is a base?
Because it is able to accept protons, especially from strong acids, hence it is a strong base.
Accept it to form NaH2+? Or what?
Moderator action: removed real name, sorry for the inconvenience
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Can anyone please explain to me as to why sodium hydride is a base?
Because it is able to accept protons, especially from strong acids, hence it is a strong base.
Accept it to form NaH2+? Or what?
It is a strange (yet strong) base in that it is an ionic compound
If it reacts with water (water acts as an acid): NaH (s) + H2O (l) --> NaOH (aq) + H2 (g)
SO the reactions do not look like normal acid-base reactions
(NB, it can only accept protons from weak acids, not strong acids -I made the mistake in my above post)
Moderator action: removed real name, sorry for the inconvenience
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very self learnable
just make sure you cover acid-bases, redox, electrovalencies and solubilites in some revision coz you need these basics to do well.
Then just do titrations (including back titrations and gravimetrics) and all chrom/spec techniques until you don't understand some stuff, then ask questions or look them up on youtube (i found youtube really useful for analytical chemistry).
Also, don't listen to the people on here that say you don't need to know much about each analytical technique, try to know as much as you can because they truly can, and do, ask anything.
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Can anyone please explain to me as to why sodium hydride is a base?
Because it is able to accept protons, especially from strong acids, hence it is a strong base.
Accept it to form NaH2+? Or what?
It is a strange (yet strong) base in that it is an ionic compound
If it reacts with water (water acts as an acid): NaH (s) + H2O (l) --> NaOH (aq) + H2 (g)
SO the reactions do not look like normal acid-base reactions
(NB, it can only accept protons from weak acids, not strong acids -I made the mistake in my above post)
The reaction is correct - the thing to note is that the "base" part is actually the H- part. H- + H+ --> H2. As you might expect, this makes it a very strong base. The Na+ is there as a counter ion to ensure neutrality of the compound (in the reaction, it is actually a spectator ion).
Similarly, with NaOH: OH- is the base part while Na+ is the counter-ion. In reaction, OH- + H+ --> H2O while Na+ is a spectator ion.
I don't reckon Unit 3 can be truly self taught in the way that, say, a maths subject can be. There are far fewer questions than in maths where you can get heaps and heaps of practise for each type of question. (That said, if your teacher isn't very good and doesn't provide many questions, that doesn't help much anyway.) You can certainly get a bit of a basis for it by yourself, but some concepts are notoriously confusing, and the problem with analytical techniques in Unit 3 is that there is so much junk to sift through. The other problem is you can think you understand a concept, but in fact you have part of it 'half-right'. I'm a bit biased because my chemistry teacher was so good so I really gained a lot by listening to her. I also find that VCE textbooks do not explain some concepts fantastically (eg. back-titration). I had already read Zumdahl's Chemical Principles before Yr 12. It is a great reference book which cleared up a lot of things for me.
Moderator action: removed real name, sorry for the inconvenience
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Do you guys even listen to your teachers, cause i'm worried i might be faced with an incompetent teacher in year 12. But from what you guys are saying i can still excell.
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Chemistry is one of my favourite subjects and i found that i was able to absorb almost everyhting the teacher said. Then without doing that much work outside of class i was able to get very high marks for tests, sacs exams etc.
I think listening in class is extremely important, if your teacher isnt great maybe you shld hire a tutor?
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Most of the time, it's not really the teacher that's terrible. I mean, sure there are plenty of teachers out there who are truly terrible but most of the time it's just the students not being used to their teaching style. It sucks but we just have to learn to adapt to get the most out of it. : / Listening in class is really the best thing you can do for our studies.