How do you actually understand chemistry

As opposed to just memorising it

When in lessons, interrogate the teacher with questions until you understand. You have to remember that success is found through several attempts of failure

Reply 2

tcameron

Ask lots of questions when you're learning the topics, as sometimes you need to go beyond what the book/A level spec say to really understand it and then apply it to the exam questions
A2 chem has sooo much weird application - trying past papers helps as well when looking at the mark scheme and examiners reports

Reply 3

samb1234

I would highly recommend you use Chemguide. Obviously there's still a certain amount of stuff that you must simply learn, but Chemguide is very good at showing you both how the content interacts with other parts of the course as well as going into a lot more detail than most a level specs so that you have a better understanding of what's going on

Reply 4

Mayhem™

Original post by Mvpmb

As opposed to just memorising it

this is why people struggle in subjects (past GCSE especially), if you understand why something happens you are much more likely to do well in an exam

Reply 5

z33

idk fam ;_;
I'm at A2 and still don't know x'D
chemguide is the lifesaver though

there is a LOT of memorisation still, reagents and conditions and methods and tests and some processes, and biology stuff, and bond angle stuff (i guess you can figure that out if you tried) you really can't just do without memorisation
so i think it's like 60% memorisation, 40% understanding and applying
that you just need a good teacher to nag for :smile:

also YouTube videos help ALOT
and chemguide
and past papers for the questions that come up EVERY EXAM PAPER - like "explain how hydrogen bonds form" ¬_¬

Reply 6

toonervoustotalk

I do

I have a good teacher
And i reread my notes
Then go ham on the past papers

Biology on the other hand i know nothing 😭😭

Reply 7

uberteknik

Original post by Mvpmb

As opposed to just memorising it

Start with learning about atomic physics, electrons, protons, charge, electron orbitals, mass et al.

Once you have that as a fundamental building block, everything else in Chemistry makes absolute sense.

Reply 8

Ribenas

Original post by Mvpmb

As opposed to just memorising it

-Read the CGP revision guide to gain a basic knowledge (for knowledge)
-Condense your notes (for additional knowledge)
-Past papers (for application)
-Show up and collect your A* :wink:

Reply 9

The Warsmith

This mindset:

[video="youtube;ZXsQAXx_ao0"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0[/video]

Reply 10

Ishan_2000

I would recommend getting a tutor who has knowledge of beyond A level chemistry, but still knows A level chemistry topics. This will help a lot, as you can have private 1 to 1 time with your tutor at home, in your own time, who should discuss the topic you want to study in great detail, and help you understand it.

This is much better than a teacher, who may have already tried to explain it to you, but explaining the same thing in a different way will definitely help.