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Reply 20
ninety_nine
bio is difficult but it can be mastered better than chemistry i'd say. my mate got 300/300 in bio at AS but 291/300 in Chem - negligible difference but he said he'd doubled his effort for Chemistry.


really!!?? i thought i had the bio exam sorted, as did about 8 of my class mates (ie 280+) but i ended up gettin 244 and was the only A, whereas with chem i basically couldnt be bothered and got a lot higher. our bio dept is kinda poor though :frown:
Reply 21
ninety_nine
i find chemistry immensely difficult. it'd be far to say i do pretty much no work for subjects like english and psychology and do just fine. chemistry i dedicate ALL my time to and i get nowhere. i know i'm not stupid, i feel i just don't know to revise it properly. with the final A2 exams just around the corner pleeease tell me some effective ways to revise chemistry, preferabely if you often do well in chemistry:


I feel your pain! I absolutely sucked at Chemistry AS, though I admit I didn't work at all (which might have helped). But even on the occasions I did turn up to lessons, and we were starting a new topic it used to completely wash over my head. I was great at French (obvz) and History (despite what my sig might say lol) but always got Us and Es in Chemistry. In June, I pulled out all the stops to get a relatively decent grade, and got a B (after a remark of 1 unit) !!! :eek: I fainted from shock. I just did past paper after past apaper, everytime I was confused went to see my teacher, and practically stalked them until I understood a concept. It tought but you have to persevere, especially if you are anywhere near as dense as I was, lol.
Reply 22
ninety_nine
generally i find people find biology far easier then chemistry (easy to compare because a lot of people combine the two subjects for say: medicine, dentistry, vet sci etc.) i like biology because it's more wordy and less mathematical. you can't 'blag' biology but once you've learnt it, it requires less rehearsal than something like chemistry that you must come back to every two days or it WILL be forgotten :frown:

Erghh, I hated Biology. I found it impossible to blag :frown: It's literally all about getting the right keyword in. But soooo boring to learn too.

I can do Chem, but I have to put a bit of effort in. Maths I can get away with easily. I find Chemistry so much harder.
Reply 23
nexttime
really!!?? i thought i had the bio exam sorted, as did about 8 of my class mates (ie 280+) but i ended up gettin 244 and was the only A, whereas with chem i basically couldnt be bothered and got a lot higher. our bio dept is kinda poor though :frown:


that's strange, everyone at our college has to try a LOT harder to do better in chemistry. even when it comes to homeworks, few people get higher than grade B's (which is considered good). i'd say there's no difference in the quality of teaching in either subject, both are equally good.
Reply 24
Fillette™
I feel your pain! I absolutely sucked at Chemistry AS, though I admit I didn't work at all (which might have helped). But even on the occasions I did turn up to lessons, and we were starting a new topic it used to completely wash over my head. I was great at French (obvz) and History (despite what my sig might say lol) but always got Us and Es in Chemistry. In June, I pulled out all the stops to get a relatively decent grade, and got a B (after a remark of 1 unit) !!! :eek: I fainted from shock. I just did past paper after past apaper, everytime I was confused went to see my teacher, and practically stalked them until I understood a concept. It tought but you have to persevere, especially if you are anywhere near as dense as I was, lol.


exactly! it's strange - everytime i feel like giving up i realise how important chemistry is and how much universities value it (because it's a living hell to do). i'll just have to pull out all the stops like you said. i just think it's strange how we can be good at some subjects like english lit, history, french (that so many people struggle with) and then struggle ourselves with chemistry which is supposed to somewhat equal difficulty. ah well, craaazy a levels.:rolleyes:
Reply 25
RusholmeRuffian
Erghh, I hated Biology. I found it impossible to blag :frown: It's literally all about getting the right keyword in. But soooo boring to learn too.

I can do Chem, but I have to put a bit of effort in. Maths I can get away with easily. I find Chemistry so much harder.


i think being mathematically inclined helps a lot with chemistry and more so with physics. it's not great advantage with biology because i think the sum of calculations from AS was:

OMN (observed size = magnificiation x natural size)

just about the only thing i learnt from first year :biggrin:
Reply 26
ninety_nine
i think being mathematically inclined helps a lot with chemistry and more so with physics. it's not great advantage with biology because i think the sum of calculations from AS was:

OMN (observed size = magnificiation x natural size)

just about the only thing i learnt from first year :biggrin:


Really? I don't think you need to be mathematically minded at all for chem - i'm not, and i got an A. I didn't really understand a lot of the caculations and in the exam i figured them out in a trial and error type way...
i think chem is more about learning the theory and the patterns.
Reply 27
My chemistry lecturer says that the more maths you know, the more areas of chemistry become accessible. I'm starting to see that a lot more now.

In fact, everyone at Uni doing Chemistry at Edinburgh has to do maths courses alongside Chem 1 to keep you up to a certain standard.
Reply 28
RusholmeRuffian
My chemistry lecturer says that the more maths you know, the more areas of chemistry become accessible. I'm starting to see that a lot more now.

In fact, everyone at Uni doing Chemistry at Edinburgh has to do maths courses alongside Chem 1 to keep you up to a certain standard.


I think you are right for degree level chem - i was talking about A level, where there is not very much maths and you get away with not really knowing it!
Reply 29
starsilver
Really? I don't think you need to be mathematically minded at all for chem - i'm not, and i got an A. I didn't really understand a lot of the caculations and in the exam i figured them out in a trial and error type way...
i think chem is more about learning the theory and the patterns.


do you not do maths or anything? i definitely think a strong grasp of mathematics is needed. i'd definitely agree with the patterns though, it just gets really tedious really quickly!
Reply 30
RusholmeRuffian
My chemistry lecturer says that the more maths you know, the more areas of chemistry become accessible. I'm starting to see that a lot more now.

In fact, everyone at Uni doing Chemistry at Edinburgh has to do maths courses alongside Chem 1 to keep you up to a certain standard.


yeah that'd make sense, as a general rule those who are doing most succesfully in chemistry are those who are doing maths/further maths and physics with it. there probably isn't cross over in the subjects but im sure a lot of the content is similar compared to doing chemistry alongside history or english (or even biology!).
Reply 31
ninety_nine
do you not do maths or anything? i definitely think a strong grasp of mathematics is needed. i'd definitely agree with the patterns though, it just gets really tedious really quickly!


No i don't ... but when i get to uni i think i'm going to do an extra maths thing to help me!
Reply 32
starsilver
No i don't ... but when i get to uni i think i'm going to do an extra maths thing to help me!


yeeah, i only got a B at GCSE which is probably why i struggle with chemistry now. what are doing at uni if you don't mind me asking?
Reply 33
You do almost certainly need some maths for university level chemistry. Most of it's not too bad (e.g. you won't be needing calculus all that much in organic chemistry), but the thermodynamics and kinetics courses get quite mathematical. Unis seem to expect that chemists might struggle a bit though and tend to help people out with their maths, or rather mine does.
Reply 34
ninety_nine
yeeah, i only got a B at GCSE which is probably why i struggle with chemistry now. what are doing at uni if you don't mind me asking?


I'm going to be doing chemistry!!! So hopefully the maths i'll have to use will not be too much - i have asked around and people seem to think it should be ok, as Kyle said, they seem to help you out.....
I got A* in GCSE maths, then took it for AS, and really really struggled! I worked really hard and got a C in the end, then dropped it for A2.
What exam board are you taking? I did OCR Salters, which didn't have much maths in, just things like calculate the molecular mass of X or calculate the number or moles of X or calculate the % yield of Z...
What is the main thing you seem to be finding the hardest? Is it the maths?
Reply 35
ninety_nine
exactly! it's strange - everytime i feel like giving up i realise how important chemistry is and how much universities value it (because it's a living hell to do). i'll just have to pull out all the stops like you said. i just think it's strange how we can be good at some subjects like english lit, history, french (that so many people struggle with) and then struggle ourselves with chemistry which is supposed to somewhat equal difficulty. ah well, craaazy a levels.:rolleyes:



Never mind! Aim for AAAB, (don't let your others slip cos you're concentrating so hard on chem) and then drop it like a piping hot potato once you reach A2 = nice life :biggrin:
Reply 36
starsilver
I'm going to be doing chemistry!!! So hopefully the maths i'll have to use will not be too much - i have asked around and people seem to think it should be ok, as Kyle said, they seem to help you out.....
I got A* in GCSE maths, then took it for AS, and really really struggled! I worked really hard and got a C in the end, then dropped it for A2.
What exam board are you taking? I did OCR Salters, which didn't have much maths in, just things like calculate the molecular mass of X or calculate the number or moles of X or calculate the % yield of Z...
What is the main thing you seem to be finding the hardest? Is it the maths?


The hardest thing is organic chemistry, 'cause it seems like it's magic. :wink:
Reply 37
starsilver
I'm going to be doing chemistry!!! So hopefully the maths i'll have to use will not be too much - i have asked around and people seem to think it should be ok, as Kyle said, they seem to help you out.....
I got A* in GCSE maths, then took it for AS, and really really struggled! I worked really hard and got a C in the end, then dropped it for A2.
What exam board are you taking? I did OCR Salters, which didn't have much maths in, just things like calculate the molecular mass of X or calculate the number or moles of X or calculate the % yield of Z...
What is the main thing you seem to be finding the hardest? Is it the maths?


you're going to be doing chemistry but you've already done a maths AS? so you've just started first year of college (AS levels) now or...?

chemistry's just difficult. the math's is long and tedious and PLENTIFUL. between AS and A2 i'd say chemistry is about 70% maths, they manage to sneak in into everything :frown:

what gets to me about chemistry is just the content! yes it's hard, but so are lit and bio but they just seem so much more interesting! out of the three sciences i feel bio and physics are the most interesting - admittedly physics must be at least as hard but aspects such as astrophysics are hugely interesting i feel. i only did chemistry with the view of doing medicine...ironically i'm finding it the hardest obstacle in going down that career path! i'm sure a lot of other medics feel the same though.
Reply 38
Fillette™
Never mind! Aim for AAAB, (don't let your others slip cos you're concentrating so hard on chem) and then drop it like a piping hot potato once you reach A2 = nice life :biggrin:


haha ooh if only. but perhaps i didn't make it clear that i'm an A2 student :p:

that's right folks, these summer exams are the real deal!, especially if i plan to do something like medicine or law which is an ultimate goal and has become more grade-dependant than anything else. the latter's not as much of a problem since i do four A2s but i think chemistry looks the most 'academically challenging' out of all my subjects...and if i didnt get an A/B people would wonder why i bothered doing four a levels! i only am because i find psychology easy, so kept it as my fourth because it didnt require that much work.
Reply 39
ninety_nine
you're going to be doing chemistry but you've already done a maths AS? so you've just started first year of college (AS levels) now or...?

chemistry's just difficult. the math's is long and tedious and PLENTIFUL. between AS and A2 i'd say chemistry is about 70% maths, they manage to sneak in into everything :frown:

what gets to me about chemistry is just the content! yes it's hard, but so are lit and bio but they just seem so much more interesting! out of the three sciences i feel bio and physics are the most interesting - admittedly physics must be at least as hard but aspects such as astrophysics are hugely interesting i feel. i only did chemistry with the view of doing medicine...ironically i'm finding it the hardest obstacle in going down that career path! i'm sure a lot of other medics feel the same though.


Sorry, I haven't been very clear! I am on my gap year now, so have finished A levels! I did maths AS but not A2, and i did chem AS and A2. I'm going to start studying chemistry at Uni this year.

Would you really say there's 70% maths in chem?? I'd say there was a lot less... that might just be OCR salters tho. In our exam there were only a few questions that were calculation questions... i really thought there was a lot more "learning" than maths.

Aw it's a shame you don't find it very interesting. I think not being interested in a subject makes it so much harder to learn. I reckon that's one of the reasons i found maths so hard!

I think for chem you'll have to break it down into small sections and revise them bit by bit, and use past papers at the same time, so that you are not learning random bits of chemistry, but you are learning what the examiners want you to write as your answer in the exam.