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is maths hard at a level? or is chemistry harder?

- skyhigh

But unlike biology, there is a fair amount of calculations in chem. I wouldnt say it is all memorising.

Not completely but tbh if you are contemplating taking A level maths then the level of calculations involved in chem are very low indeed.

Reply 41

x_reggg

ArjunT

im thinking about doing one or the other. I think i'll probably get a B in both at GCSE but im not too sure of which 1 to do.

which one do you find easier/more interested in?

i found maths AS much easier than AS chemistry. but then i'm better at maths than chemistry, although i got A* in both :p:

maths can be self-taught at least to AS, if you find the time to work on it. i think chemistry is slightly harder because of all the reactions, but then that should be because nuffield sucks :p:

i would say the jump from GCSE to AS chemistry is larger than GCSE to AS maths. i only somehow survived AS chemistry because i did a whole chemistry GCSE. the jump from AS to A2 maths is larger than AS to A2 chemistry tho.

if you think you're getting a B, then ask your teachers about it first before choosing. if you don't pay attention and work hard for either one, you can just fail it.

Reply 42

Tombola

17

You're more prone to getting making mistakes in mathematics than with chemistry. Assuming you know your stuff.

Reply 43

HenrySJA

Jerking My Gerking

If you're getting Bs in them at GCSE, prepare to fail in whichever one you takle.

Bull**** in my opinion.

Reply 44

ArjunT

OP

1

Ok i think i should expand a bit more; I have a target grade of a A for maths and for chemistry i have a B. In maths currently i can struggle a bit with some of the more complex formulas but since I've had a tutor i think i have improved and i find maths enjoyable at times. Chemistry i am struggling with a bit but i can push the grade up to a B. The only reason I'm thinking about doing these subjects is that currently i have picked;
English Lang & Lit
Psychology
History
IT
and as you can tell its a lot of essay based subjects. I am expecting to get at GCSE;
English B
English Lit C
Maths B
Chemistry B
Physics C
Biology B
History A/B
IT A/A*
Business Studies C
However for English i was achieving a A/B in both however our English teacher had a breakdown and we have had 9 cover teachers since. Although i think i can achieve good grades in English I think that i have too many essay based subjects picked for A-Level and i would prefer something like Maths so i don't have so many essay based subjects. I might not take English or Psychology to do another subject.

Reply 45

mr-tom

If you're good at remembering concepts do chemistry, if you're better at understanding them do maths.

Reply 46

moonbeam08

Chemistry is much harder!!! Maths is ok as long as you are coping fine with it at the minute! It's alot easier getting full marks/almost in maths tests than it is for chemistry in my opinion.

Reply 47

Medicine Man

16

Ewan

Hey I never said it was easy, I only got a B in it anyway. A lot of it is recalling facts though, and making sure answers have key words. If you learn't the sylabus completely you could get 100%, but most people don't really do a great deal of work and end up with a pass.

surely thats the same for biology or chemistry or infact RS or psychology or computing! The whole point of sitting an exam is to recall information you have been taught in class to new examples in the exam - not so much for psychology or biology, but definitely chemistry and possibly computing! When you have to answer 6/8marker questions, you've gotta make sure u're hitting the points that you think will be on the markscheme! Markschemes are specific - they don't credit stuff which may be true but isn't on the markscheme.
anyway back on topic now, this isn't a thread to discuss why physics is sooooo great! lol

Reply 48

ArjunT

OP

1

at the minute maths sounds like a better subject to take but i also wanted to know whether it would be better for me to do psychology or English? I know that they are changing psychology slightly so that it has shorter essay based questions but more of them and it does seem like a subject i may be interested in. Although i think i could achieve better grades than what i got at GCSE for english.

Reply 49

silent ninja

19

Chemistry is great, my favourite subject (from Bio, Maths, Chem AS Phys, F.Maths).

I would recommend it. The workload is fairly small if you are good at learning theory. Then it's just a case of applying the same concepts to different situations. There is a fair bit to remember in the organic chapters, but overall, it's more about applying knowledge rather than memorising. I found it one of the easiest of my A levels and had very little work to do up until the final A2 papers. It was mostly a breeze.

I dont know about comparing it to maths, that's like comparing apples and oranges. Who knows? What I do know is you should pick subjects based on what you enjoy and are good at, not based on 'perception' of difficult-- it's just a perception and usually shows the general population's weakness rather than what you are capable of.

Reply 50

eulerwaswrong

13

maths is a dodle - it makes sense - everything is logical and follow a pattern - easy to do well in.

Chemistry on the other hand doesnt - it doesnt make sense, none of it follows a logical pattern - very difficult to do well in - and the actual amount of content is massive compared to maths

Reply 51

ooze

13

I found chemistry quite hard and maths very easy.

Reply 52

moonbeam08

Can i just say if chemistry is your favourite subject and you are good at it then take it ...otherwise don't as it is unbelievably hard to understand even when you do work hard at it i feel unless you naturally excel at it!

Reply 53

Vikid

Medicine Man

yeah but remeber c1 is mainly GCSE Maths higher paper with only a few additions! ^^

is it really?

Reply 54

silent ninja

19

eulerwaswrong

maths is a dodle - it makes sense - everything is logical and follow a pattern - easy to do well in.

Chemistry on the other hand doesnt - it doesnt make sense, none of it follows a logical pattern - very difficult to do well in - and the actual amount of content is massive compared to maths

I wholeheartedly disagree. Chemistry is very logical, it's about models and it's a science after all. Workload is small, probably comparable to maths which isn't massive either (by massive i mean Biology!).

Reply 55

Medicine Man

16

i dunno but i think it is.
You've gotta learn differention and intergration, sequences and a bit of functions but its pretty similar. THis is for edexcel by the way

Reply 56

moonbeam08

Chemistry is a massive step up from GCSE though!! Maths isn't as big well if you did additional maths anyway...i found the first pure AS module very similar and the mechanics similar to add maths at GCSE.

Reply 57

Joe555

13

Chemistry>biology>maths in terms of "hardness" in my opinion.

Reply 58

eulerwaswrong

13

silent ninja

I wholeheartedly disagree. Chemistry is very logical, it's about models and it's a science after all. Workload is small, probably comparable to maths which isn't massive either (by massive i mean Biology!).

no way jose

Chemistry isnt logical - there is no pattern to it.

For example in chains and rings - you need to know something like 32 different types of reactions - and catalysts and conditions off by heart - then apply these to questions.

Whereas in maths you need to remember a couple of things - all of which make logical sense - then apply these to the same old questions that come up year after year

Reply 59

moonbeam08

yeah i agree with Joe 555

is maths hard at a level? or is chemistry harder?

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