Oxford Chemistry Students and Applicants

Original post by BJack

Yeah, I know who's who on here. :colone:

ahah how did that happen? You found out everyone else's yet managed to keep your identity a secret.

Reply 1501

username913907

10

Original post by BJack

Yeah, I know who's who on here. :colone:

Original post by theCreator

ahah how did that happen? You found out everyone else's yet managed to keep your identity a secret.

He stalks people :cyber:

Reply 1502

Original post by JMaydom

He stalks people :cyber:

Reply 1503

OxChem2010

Original post by theCreator

If you don't could I just ask you what it's like studying at Oxford? I mean putting aside the huge difficult workload coupled with short, intense terms do you get any free time during the year to just relax or do other things you enjoy? Is it possible to manage say being part of a club or team, while doing all the work? The impression that I got in general is that you, and other students, study like 8 hours a day, and although you have short terms you spend most of it revising for the final exams leaving you only the summer (if that) to relax. Is it as hard as you imagined?

I've just finished third year of Chemistry, and apart from the third term of third year, where it's tougher with finals looming, the rest of the time massively depends on the college. Some colleges get it really easy, some get it pretty rough. I was lucky, didn't get more than 10 hours of work a week, so I had a load of time and never had to sacrifice any fun stuff for work. Plenty of time for clubs, societies, sports, going out, whatever you're doing. There are also those who fill that time with Chemistry... whatever floats your boat. You can get a first and still have a lot of time to have fun.

Also, I have all my textbooks to flog (Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Chemical Structure & Reactivity) which all came in very useful over the course of the degree, and I rarely touched any others. PM me if interested in getting your core books at a great price :biggrin:

Reply 1504

Original post by OxChem2010

I've just finished third year of Chemistry, and apart from the third term of third year, where it's tougher with finals looming, the rest of the time massively depends on the college. Some colleges get it really easy, some get it pretty rough. I was lucky, didn't get more than 10 hours of work a week, so I had a load of time and never had to sacrifice any fun stuff for work. Plenty of time for clubs, societies, sports, going out, whatever you're doing. There are also those who fill that time with Chemistry... whatever floats your boat. You can get a first and still have a lot of time to have fun.

Also, I have all my textbooks to flog (Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Chemical Structure & Reactivity) which all came in very useful over the course of the degree, and I rarely touched any others. PM me if interested in getting your core books at a great price :biggrin:

That's reassuring. Are those books specifically for Oxford for any reason? Or would they be used by other universities aswell? I know it sounds like a silly question but I know the courses are different in each uni so I'm not sure. I would buy them off you but I would like to know where I'm going to firm (provided I get any offers).

Reply 1505

OxChem2010

Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry and Physical Chemistry will be the three staple books of any course in the UK, guaranteed. Chemical Structure & Reactivity is an excellent supplement, often with info the others didn't have, and a very quick place to find key information rather than trawling through loads of books, going to the library etc

Reply 1506

Powerhead

If you get in Oxford, you will find out, that everyone has several pet tomes they like. My weapons of choice for Finals were:

Organic Chemistry:

1. Clayden
2. Norman & Coxon
3. March

Inorganic Chemistry:

1. Cotton and Wilkinson
2. Greenwood and Earnshaw
3. Shriver and Atkins
4. A myriad of library books, about each specific column in the periodic table.

Physical Chemistry:

1. Atkins
2. Dill and Bromberg - Molecular Driving forces
3. McQuarrie
4. A bunch of specialist books, for each topic.

Almost all of these, except some of the biggest tomes, I took out from the library.

Reply 1507

Wim

8

Do you guys have any recommondations on a maths book? My tutor emailed me saying we could choose one for ourselves but I don't know which ones would be in accordance with the lectures.

Reply 1508

username913907

10

Original post by Wim

Do you guys have any recommondations on a maths book? My tutor emailed me saying we could choose one for ourselves but I don't know which ones would be in accordance with the lectures.

Well according to the lecturer I had for maths back in my 1st year (Grout will be sorely missed :frown:

) there is no book which covers the maths that well as it's a very odd course. It jumbles together lots of different areas which other maths based sciences do more rigorously and thoroughly. Most other chem courses do far less maths, hence to somewhat awkward position.
I had the new lecturer for one class in my 2nd year and he was VERY good. Not nearly as entertaining as who I had in 1st year but a much better teacher. He also gave out good notes, so bookwork may not be required.
Bear in mind they will only assume A-level maths when you arrive so just make sure you are up to speed with your A-level content. Pre-reading really isn't necessary.

Reply 1509

Original post by Wim

Do you guys have any recommondations on a maths book? My tutor emailed me saying we could choose one for ourselves but I don't know which ones would be in accordance with the lectures.

I don't think you need a separate textbook for the maths. The lecture notes and supplements should be enough.

Reply 1510

Wim

8

Thank you both for the replies. I wont buy a maths book then.

Reply 1511

Alayne94

Hello. *waves shyly* I am a fresh high school graduate from Bulgaria. I am in a bit of a complicated situation :frown:

. The Oxford entry requirements listed on the website are 5.75 for the Bulgarian high school diploma and i have 5.92 (that's out of 6.00) so I hope I stand some chance of getting in. I know it's not all about the grades, even though mine are achieved ones - the interview (if I get one) will probably be the deciding factor.
However, I missed last year's 15th January deadline, not just the 15th October deadline because of quite a lengthy stay at a psychiatric facility :frown:

. It was when I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. What worries me is that I'm enrolled at a university in Bulgaria doing Molecular Biology yet it's Chemistry that I want to study in the UK. My parents forced me to choose this course over Chemistry in Bulgaria but they have come round at last (I was accepted for both courses at Bulgarian universities - the admissions system is quite different there).
Anyone here heard of an applicant already enrolled at another uni? I'm very worried about all my uni choices solely because of this since my other choices don't do interviews and I exceed both the academic entry requirements and the English language requirements. I should get at least one offer I think. :s-smilie:

I like the look of St Catherine's the most and I really hope that I'll be invited to interview. I do sabre fencing and I'm a Red Cross Youth volunteer. I am aware that Oxford don't really take extracurriculars into consideration just thought I'd mention them because they're a part of who I am and I wanted to say a proper hello. :smile:

I am also applying to:
Bristol
St Andrews
Edinburgh
York
(all with a year in industry)

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1512

Just wondering if anyone could help answer this:

You know how one way they cool to near absolute zero using the method which contains helium-3 and helium-4. Would this work with other elements which are gases at room temperature, such as hydrogen, oxygen or nitrogen? Why do they use helium?

Reply 1513

Original post by theCreator

Just wondering if anyone could help answer this:

You know how one way they cool to near absolute zero using the method which contains helium-3 and helium-4. Would this work with other elements which are gases at room temperature, such as hydrogen, oxygen or nitrogen? Why do they use helium?

(The following is more a deduction than concrete knowledge but it seems plausible enough to me.) The cooling techniques used involve compressing the gas, taking away the heat this generates, then decompressing the gas to cool it below the original, uncompressed temperature. Once the gas has condensed, this compression technique becomes infeasible so you're left with a liquid close to its boiling temperature. To get this any cooler, you need more sophisticated cooling techniques, which are impractical on the scale needed for MRI machines.

Reply 1514

Original post by BJack

(The following is more a deduction than concrete knowledge but it seems plausible enough to me.) The cooling techniques used involve compressing the gas, taking away the heat this generates, then decompressing the gas to cool it below the original, uncompressed temperature. Once the gas has condensed, this compression technique becomes infeasible so you're left with a liquid close to its boiling temperature. To get this any cooler, you need more sophisticated cooling techniques, which are impractical on the scale needed for MRI machines.

Ah, so they use helium because it has the lowest boiling point?

I don't know if you're familiar with this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jT5rbE69ho
But essentially is it because when the helium 3 atoms "jump" (for lack of a better word) into the mixture of helium 3 and 4 atoms, they take in heat. And if they used hydrogen and deuterium then although it would similarly absorb heat from the surroundings, this decrease in temperature would still not be enough to cool it below the temperature that helium can reach? if that makes sense.

Reply 1515

Original post by theCreator

Ah, so they use helium because it has the lowest boiling point?

I don't know if you're familiar with this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jT5rbE69ho
But essentially is it because when the helium 3 atoms "jump" (for lack of a better word) into the mixture of helium 3 and 4 atoms, they take in heat. And if they used hydrogen and deuterium then although it would similarly absorb heat from the surroundings, this decrease in temperature would still not be enough to cool it below the temperature that helium can reach? if that makes sense.

Yes, the low boiling point is key. The good superconductors that we have at the moment all have very low Curie temperatures (i.e. you have to get them very cold before you observe any superconductivity), well below the boiling point of nitrogen*.

The technique described in that video is only needed if you want to cool something down beyond its boiling point, which you don't need to do with helium. Again, I would imagine that the practical issues favour helium (including helium's inertness, easier to use compression-decompression techniques than worry about quantum cooling).

* There are some more exotic superconductors made using yttrium-barium-copper oxides, which show superconductivity above 77K but I guess they're not widely available enough for use in MRI machines.

Reply 1516