Sciencemadness Discussion Board - In Need Of Some Inspiration And Help

In Need Of Some Inspiration And Help

Yttrium2 - 7-2-2015 at 06:34

I'm needing some inspiration to do well in chemistry. I'm really worried about the math, and being so old. I'm 26 years old, and I've been going to college for several years. I'm all done with my general education, (except foreign language) and will be going into general chemistry 2 and precalculus 1 hopefully by next semester. I've been splitting my classes up, and only doing 1 class a semester. I've been making progress a lot slower this way, but I'm feeling it is more steady, I have more time to learn the fundamentals and build a stronger foundation. I'm really wishing I would have kept up in math, I'll be done with everything else way before math, another reason why I should probably not do more than what I might be able to do. Last march, my dad and grandma passed away on the same day. My dad died from squamous cell carcinoma that went from his tongue, to his liver and caused problems. And my grandma died from stroke complications....

I'd really appreciate some advice. How can I better memorize the math? I've got to go past calculus 3 and am really worried about even learning all the math in basic chemistry calculations
I may even need to go back and review algebra 2, and 1, and possibly even precalculus to get passed trigonometry and precalcus 1

[Edited on 7-2-2015 by Yttrium2]

Hawkguy - 7-2-2015 at 09:37

So do you need inspiration to do well in school or love chemistry in a more extensive way...

Yttrium2 - 7-2-2015 at 10:31

Quote: Originally posted by Hawkguy

So do you need inspiration to do well in school or love chemistry in a more extensive way...

My previous post got deleted. Define extensive? Both I suppose. I just want to do better in life and I'm really worried about precalculus and catching up/moving forward. I've got a lot on my plate.

[Edited on 7-2-2015 by Yttrium2]

Etaoin Shrdlu - 7-2-2015 at 10:52

Quote: Originally posted by Yttrium2

I'd really appreciate some advice. How can I better memorize the math?

DO NOT "memorize" math. Memorize definitions only (you need to know what symbols represent after all), then seek to understand application. Once you hit calculus all your lovely formulas are going away.

Just saying.

More realistically, the formulas will multiply so many times you'll need to understand where they come from so you can derive them yourself.

If you can assure yourself you still have a decent grounding in algebra and trigonometry (I mean being able to do basic algebraic manipulations and understanding the geometry of triangles), skip precalculus.

Take time to work problems. You cannot cram understanding.

Yttrium2 - 7-2-2015 at 11:02

Quote: Originally posted by Etaoin Shrdlu

Quote: Originally posted by Yttrium2

I'd really appreciate some advice. How can I better memorize the math?

If precalculus is a repeat of algebra 1 and 2 I'd be happy to sit through it. I cannot skip it. Would I need to review. 1 and 2 or is it kind of review itself

WGTR - 7-2-2015 at 11:06

The way to understand math is by immersion; working through a lot of problems until you become familiar with how it works. I am doing things slowly like you. I started calculus II after not having taken math for three years. I was extremely worried that I would not know what was going on, but the professor gave a review during the first couple of weeks, and the math came back to me. I'm doing well in the class right now, mostly "A"s.

Texium - 7-2-2015 at 12:13

Precalculus is definitely a review of algebra I/II and geometry. I'm in it right now and that's pretty much all it is. We haven't really learned anything new all year, so if you need that extra review before taking calculus, it's probably not a bad idea.

Chemosynthesis - 7-2-2015 at 12:31

What I would recommend is one of those General Chemistry workbooks. I have books all over the office, so I can look to see if I can find one, but some of them can be fairly math heavy.

Maybe Kaplan or Pearson has one. I'm not sure if they have math, but I highly recommend going over the workbooks in advance of your coursework to try and familiarize yourself beforehand.
Here is a genchem workbook. I didn't see if it was much good: http://www.roanestate.edu/faculty/condon/workbook/part1.pdf

Etaoin Shrdlu - 7-2-2015 at 15:11

Quote: Originally posted by zts16

Precalculus is definitely a review of algebra I/II and geometry. I'm in it right now and that's pretty much all it is. We haven't really learned anything new all year, so if you need that extra review before taking calculus, it's probably not a bad idea.

Yes, agreed. Some courses focus more on methods that will be useful in calculus, but I don't know if this is true for all of them and precalculus is generally things you should already know from algebra/geometry.

In complement to Chemosynthesis' post, I really like this website for precalculus (they have also some nice calculus stuff, in another section).
https://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~marx/precalculus.html

Wolfram Alpha has a random generator for all kinds of math problems if you have a Pro account. There are quite a few free ones as well.
http://studymaths.co.uk/workoutMenu.php?type=algebra
http://math.ly/algebra/linear-equations/pbnwnpp/

If you were never introduced to the unit circle, you will want to start relating trig functions to it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_circle
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/trigonometry/unit-circle-tr...

Magpie - 7-2-2015 at 16:12

Quote: Originally posted by Etaoin Shrdlu

Take time to work problems. You cannot cram understanding.

This is probably the most important statement I have seen in all these math based learning discussions.

I have used cramming successfully on some basic courses in history and psychology. But it just won't work in math, science, and engineering.

Hawkguy - 7-2-2015 at 17:15

Here is some inspiration; chemistry is the study of chemicals, of which everything is composed of. Holy crap thats corny..

Yttrium2 - 23-2-2015 at 20:00

Tonight I'm feeling like I won't be done with the math for a while, just passed intermediate. I should have been done a longtime ago. I feel bad that I'm not currently working on math, Itried to enroll too late, so I'm taking foreign language, waiting anxiously for the months to pass by and the semester to end. I really need to get all caught up in math requirements. Wishing I was in math this semester Argg

Zombie - 23-2-2015 at 20:20

Why not open the text, and study it.

There are thousands of internet sites to help if you get stuck

Here's your inspiration. I'm 56 years old.
last year I began studying principles of distillation, that led to industrial fuel column design, and engineering.
In that year I learned enough to design, a vacuum assisted, mixed media, solar water fired concentric fuel ethanol column.

This year I began studying chemistry, neurochemistry, pharmacology, and mycology all at the same time. I've been at it for about four months, and I invest about 12 hours a day to my self imposed study schedule, and devote about 6 hours to running two businesses. One is a Marine restoration / repair business, and the other is a motorcycle / scooter repair business.

My dogs love me, and my wife... Hmmm, I haven't seen her lately. just realized...

At this point Math, and Language courses would be a blessing...

Sulaiman - 24-2-2015 at 08:34

Quoted from Zombie

"This year I began studying chemistry, neurochemistry, pharmacology, and mycology all at the same time."

Have a nice trip

[Edited on 24-2-2015 by Sulaiman]

aga - 24-2-2015 at 13:43

At our time of life, this kinda stuff happens.

Studying stuff we should have done decades back, and having a blast with it.

Zombie - 24-2-2015 at 14:45

Quote: Originally posted by Sulaiman

Quoted from Zombie

"This year I began studying chemistry, neurochemistry, pharmacology, and mycology all at the same time."

Have a nice trip

[Edited on 24-2-2015 by Sulaiman]

I'm thinking I will be the first man on Mars, IF I get this right!