 Why Study Chemistry? Chapter 1 from “The Complete Idiots Guide to Chemistry”

化学  Chemistry in Japanese  On page 4 in the textbook, this literally means “change study.”  Chemistry is the study of matter: the composition of matter and the changes matter undergoes.

Chemistry (or Schwartz) is too Hard!  Well, I hear that a lot. But I have never heard anyone say this:  My friend told me they studied hard every night, did all the homework, read every chapter in the book, and every study guide too, and did everything Schwartz said to do, and still found it impossibly hard.  Sometimes, I KNOW you can do it, even when you don’t THINK you can! It’s UNSOLVABLE!!

Excuses I have heard for not liking Chemistry…  Chemistry is BORING! Well, I’m NOT Bill Nye The Science Guy. I try to make it fun, but not everything is going to be interesting or entertaining to you.  I hate this class! So what? Sometimes I do too, but I still get up every morning, and come in to TEACH to the best of my ability. We all have bad days, and I’ll cut you slack, if you cut me some.  I’m bad at Math. Get over it. That’s seriously the best advice I can give you. The most valuable course I know for getting through most high school AND college courses is Algebra. If you don’t know math well, work on it, FOR YOUR BENEFIT.

STUDY HARD!! minutes every night! After you do all your reading and homework, etc. If you do, you won’t end up looking like this poor kitty the night before the test.

What’s in it for YOU? Well, statistics show that if you review something LATER THAT SAME DAY, you have an 80% better chance of remembering it. That’s pretty good odds. Sounds like a good investment of your time. So give me 15 to 30 minutes, ok? You will get out of this what you put into it. Chemistry isn’t the hardest course in the world, but if you don’t study, it will seem like your worst nightmare! Start Time End Time

J Lab…  Do you have a computer and internet access at home?  Do you know how to get on J Lab and do practice tests?   You are going to do ALGEBRA 1 quizzes AND Chemistry quizzes in this class.  Let’s try a short quiz right now.

It’s not relevant to my life. Am I ever going to use THIS? How should I know? But since Chemistry is all around you, I’m going to guess YES.

Be Prepared to Start Class!  When you come into my class, get ready for class. We are going to use paper, pencil or pen, calculator and periodic tables on most days.  You may not share calculators on tests. If you don’t have a calculator of your own, go and get one from the Library.  Nothing frustrates me more than looking out and seeing completely clean desks with nothing to work with. We then have to waste time while people look for paper, or borrow it from their neighbor.  Be ready to work when the bell rings!

Think about this for notes... CUES Here Main part for Notes. Main Part for Notes

Why Study Chemistry?  The handout talks about why you MIGHT hate Chemistry, but why you SHOULDN’T hate Chemistry.  Many people struggle with Chemistry. Ask some of your teachers what they got in high school or college Chemistry. So you are not alone.  As I said, almost everyone passes my class. That’s everyone from the “geniuses” to the “barely motivated” students. If they can do it, why can’t you?  Try NOT to hate this class. It makes it harder. You don’t have to love it either. Most of you will never take Chemistry ever again after you finish the SOL. Some of you will take it in college (some always do). Just do your best: I won’t ever ask you for anything more than that.

Chemistry builds on itself. You must do it one step at a time!  You can’t do Chapter 9 in your book until you have completed most of the first 8 chapters.  Break down complicated words and sentences into terms that you understand better. Don’t just copy what the book says into your notes. Rewrite it in your words, so you understand it.  Know the VOCAB. I know it, and I’m going to use it. If you don’t understand the words, you won’t know what I am talking about.  Scientists love big words. They think it makes them sound really smart. But learn these words, and you’ll sound just as smart as they do.

How to Make Chemistry EVEN HARDER!  The best advice on page 5 is in the box called “Bad Reactions.”  If you don’t understand what we are doing today, you aren’t going to get it tomorrow, because tomorrow will (lots of times) depend on what we learned today, and then expand on that.  Go home every night and study what we did TODAY!  If you got it, study it to make sure you got it!  If you didn’t get it, study it to try and figure it out!  What do you do when YOU WANT TO LEARN something. You look it up on Google. You ask someone. You figure it out!

From NC State Football…  Does what we did YESTERDAY still seem hard to you?  If so, what have you done TODAY?

500 on the SOL? What’s in it for ME? “ 100 ” on your final! SOL SCOREFINAL EXAM GRADE

On page 9 of the handout…  Look at “The Least You Need to Know.”  For us, the least you need to know is the amount you need to get a 400 on the SOL. But, we are going to learn WAY more than that.  Chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9 (in the book) are the 4 most important chapters for the SOL. About 50% of the SOL questions come from just these 4 chapters.  Throw in Chapters 3, 5 and 12 and you know, just in these 7 chapters, about 80% or more of what’s necessary.  The other 20% is scattered throughout the rest of the book.

The Units…  Unit 1SOL 1Chapter 3 +  Unit 2SOL 2Chapter 5 +  Unit 3 SOL 3 bChapter 6 +b = basic  Unit 4 SOL 4 bChapter 7 +  Unit 5SOL 3 aChapter 8 + a= advanced  Unit 6SOL 4 aChapter 9 +  Unit 7SOL 5Chapter 12 +  We are going to do some (not all) of chapters 1, 2, 4, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 28. Sometimes just a section or two. Sometimes just a paragraph here and there.  Unit 8SOL ReviewIncluding a practice SOL TEST at the end!  Let’s do some math!

d = m / V  Density equals mass divided by volume. That’s what the formula is telling you.  Density has units of “g/mL” or “g/cm 3 ”  Mass has units of grams (g).  Volume has units of milliliters (1 mL = 1cm 3 )  Most of you know this formula already. But what does density really mean? Density tells you how much 1 milliliter (volume) of that substance is going to weigh.  One mL of water weighs 1 g. One mL of gold weighs 19.3 g. Write this down and learn it!

d = m / V  If you know 2 of those 3 variables, you can solve for (calculate) the remaining one. This is basic, basic algebra 1.  Rearrange the formula so that mass is by itself.  Rearrange the formula so that volume is by itself.  Write these into your notes.

d = m / V  If you know 2 of those 3 variables, you can solve for (calculate) the remaining one. This is basic, basic algebra 1.  Rearrange the formula so that mass is by itself.  Rearrange the formula so that volume is by itself.  Write these into your notes. m = V x d

d = m / V  If you know 2 of those 3 variables, you can solve for (calculate) the remaining one. This is basic, basic algebra 1.  Rearrange the formula so that mass is by itself.  Rearrange the formula so that volume is by itself.  Write these into your notes. m = V x d V = m / d

d = m / V  If you know 2 of those 3 variables, you can solve for (calculate) the remaining one. This is basic, basic algebra 1.  Rearrange the formula so that mass is by itself.  Rearrange the formula so that volume is by itself.  You don’t need to memorize all 3. Memorize the top one and rearrange when you need one of the others! m = V x d V = m / d

K = °C  This formula converts Celcius temperature into Kelvin temperature.  This will be on the SOL.  For some problems in Chemistry, we need to use Kelvin temperature.  We don’t use Fahrenheit temp. If this is first semester, it’s probably about 80°F outside (maybe 30°F it is second semester). But you do need to know how to convert from Celcius to Kelvin (and vice versa).  What is the formula if you have °C by itself?

K = °C  This formula converts Celcius temperature into Kelvin temperature.  This will be on the SOL.  For some problems in Chemistry, we need to use Kelvin temperature.  We don’t use Fahrenheit temp. If this is first semester, it’s probably about 80°F outside (maybe 30°F it is second semester). But you do need to know how to convert from Celcius to Kelvin (and vice versa).  What is the formula if you have °C by itself?  Yes, of course, °C = K – 273

Remember… What you actually learned is… What you have left after you forgot all the other stuff I told you. Learning requires real effort on your part. Teaching just requires you to sit there and act like you are paying attention. I am here to help you learn!

New for The Cheat Sheet  You can use one for every test from Unit 1 to 7. There are a few rules:  1. It must be hand-written by you. I do not care how small you write. Write whatever you think might help you.  2. It must be on the piece of paper I give you. If you lose it, get another one and redo it.  3. You must turn it in with your test. You will get it back when you get back your grade, so put your name on it. You may not use a cheat sheet for more than 1 test.  4. You will not get permission to go and get it out of your locker. Bring it with you or sorry about your luck.

The Element Song   This song was recorded back in the 1950’s.  I think it’s pretty cool, and it’s probably one of the first “raps” that was ever recorded.

What Did YOU Learn Today? ?