Recent content by pzona

Well, what do you already know about electron affinity? What does the term mean?

There are literally entire books written on this, so a single post wouldn't be sufficient to really cover it. Have you done any research on your own? Here's a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_cell Not trying to be unhelpful, but as of now you're being far too...

I'm not sure I understand what you mean, but... In general, the product of a chemical reaction is more stable (thermodynamically) than the starting material. Also remember that UNIVERSAL entropy is what is constantly increasing. Local entropy can decrease (condensing water, for example). But...

I think it might be a good idea to know some of the more common conversions (i.e. 2.54 cm in 1 inch) although not you probably won't need them for exams. I would ask your professor if these things will be expected, but otherwise it's just useful so that you have a general idea of the relative...

Who says lipids don't heat up in a microwave?

I'm not basing this on any type of science, but I've read that you shouldn't allow the battery to completely discharge. Also, you shouldn't overcharge it; once it's fully charged you should unplug it. I'm not sure what the chemistry is behind this as I've only covered about 4 weeks worth of...

I always remembered that the cathode is where reduction occurs because both start with consonants; oxidation corresponds to the anode and both begin with vowels. Weird little mnemonic devices like that are what got me through general chem...

If you love the topic and have some innate ability to do it well, there's no reason you can't be just as successful or even more so than anyone else who's much better prepared than you are. Plenty of the best mathematicians never had AP classes (or even formal training) in their childhood. A...

Thanks so much for all the responses! I was thinking maybe a minor in chemistry (or a few more science classes at the very least) would help me out a lot, so I'm going to try and work that in. My dream at this point is to write for The Onion, but that seems pretty unrealistic as they only have...

I've been thinking a lot about my education lately and I'm thinking science may not be the right path for me. I won't go into a list of reasons why, but I'm pretty sure it's just not for me. However, I'm still fairly interested and knowledgeable on the basics (I'm in my second year of...

I don't think it makes much difference what school you go to if you're passionate about what you do and you do some basic research into a school's strengths before you attend. A degree from a prestigious university is great for your reputation and it does increase your chances of landing a big...

Depends what you mean by jump (also, it's the electron that "jumps" energy levels). An electron needs to absorb energy to increase its energy level. It can do this by absorbing a photon; so if by jump, you meant increase, then no, that would not be correct. Think of it this way: if an...

The book I used for general chemistry last year was Chemistry: The Central Science by Brown, LeMay, Bursten and Murphy. It's not quite on the level of Halliday/Resnik (which I used for physics as well) in terms of illustrations, but it's got little sections throughout that talk about everyday...

This should probably be moved to a different section, but... To find a cure for a disease, you need to understand how it affects the body, so at least some biology will be involved. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but biochemistry would probably be the best route. To do serious research like...

I assume that there are exceptions (this is chemistry, remember :), but for the vast majority of compounds, yes, if it changes the color of the paper it will be either an acid or base. Maybe a weak one, but still an acid/base. I'm not hugely familiar with DNA, so I feel I should leave this...