Analytical Chemistry: Preparing for Labs & Grades

[thE3nigma]

I am currently taking an Analytical Chemistry class which has labs in it. I did my first one last week and it wasn't so bad - I still have one more week to finish up my lab write up. This week though we are doing another lab, and my hopes are that I can prepare myself better for this week.

I was just wondering, what you all used to do (those of you who took the course) in order to prepare for the labs? What did you try to focus on during preparation and were there any textbooks that you found that helped with getting a very good grade in the course?

 

[leumas614]

I never really liked analytical chemistry. The labs were a joke compared to Organic. But when you prepare for labs in general, you prepare so you know exactly what you're going to be doing, much like rehearsing before a performance. Focus on which chemicals you need to mix and which samples you need to run on the machine. Worry about the chemistry later when you prepare the report and just make sure you are prepared enough to work efficiently and get good results. That gets you in and out the door as quickly as possible which is important because sometimes there aren't enough instruments for everyone to use at the same time. This means it pays to be the first one to use it so you don't have to wait 3 hours until the first guy is done.

 

[thE3nigma]

Well currently I have been doing just that in terms of knowing what I should do before hand. I have actually so far always finished 20-40 minutes early than the end time.

The only thing that sometimes worries me, is the Discussion I have to have with my TA. In the course during lab time, the TA will take out 4 students together and ask them random questions about the lab. Again I haven't done so bad, but I am waiting for that one question which will stump me. So this is sort of the reason I would like to understand the lab before I do it rather than after while doing my report.

 

[GCT]

I am currently taking an Analytical Chemistry class which has labs in it. I did my first one last week and it wasn't so bad - I still have one more week to finish up my lab write up. This week though we are doing another lab, and my hopes are that I can prepare myself better for this week.

I was just wondering, what you all used to do (those of you who took the course) in order to prepare for the labs? What did you try to focus on during preparation and were there any textbooks that you found that helped with getting a very good grade in the course?

Just be prepared to setup the lab and also to obtain all of the relevant data , it's sometimes nice to have the form of the datasheet already made up prior to the lab , otherwise Analytical Chemistry is pretty close to General Chemistry with the exception of better accuracy and faster times. That's another thing , your data is going to be examined more closely , so make certain that you know what you need to observe.