I hate chemistry! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it!

Math Is Hard · Oct 21, 2004

What I can't figure out is: do I hate it because I suck at it? Or do I suck at it because I hate it? :grumpy:

Smurf · Oct 21, 2004

either? both? its an ugly circle.

Math Is Hard · Oct 21, 2004

I know.. I know.. welcome to my pity party. Maybe I am being a big baby about this, but I got a 78 on my first test. waaa waaa waaaa! I can't make a C. I never make C's. I don't even make B's!

Gokul43201 · Oct 21, 2004

What ? You don't make a C with 78...is that out of 100 or 5000 ?

Bystander · Oct 21, 2004

You may be a "victim" of the textbook companies --- your age group vs. what's currently fashionable for introductory chem texts? Try the library for some nice, dull, unillustrated texts from the 50s or early 60s --- Dull, Metcalfe, and Williams comes to mind --- give you a different viewpoint or slant on the thinking. Won't get you up to speed on the biotech revolution, but you aren't committed to a doctoral program in biochem at this point.

Gokul43201 · Oct 21, 2004

Math Is Hard said:

What I can't figure out is: do I hate it because I suck at it? Or do I suck at it because I hate it? :grumpy:

Along these lines...for me it's cooking : I hate it (the act, not the idea) and I suck at it. :grumpy:

Haven't yet figured out the cause and effect, either :uhh:

Tsu · Oct 21, 2004

:grumpy:I hate chemistry! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it!

Me too. Me too. Me too!!!!! :grumpy:

Nice party, MIH. Where's the chocolate? :rofl:

recon · Oct 21, 2004

Calm down, Math is Hard. Is Chemistry your main subject? If not, just take it easy.

What a coincidence it is though...I just had my GCE Cambridge O-Level Practical Chemistry exam a few hours ago. I think I blew it. I did not test positive for oxygen gas after adding Hydrogen Peroxide to an unknown solution (it was green in colour) with Sodium Hydroxide.

Some of you will recall from a [URL [Broken] thread[/URL] that I'm scared of Bunsen Burners. I'm glad to say that I managed to light the Bunsen Burner without hurting myself or anyone in the vicinity, and without screaming too! I'm also very happy with my luck because no heating was required and I only needed the Bunsen Burner to light a splint to test for Oxygen gas.

MSI · Oct 21, 2004

well i hate chemistry too,
reason: every chemistry teacher i know sucks!! they are all stuped and doesn't accept arguments .. all you have to do is taking chemistry and memorize it by heart! i didn't go to a chemistry lab ever!

recon · Oct 21, 2004

I don't like Chemistry too. As opposed to Mathematics and Physics, Chemistry is a big mystery to beginners like me. For example, I don't yet understand what causes the colour changes when you perform Qualitative Analysis. There is no logical explanation to it, so I actually have to memorise everything in Chemistry. Fe²⁺ ions causes green precipitate to form in Sodium Hydroxide, Fe³⁺ ions produces brown precipitate, and so forth...

Tsu · Oct 21, 2004

I'm really sorry you're so unhappy with your grade, MIH. I wish I knew how I could help you get your mind into the proper 'mode' to think about chemistry, ya know?
If you think about it, tho - chemistry is really pretty easy. See, if it doesn't move, and it's supposed to, mix up some epoxy! TA DA!!!! Fixed! Conversely, if it doesn't move, and it should, give it some WD40! TA DA!!! Same thing!!! Cool, huh? That's Chemistry!!!

franznietzsche · Oct 21, 2004

Tsunami said:

I'm really sorry you're so unhappy with your grade, MIH. I wish I knew how I could help you get your mind into the proper 'mode' to think about chemistry, ya know?
If you think about it, tho - chemistry is really pretty easy. See, if it doesn't move, and it's supposed to, mix up some epoxy! TA DA!!!! Fixed! Conversely, if it doesn't move, and it should, give it some WD40! TA DA!!! Same thing!!! Cool, huh? That's Chemistry!!!

Actually thats Applied Super-Glue vs Apllied Super-Lube Theory. :rofl:

LENIN · Oct 21, 2004

I realy liked chamistry last year. But this year it sucks new teacher new style of work a lot more homework .

devious_ · Oct 21, 2004

I agree. Chemistry sucks.

Math Is Hard · Oct 21, 2004

Thanks for listening to me whine. You cheered me up. It's just one of those classes I have to get through, and I only have to take one chem class for my major, thank goodness!

gravenewworld · Oct 21, 2004

Honestly all you physicists should take a course on physical chemistry, i.e. chemical physics, you would reallly like it. Its funny that I majored in math and chemistry, instead of math and physics. Chem doesn't get interesting until you get past all the introductory stuff. The other good thing about chemistry is that it really is the only science that pays a decent amount of money if you choose a career in it as opposed to physics, biology, and mathematics.

Math Is Hard · Oct 21, 2004

Bystander said:

You may be a "victim" of the textbook companies --- your age group vs. what's currently fashionable for introductory chem texts? Try the library for some nice, dull, unillustrated texts from the 50s or early 60s --- Dull, Metcalfe, and Williams comes to mind --- give you a different viewpoint or slant on the thinking. Won't get you up to speed on the biotech revolution, but you aren't committed to a doctoral program in biochem at this point.

That's so interesting that you said that. My textbook is subtitled "A Project of the American Chemical Society" and I always had this uneasy feeling that there was some hidden agenda they're trying to get across. The text seems to assume that people are coming into the course with the assumption that chemistry/chemicals/chemists are bad. It's like they are trying to undo some pre-conceived associations of "organic=good" and "synthetic = bad".

Recon, I bet you did better than you thought. I am going to get you some reallllllly long matches and ear plugs so you can light that bunsen burner without fear.

You know what Tsu, I think we need a treat. I'll go down to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory at lunchtime and bring back some peanut butter fudge and some chocolate-dipped slices of cheesecake-on-a-stick and some of those extra-decadent caramel apples that are decorated with drizzled chocolate and marshmallows. I'll bring back enough for everyone in this thread! Gokul, I will pick up some maple truffles for you.

Gokul43201 · Oct 21, 2004

Math Is Hard said:

That's so interesting that you said that. My textbook is subtitled "A Project of the American Chemical Society" and I always had this uneasy feeling that there was some hidden agenda they're trying to get across. The text seems to assume that people are coming into the course with the assumption that chemistry/chemicals/chemists are bad. It's like they are trying to undo some pre-conceived associations of "organic=good" and "synthetic = bad".

Ha ha. I'd like to see how students react when the book gets to the chapter on Synthetic Organic Chemistry :uhh:

For a second there, I thought your book was titled "Project for the New American Century" ...but eventually, I recovered...yes, upon reading of the promise of chocolate.

Tsu · Oct 21, 2004

Yeah! And those maple truffles are KILLER.

Tom Mattson · Oct 21, 2004

I hated chemistry, too. I liked the laboratory part ok, but the classroom part was absolutely maddening. It didn't even seem like we were doing science, what with there being more exceptions than rules ("Silicon only bonds with 4 partners, except when it doesn't, like in these 143 cases. Memorize them.") At least that's how I remember it.

But, ever being the optimist, I decided to leave chemistry on a "high note", so my last course in it was a grad course called Quantum Chemistry. The professor was a theoretical chemist and kept saying that the Schrodinger equation is one of the most important equations in chemistry. I resisted the urge to raise my hand and tell him that it's the Schrodinger equation that makes chemistry a branch of physics.