Hey everyone, I just wanted to ask you all something and maybe for some advice. I’ve just had two SACs for Unit 1 Chem. I ended up getting a 68 and a 45... I don’t understand why though, like I did all the practice and everything, and it isn’t the “exam stress/nervousness” I do it the exact same way I do the practice but it’s still wrong. My teacher’s advice was that “you chose the hardest subject in this school, and it’s only going to get harder, I cannot do more to help other than teach it well, and I do.” What do I do? I do like the subject and I do study and everything but I do it right in the practice but completely wrong in the Tests/ exams? I still have an exam left this semester. What do I do? Should I...drop or persist and keep going ? Any advice on how to fix this problem or what I should do going forward ?
One of my favourite teachers used to always say to us, "practice doesn't perfect - perfect practice makes perfect". Now, he said this in regards to singing, but I feel it holds just as true with typical study.
You can't just do the practice questions and expect to do well. That's just practice, and all it will do is teach you how to answer those specific questions. So, perfect practice would be doing every single possible question ever? Of course not, you'd be sitting at your desk forever.
IMHO (and I encourage everyone reading this to comment as well, and say what works for you, or what you think "perfect practice" looks like), "perfect practice" is all about thinking about things physically and drawing an understanding of them. If a question asks you, "I mixed 50L of ethanol with 20L of ethanoic acid, how much ethyl ethanoate will I get?" - don't just start chugging through maths. Draw up the reaction scheme, make sure you know how ethyl ethanoate is even being made. Which part is the ethanol, and which part is the acid? What are the by-products, how are they forming? Next, what equations do you need? Can you combine them to make the calculation in one step? Is it beneficial to do it that way? Why those equations, why not other equations?
Don't just answer the question in front of you, try to answer every question that could be asked. And never start by just plugging numbers in - draw everything out. Something that I think gets lost on students a lot is that chemistry is a physical science. It's tangible, you can touch it with your own hands, and actually do this experiments. So those questions describing experiments ABSOLUTELY should be able to be drawn and understood, both on a macroscopic level (i.e., as if you were doing it), but also on the atomic level.
My understanding of chemistry fundamentally changed in university when I was forced to draw out what was happening on an atomic level. It never even mattered if I was right or wrong - by being forced to do it, I started thinking deeper, and my grades improved as a natural consequence.
So yeah, a lot there, but recommendations:
-Draw everything. Draw the atoms, draw the molecules, draw the cauldron bubbling - if you think it's relevant, draw it
-Try to understand everything as deeply as possible
-And of course, only take this advice when studying. If it helps you answer the question, draw it - but you also want to save time in an exam, so try to either draw quick, or learn to draw in your head
Ok. Thanks
For the phenol molecule how much is used annually
I couldn’t find how much is used only how much is produced
For this question
What is the purpose of using concentrated sulfuric acid in esterification reactions
A to dehydrate the system
B To catalyse the reaction
C to be a reactant
D to hydrate the system
Why is it b
For the phenol, I got nfi, sorry man. For the sulfuric acid, the answer is honestly just - because it is. You might want to go over your esterification notes some more.