I’ve been studying organic chemistry topics for quite a while (at high school, not in a university, would kill myself over doing so!) and I think that its topics are meaningless.
They are just a set of reactions with structural compounds of certain functional groups (god knows how many exist) which change and bond to something else during a reaction (like playing with Lego, moving atoms and god knows what happens to them, they bond/double bond, form ions, this and that happens in acidic conditions, not with alkali conditions, nucleophiles come in and pick their noses in other compounds’ business… all that crap…excuse me for the word here chemists..).
*Memorizing* (this is a key word here) reagents needed for each specific reaction and the conditions which it has to be done along with each and every functional group’s properties, their preparation, reactions and idk what else..
I think all of this should just be set in tabular forms or charts or w/e for reference (like the Periodic table, god bless you Dimitri Mendeleev) because such information should not be memorized. It’s a matter of knowing the material that requires logical thinking because I only regard education and learning to be in that sense. (yah, surprisingly, I admit that there is some logic stuff, although I find it extremely rare).
I’m not disregarding the importance of organic chemistry in our lives in any way, as a matter of fact I know how important this branch of chemistry is in applying it in the manufacture og plastics, drugs, petrochemicals etc… but this is the way I feel about it from the way they teach it in school.
At the end of the day, I get frustrated and go through my physics material to get me some comfort and to get away from all of these terrible headaches I would’ve suffered from studying organic chemistry.
What do you all think?
I know I’m right, and that’s it……
P.S:
Organic chemistry sucks.
Note:
The statements above are not intended to insult anyone by any means; they are just a point of view.
So, all of you chemists out there, I respect you but there’s something wrong in your discipline.
People and their misunderstandings… I, sir, always get the best marks in my chemistry tests, I did NOT write this because I failed in this topic…
And the "question too long" answer, it may be true but you didn’t have to state it, you don’t want to read just move on to another question.
You are right! As a chemist, I was glad to get learning it over with. Unfortunately, you learn for an additional ‘lifetime’ in industry. I was fortunate to specialize in inorganic chemistry (glass melting). Believe it or not, organic is easy compaired to bio-organic stuff. All chemistry requires memory. When you specialize in industry in chemistry, you memorize what you need and keep your reference books and people with better memory handy. As far as being organized, you should have seen the mess in 1963. The topics has so many catagories and the newer students are different now. We learned much by rote, your generation by operating principles. The reactions (only about 200 to memorize!) are operating principals. My generation provided better tools to understand reactions, yours will provide computer simulations and software to eliminate many trial and error experiments.
You find comfort in Physics. Much rote learning of formulas until you learn to derive what you need. With luck, you will have profs who will recognize your problems and offer help. Mine recognized that I was best in the lab and not good with memory.
Now for the bad news— Most of what goes on in industrial chemistry goes on with simple reactions, catalysts, high pressure and temperature using about 100 chemicals available by the railroad car.
It’s only in the research lab and on CSI that the full range of chemistry is practiced.
I had a 3.5gpa in the 7th grade..at the beginning of 8th grade my abusive mom took me out of school saying she was going to home school me(which shenever planed to do and never occured).I spent the nxt 3 years taking care of my younger brother whom she also took out and wasn’t teaching(he was only 7 and is 15now with 4/5th grade level education).Now that I’m an adult I have to either settle for aGED or go back to school………..Iddin’t drop out..I never played hookie..someone did this to me.Should I not be resentful? I want to go to college..but how?Where do I start?
I don’t understand how she was able to keep either of you out of school without turning in information to the school board on a regular basis.
Go back and get your GED and try to get into a college and take some courses and help your brother. Set a good example for him and encourage him to do better and get his education, too.
And resentment is understood but it’s time to get past that. All that will do is hold you back and keep you from making something of yourself ~ plus it’s wasted energy. You can’t change the past, but you can make your future a good one by planning things and accomplishing as many goals as you can.
Also, encourage your brother to do the same as you and study with him and try to get him up-to-par or people will make fun of him and he will have very low self-esteem. He needs to know he can make his future a good one, too.
Good luck
ok well schedule for nxt year is due tmmw, and my guidance counselor told me there is a class were u build a object (ex. catapult) and you use a comp. program to make it.
Do you know the technical term for that class.
the guidance counselor said it would help me become an architect
modeling with AutoCAD?? that is mostly offered in college for engineering students tho. Not sure if your school would have it. Hope this helps…
Hey guys/gals,
I’m 19yrs old and am at a crossroads.
Ever since i was a young child, i always loved "building things". From lego’s to LED circuits to modifying my car, i have always had a knack for building. I guess you could say i am pretty talented with my hands… my dad has it, his grandfather had it, we just know how to build 
I’ve never really been the greatest student in school- middle school had all A’s, earlier years in HS got A’s and B’s, towards senior year of HS more like B’s and C’s.. and some D’s….
When i graduated high school i thought i would go into engineering since i knew i was good at building stuff, figured i could use these talents (to which no one else seems to have…) to make some good money doing something i like.
Last year, during my first year at the University of Rode Island in the engineering program, took the same classes all engineers took, like Calc 1, Physics 1, Chem 1, later on took calc 2, phy 2, statics, dynamics….
My grades have been sucky, REALLY sucky. I guess you could say it’s just because i don’t like it. I hate math, period. Physics is confusing to me, i just don’t like it. Even statics and dynamics is just boring to me… strength of materials? BORING…
I don’t know if i want to be an engineer afterall. What is engineering after all?? If all i’m gonna do is sit behind a desk and to math and stuff, it’s def not for me.
I thought engineering would be more like working on CAD or sketching/drawing, but i guess that’s more "design" than engineering which seems to be more math.
I’ve taken Calc II two times now, can’t seem to get better than a D. I just don’t "get it". I failed Physics III, failed dynamics. It’s just boring!
I used to think i just wanted to be an engineer only because of the salary. I really liked the idea of starting out at 80k a year working my way up to the hundreds, but now i don’t think it would be worth it.
I’ve dropped out of school for the moment, since i can’t seem to pass these damn classes… I’m thinking of going into technology education, which i think would be better for me. I’d have nice hours, where as an engineer id have to work 5635 hours a day and have little "me-time". I’d have summers off where i could work on hobbies etc, and get to spend more time with family. My father’s been a teacher for 33 years, has his BS, MS and is dept head at a high school, he makes 77k a year. That’s after 33 years!!!!!!! 
I keep telling myself the money isn’t everything, that’s until i see a Bentley drive by and i have to get into my 1988 toyota that doesn’t have working heat… =/
What do you think i should do? Any help/suggestions appreciated!
First, I want to dispel your thinking about a great starting salary. You will not be starting at 80k unless you are hired with a masters degree in some place like New York City. I would say the average starting salary for engineering is probably in the mid 50’s. This is also very dependent on the type of engineering you are interested in. For civil or mechanical you will likely be closer to the mid 50’s. For other fields like electrical or chemical you may start higher depending on the economy. I started about 10 years ago in the low 40’s and now make in the upper 80’s low 90’s so you will have the ability to get good raises is if you are willing to work hard.
Second, as others have mentioned you will not necessarily be using math and physics every day at your job. In my entire engineering career I have never solved a differential equation at work. Most of the high level calculations are done with software. However, it is important that you understand the concepts because the software often does not take into account all of the possible issues involved in solving a complex problem. So, it is important for the engineer to be able to recognize potential issues and resolve them.
Third, if you enjoy designing and CAD work then maybe you should become a CAD technician. I know we are always looking for good CAD people, especially if they want to become involved in learning about design. The problem with most people is that they want to know only enough to collect a paycheck. If you are willing to become involved in learning about design then you can become more involved in the design aspect. You may find that if you become a CAD technician it will give you a better understanding of the real world aspects of math and physics and you may be able to go back to school at your employer’s expense to get an engineering degree.
I would recommend sitting down with a career counselor at your university and discussing your concerns. He or she may have some good insight as well.
High school junior, have looked at CofC and love it!Here’s my stats:
A 3.75 gpa (I’m not certain of exact #)
Sat scores of: 510 (math), 630 (reading), and 650 (writing).
Classes I’ve taken:
maths: algebra one, geometry, and algebra two/trig, will take pre-calc next year. overall- a or b plus average combined.
science (all honors): earth science, bio, chem (a average overall). will take ap environmental science
languages: spanish 1, 2, and 3 will be taking 4 (a average all three years so far)
extra currics: interior/fashion design, creative writing, journalism,a plus av all together ,next year political/legal education
english: 1 and 2: a average, advanced honors english b average, nxt yr: ap language and comp
history: world hist (b+ av), ap amer. hist (b av-havent found out ap score), will take ap gov. and politics next year!
involved in nat’l honors society, hist. club, vars. swimming, vars. golf (some honors in both), peer leadership, various com. service, etc.
nj-out of state **
Yes, apply for the college and see. You’re involved in alot of extracurriculars and sports which is a definate positive, plus your GPA is good. The only negative of your report is your SAT score, if you’re going to be a senior next year I’d recommend you retake the SAT to raise your scores. Still, I’m pretty sure they’ll accept you. Hope my answer helps and best of luck in college!
If you are good with computers…yes. They mindstorms can be very fun. But for the more technically challneged, there are the new power function sets which can be used for a variety of things.
For a class project I am having to pull files from the Legos mindstorms NXT that are taking in input of how the torque and motor is running at certain periods of time when force is applied to it. The programming seems to be correct, but the problem is once I try and pull it from the NXt and put it on my computer, and then put it in excel something goes horribly wrong. It seems that excel or the computer are not recognizing the characters or information that the NXT has fed it, and it comes out as squares and other symbols. Is there a way to fix this?
Try this!!
Open the file you wish to convert (ensure that All Files is selected from Files of Type box) from the data files folder.
Text Import Wizard appears.
1. Ensure delimited option is selected. Click next.
2. Click Tab – ensure that this is selected and then click Next.
3. Column data format should be set to General
Click Finish.
I hope this works!!
I have a brother that is not blood related to me, but I see and love him just like my own brother. His father passed away five years ago and his mother has diabetes and some mental problems. He is currently living in a group home. Basically a house full of kids that either ran away from home or does not have family that can support them. I’m 25 years old and he’s turning 18. I’ve known him for five years. We have become really close. We have dinners every thursday and we hang out on the weekends and I always tell him that I love him and that I am really proud of him and that I will always be there for him no matter what. We have done many trips together and made little projects like RC cars and lego robots because he likes to build things with his hands. I even started a college fund for him so that he can go to college and not have to take out so much loans.
However I really regret the things I said to him the last two days. On Thursday he texted me and he told me he he got his ears pierced and on Friday he told me he is not going to his high school graduation because he’s going back to china for a few weeks to see his family and this conflicts with his schedule. He’s going to get his diploma and graduate. He’s just not going to walk for graduation. When he told me this, I just blew up on him. I told him that he didn’t even talk to me about skipping his graduation. I told him that I wanted to go to his graduation for the longest time and he just decided to not to go. Then I said to him, " I wish you would be more serious about your education in the future." Then later, I said, " do whatever you want, why should I care about your life. It’s your life do whatever you want." I have never ever spoke to him like that before and I know I hurt him because when we were in the car, he just fell silent. Then later when he wanted to pay for lunch, I just took the bill from him and said, " you don’t have money. I’ll pay."
I really really regret what I said to him because he didn’t do anything wrong. He’s going to graduate but he’s not going to walk for graduation because he misses his family in China a lot. I called him last night and apologized and he told me that he forgives me and everything is okay and that he still loves me. But my heart is still very heavy with regret because I know I hurt him. I was suppose to be happy that he’s finally going to go back to see his family in China but instead I got angry over something that is not even that important to him. I’m afraid he now sees me as a very unreasonable and not understanding brother . I really love this kid a lot and the last thing I want to do is hurt him. I’m afraid he’s not going to want to tell me anything anymore because he thinks I’m going to blow up again on him. I’m afraid I might lose him. Do you think I made a big mistake?
you tell your brother that you really care for him..and that is true… you didn’t make a BIG mistake though, you were just too protective, you just love him, and you expected that you’d be there on his graduation… you should have not blown-up to him, when you know what the results might come…there are a lot of things that your brother is thinking right now…. i know.. but you can cope things up, start your bond again… he wont refuse you, he’s lucky to have you…
goodluck
Ok well I just want to know why you guys think children are responsible for their own education. Once entering high school?
I agree. I’m just comparing answers and bringing my results into school tomorrow. Thanks for your time. And if you could please be detailed in your answer. Thanks so much. I’ll be sure to post results in the nxt couple days.
yes, i do think that kids are responsible for their own education upon entering high school. by time you are 14 years old, you should know right from wrong, you should know what you want to do, where you need to be going in life, and you should know that it isn’t the world’s job to make sure that you get this done. it is up to the teacher to provide the right information in a helpful way, and be there for when the student needs help, but it is not their responsibility to tell the student to be there and give them an abundance of second, third, fourth etc. chances.
i do well in school (i’m a senior) and it is because i want to do well. my teachers are there for me to teach me the information and help me to understand it. it is my responsibility to go to them if i do not. their responsibility is to put the information out there, and it is the student’s responsibility to do something with it. in the real world, no one’s going to be calling mom when you fail a test, it’s up to you to do what’s best, and high school should be about preparing you for the real world.
thanks