You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September, 2008.
This reminds me of my favorite video on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM). You are a pack of wildebeest, just chilling out by the water, trying to score a good grade in organic chemistry. But you are being hunted by pride of hungry lions (your professors) who would like nothing better to make a quick snack of the weakest one of you. After crouching in the brush, they suddenly pounce (pop quiz) and grab a hold of the smallest one of you (the student with the hardest course load).
Two things can happen at this point: Either the rest of the pack of wildebeest will cut their losses and try to save themselves or they can go back and heroically battle the lions to save their fallen colleague. I am not going to ruin the video if you have not already viewed it, but I think you already know what happens.
Studying in packs presents a number of benefits other than just altruistically helping a lesser student:
1) Studies have shown over and over that studying in groups directly leads to higher grades of all involved.
2) Studying in groups is generally more enjoyable for people, which leads to more time spent on the subject.
3) If you are weaker in one area of the course, you have the opportunity to have a peer explain it to you. Many students are more likely to understand a peer’s explanation over a stuffy professor’s.
4) If you are stronger in one area of the course, you will strengthen your overall understanding of chemistry by teaching it to someone else.
Of course, when you are choosing study partners on the Serengeti, you need to be very careful to stay away from the jackals. These are the students that are more parasite than human and will just leach off of your talents. They are more succubus than man and will not help you much. We suggest finding study partners that are interested in a good grade and are willing to put in the time necessary to achieve a good grade in the course.
For more information and organic chemistry help, please go to organic chemistry
So I stumbled across this site, online casinos where you can learn to play standard casino games for free. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a huge Las Vegas fan, so us online casinos gave me even more of a reason to get back to playing. Learning to play is simple and they have tutorials on blackjack, slots, baccarat, roulette and many other games that are found in your average casino. At online casino us players you can at like a high roller, even when you are not. I sat down last night and relearned how to play the exciting and challenging game of craps. I love rolling dice, it is always a good time standing around the table shooting dice. If you are new to it, I suggest reading the beginner’s guide on the site. If you are true to it, I would suggest one of the advanced game guides or learning a new game that you might not be completely familiar with. You can always teach an old dog new tricks.
Of course, the other thing that one should do when picking a casino is to make sure that you get all of the signup bonuses that you can, but that is a topic for another time.
Hi Everybody–Resonance is one of those issues that you will have to deal with for both semester I & II organic chemistry. It is much better to have a solid understanding of it now, rather than have to worry about it later. The basic goal of resonance structures is to show that molecules can move electrons and charges onto different atoms on the molecule. This makes the molecule generally more stable because the charge is now delocalized and not “forced” on an atom that does not want it.
Below are some handy rules of resonance. If you learn these and think about them when tackling different resonance problems, you will be able to handle whatever is thrown at you.
1) Know each atom’s “natural state”. You need to recognize what each atom generally looks like, in an uncharged state. This will help you to construct the Lewis Dot structure on which you will base your resonance structures. In most uncharged cases:
– C has four bonds and no lone pairs
– N has three bonds and one lone pair
– Halogens (F, Cl, Br, I) have one bond and three lone pairs.
– O has two bonds and two lone pairs
– H has one bond and no lone pairs
– With the exception of H, everyone in group I & group II are only counterions (+1 or +2 and not involved in resonance).
Remember that halogens and hydrogens are always terminal, meaning that are at the end of the molecule and only have one bond, and therefore, they will not participate in resonance.
2) Atom positions will not change. Once you have determined that an atom is bonded to another atom, that will not change in a resonance structure. If they do change, it is no longer a resonance strucutre, but is now a constitutional isomer.
3) Check the structure you have created to make sure that it follows the octet rule. This will become much easier once you have a better handle on the “natural state” of atoms.
4) When two or more resonance structures can be drawn, the one with the fewest total charges is the most stable. In the example below, A is more stable than B.
5) When two or more resonance structures can be drawn, the more stable has the negative charge on the more electronegative atom. In the example below, A is more stable than B.
6) In the end, each resonance structure should have the same overall charge and total number of electrons (bonds + lone pairs) as when you started.
Hello Eager Students—
As you all know, as I browse the web I like to post about helpful sites on the web that are related to education, and an area that is of great interest to me is online education. This method of education is perfect for working adults or those who do not live close to a school that offers the degree they want.
Today, as I was peeking around, I found http://www.elearners.com. This site is a wonderful education tool that allows you to search for online college degree programs by five different methods including interest, college degree level, or school. I provided information about what degree level (PhD) and subject (science) I was interested, and they gave me all of the necessary information about each school to make the right choice for me and get an online degree.
The site really makes finding online degrees simple, so it gets our FIVE STAR rating. Please check it out, I think you will be impressed too.
