Chemistry - How To Survive Your Chemistry Class

By Darrell Causey 

After years of teaching, I have discovered that success in any chemistry class has nothing to do with special abilities, superior intelligence, or high SAT scores. Success in chemistry is directly related to your attitude, your willingness to prepare and your persistence.

It doesn't matter what your skills are if you have a lousy attitude, refuse to do your assignments and won't make time to practice, you will not succeed. You must have a positive outlook towards chemistry, be willing to do the work, and practice, practice, practice. But, if you can do the three things mentioned above then you will be successful in chemistry.

Attitude

Your attitude toward chemistry is completely under your control. No one can make you think anything you don't want to think. So, the first thing you need to do is get control of your thoughts.

If you say, "chemistry is hard", it will be hard. If you say, "I will never pass chemistry" then you won't pass chemistry.

The mind is very powerful and will function according to how you feed it. If you feed it negative thoughts you will get negative results. You must be aware of your thoughts and if they are negative, change them. No one else can do it for you. Finally, you must not let what other people think about you, determine your reality. Just because someone says you can't do something doesn't mean you have to accept his or her opinion. All that truly matters is what you believe. Don't let other people set your limits or your goals.

Preparation

What's important now produces the acronym WIN and that's exactly what successful people must ask when deciding what to do. In order to be successful you must learn to set priorities and do what's important now. If you choose to do something else, then you chose to fail: not your parents, your teacher or your friends. You!

What's important now? Whatever you need to do to further your goals is what's important now. If you need to learn a particular skill, learn it. If you need to spend more time on a certain project, do it. If you need help, get it. It's up to you to consider your goals and do what's important now.

Practice

If you are serious about doing well in chemistry, you must be willing to practice. Chemistry is a discipline dependent on other disciplines and skills. So, it is important that you practice these skills in order to master chemistry.

These skills are:

• Understanding the scientific method
• Learn the metric system (cgs)
• Learn scientific notation
• Learn the use of significant figures
• Master the secrets of the periodic table
• Develop simple algebra skills
• Basic calculator skills

So, maintain a positive attitude, properly prepare for class and consistently practice the skills listed above and you will be a success in college chemistry.

If you would like to know the "16 must know elements" for chemistry success or more about Chemistry Coaching go tohttp://yourCHEMcoach.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darrell_Causey

All Of Life Is Chemistry

By Jahiel Kamhi

When I was chemistry student I had just one goal in mind: finishing my studies as soon as possible. Simple as it is, the other day I was walking down a hallway toward my classroom thinking about the upcoming weekend. What do you expect a young student to think about?

As I said, I was walking toward the classroom for my next biochemistry class. My biochemistry professor was a 60-something-year-old gentlemen with an unbelievable ability to explain everything in plain words. To me it seemed that he knew "everything" about each topic related to biochemistry. Because of him I can call myself a medical biochemist.

I still remember him and his words: "All of life is just chemistry. Not simple chemistry; but still chemistry."

This article explains my intention to follow in my professor's footsteps. I would like to give you examples of the "chemistry of life."

If you want to learn how the "life works," you need to read this article and see what's going on in the body, every second of our life.

Why do we need to know the "chemistry of life"? If we know how everything "works" in the human organism, we can live a life of health and balance. Biochemistry, which is, in fact biology within the context of chemistry, is a fascinating science. Because of biochemistry we can find new medications and learn how to improve our lifestyle.

As always, my professor's statement was absolutely right. Our whole body is a huge laboratory with thousands chemicals, and chemical reactions occurring every single second. Sometimes we call them hormones, sometimes vitamins, enzymes, oxidants or receptors, but they are chemical substances. We exist because of the chemistry in every single cell in our body. Not only do we exist, we learn, think, love, sleep, and feel well or bad, down or up, healthy or sick, due to the level of chemicals in our body. It's not simple biochemistry, but it's still chemistry, as my professor said.

To prove my professor's statement I am going to give you some facts that show why his statement is correct.

If everything is well and in balance, our organism is in a state of homeostasis - a stable situation. 
If not, we are in trouble, more or less.

Let's start with emotions. We like emotions. Because of the thoughts in our mind we feel chemical reactions, I mean emotions.

Whenever we are exposed to any unusual situation or risk, or any kind of fear or stress, our brain sends message to the autonomic nervous system to help us deal with the situation. Actually, our brain sends chemicals that tell the autonomic nervous system to release other chemicals, known as hormones.

I don't want to scare you with these hormones' fancy names, but remember just one, very harmful hormone - cortisol. Because of this we are under stress. Not only cortisol, but its "classmate" hormone, adrenalin, is there to do some "stuff" to us. Now you know only 0.1% of the physiology of stress, but it's enough for you to understand that fear and stress are just simple chemical reactions in our body, caused by stressors. Chemicals are responsible for the physiological expressions of our fear and stress.

If you believe that chemicals are responsible only for "bad things," you are wrong. 
Have you ever heard of a pleasure chemical, which increases pleasure? You haven't? Maybe you have heard about dopamine, but you didn't know its real name: the "pleasure chemical." Dopamine produces feelings of bliss and pleasure. With more dopamine in our organism we feel more pleasure and less pain. Talking about pleasure, do you believe that chocolate can give you a feeling of bliss? You are absolutely right. You love chocolate partly due to a chemical called phenylethylamine. Feeling good and happy is a matter of human biochemistry.

What's your definition of love? I'll give you mine, which is not romantic at all. Love is a chemical process that occurs in the body when the body produces dopamine, noradrenalin, phenylethylamine and many other chemicals. I know this sounds desperately boring and unexciting.

Because of these substances you may experience flushed skin, sweaty palms and heavy breathing. If you go further, another hormone will be involved, called oxytocin. Oxytocin is a sexual hormone that gives us feelings of emotional attachment. As you become more and more aroused, more oxytocin is produced. I am sorry, but from the point of pure science, love is simply a chemical process. Next time you feel "chemistry" for another person, you know what's going on within you.

Would you like to learn more about this subject, one more example of how the body's chemistry works? No problem.

When you've traveled overseas, did you have problems with your biological clock? I mean, did you have problems with your sleep?

You couldn't catch up with the time overseas? I understand that, but your level of melatonin doesn't. This is another chemical that is "in charge" of your sleep patterns. Humans' biological clock is just another chemical substance, with the name melatonin. When our melatonin level is low, we feel sleepy and go to bed. Our melatonin level gradually declines during the daytime. While we sleep our body produces melatonin in the dark. Our biological clock needs time to adjust to the local time. Also, our biological clock is not as simple as our regular clock, and we can't do much to improve it.

I know you are tired of reading and thinking about such a complicated subject as chemistry within our body.

If I have convinced you that life is chemistry, I've done my job.

I wish you the proper levels of chemicals in your body (all the best).

Jahiel Yasha Kamhi  jasakamhi@hotmail.com Jahiel- Yasha- Kamhi holds a degree in Medical Biochemistry and a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry. Jahiel is passionate about writing, and conveying positive ideas that help people live life with more passion and purpose. His mission is to promote a good mental and physical health. Jahiel's core message is to inspire and encourage people, to give them hope and help them live their everyday life. Being thankful for what is good in life rather than focusing on the negative is his message. With hope, all things are possible. He writes regularly for online Newsletter http://www.personal-development.com and magazines. Jahiel delivers customized presentations, inspiring others to find more meaning and balance in their lives. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jahiel_Kamhi

What is Chemistry

By Karel Kosman 

Chemistry is the science of substances, or materials, their composition and characteristics, and the reactions which take place between those substances. It is concerned with chemical elements in their pure state and when they are combined, that is, reactions of these elements and the compounds which they form. The scientist who wants to do chemistry must first be able to understand its building blocks, substances in their pure state. Only then can the chemist use that knowledge to comprehend more complicated phenomena, and begin to perform his own experiments.

Every chemical reaction can be represented with the help of atoms and molecules. It was necessary, therefore, to develop a special system of chemical symbols. Substances in their pure state, called elements, were sometimes named after the scientists who discovered them. From those names, abbreviations were derived (like O for oxygen). These chemical symbols are used to denote various chemical reactions. Every element, then, has a letter or letters associated with it, most of these coming from the element's Latin name. It is natural that each element has its own original abbreviation.

With the help of these chemical symbols, which contain both letters and numbers, chemical reactions can be described in a way which describes the reality of what takes place at the atomic level. On one side, the left, are reactants, the substances which enter into a reaction. On the right side are products, the end results of a reaction.

Chemistry deals with reactions at the atomic level of substances. It attempts to experimentally decipher what happens between the individual atoms of a reaction, the "secret" of each reaction. In turn, these secrets help chemists formulate chemical laws and scientific information, which help them to better understand the world around us. One of the goals of chemistry is the development of new substances and materials, and their production. With the help of these new materials, those already in use can be replaced by more effective, higher quality ones, to make our lives easier and better.

In our daily lives, chemistry can be found around every corner. Without commercial fertiliser, medicines, plastics and other chemical products, it would be difficult to imagine our lives as they are today. We human beings have chemistry to thank for the tablets we take to make us feel better, for cleaning products, as well as for cosmetics and foods and other grocery products which contain preservatives to make them last longer.

Of course, what seemed to be promising chemical discoveries can also be the cause of environmental disasters. For example, DDT (dichlorophenyltrichloretane), an insecticide, or freon (composed of flourine and chlorine with hydrocarbons), and the dissolved gases in aerosol sprays and cooling fluids for refrigerators have all caused problems. When these problems arise, however, it is chemistry which has to step in to offer a solution.

A good example of this process, getting rid of harmful substances with the help of chemistry, was the development of a catalytic converter for motor vehicles. This device is simply an improvement to the exhaust system of motor vehicles. With its help, a highly poisonous gas, carbon monoxide (chemical symbol CO) is changed into the less harmful molecule carbon dioxide (chemical symbol CO2).

Chemistry's Beginnings

Many chemical reactions and procedures were being used long before human beings figured out that chemical laws actually governed their behaviour.

One example is the use of fire by early peoples as a source of light and heat: This is an oxidation reaction taking place.

The real beginnings of chemistry must be attributed to the developed cultures of times past. We can assume that the Egyptians, as well as the Chinese and ancient Greeks, were at the centre of the progress made in olden times. The inventions and discoveries made back then were often revolutionary, like the invention of gunpowder, which the Chinese discovered in the year 900 A.D. These discoveries often served to spark great progress in the field of natural sciences.

The ancient Greeks explained the nature of matter two different ways. Some claimed that all materials were made of four basic building blocks, or elements: air, water, earth and fire. Others believed that all materials were made up of incredibly minute particles, so-called atoms (Greek atomos = invisible). Chemistry as a science had first to be founded from a philosophical perspective. Only later could fields of study like metallurgy and alchemy be developed.

For a long period of time, alchemy concerned itself with the discovery of what was then known as the "philosophers' stone". Alchemists attempted to turn simple metals, such as lead, into gold. This discipline came into being in the sixth century B.C. in Egypt. The word alchemy as such means "black element".

No documents exist that prove that the so-called philosophers' stone was ever discovered, but the amount and variety of experiments performed in the pursuit of changing metals to gold proved to be of great importance for the future of chemistry.

In the Middle Ages, chemistry began to have close ties with medicíne. Only a short time later, science began to be perceived as a series of factual and methodical processes, and old-style mythological beliefs slowly faded into the sunset. Antoine Lavoisier began the modern era of chemistry by proving the existence of "Oxygenia" through a combustion experiment.

The 18th century saw scientific progress accelerated in an unprecedented fashion. New elements were discovered. The foundations of both electrochemistry and organic chemistry were laid. And, scientists began to try to organise matter, or the elements, in a systematic way. In the end, it was Mendel and Meyer who found the answer in what is now known as the periodic table of the elements, which is in use to this day.

The discovery of molecular orbitals in the 20th century helped to explain covalent bonding. Thanks to that discovery, more and more synthetic products (artificially produced) were developed. In addition, one of the most revolutionary discoveries of recent history was the "untangling" of the structure of the DNA molecule, the building block of all organic matter. 

Of course, chemistry is not a closed system, unrelated to others. It is only one segment of the spectrum of natural sciences, all of which are in constant flux, changing and being modified constantly.

Important events in the history of chemistry

3200 B.C. Egyptian scientists produce copper from ore with the help of fire and wooden coal. 

3000 B.C. First glass objects made in Egypt and Mesopotamia. 

425 B.C. Democritus comes up with the first atomic theory in Greece. 

300 B.C. Philosopher chemists formulate the first theory that all matter is made of elements (in Greece: 4-100 elements, in China: 5 elements). 

180 B.C. First alchemistry experiments publicised in Egypt. 

Around 600 years from the first Egyptian alchemistry attempts, the science reaches the Arab world. 

900 A.D. The Chinese discover gunpowder. 

Organised religion, specifically the Catholic Church, resists any and all new discoveries, keeping inventors and scientists from publicising their theories. The development of chemistry is greatly slowed, if not made completely impossible. 

1661 Robert Boyle casts doubt on classical models and comes up with a new definition of the "element". 

1766 Henry Cavendish discovers hydrogen.

1782 Karl Sheele discovers oxygen, calling it the "spirit of fire". Joseph Priestley comes up with the same discovery independently two years later. 

1782 Antoine L. Lavoisier discovers that matter is neither created nor destroyed in chemical reactions, the law of conservation of mass. 

1783 Antoine L. Lavoisier shows that oxygen and hydrogen can be burned together to form water. 

1799 Joseph L. Proust shows that elements always combine in certain constant proportions of their mass (the law of constant proportions). 

1803 John Dalton proposes his atomic model.

1807 Humphry Davy performs the first electrolysis separation, of table salt, into calcium and sodium. 

1828 Friedrich Wöhler synthesises an organic resin from inorganic reactants. 

1860 Robert W. Bunsen and Gustav R. Kirchhoff first discover an element, cesium, using spectroscopy. 

1871 Dimitrij Mendel and Lothar Meyer publish their periodic table of the elements.

1884 Svante Arrhenius comes up with the theory of electrolytic dissociation. 

1909 Sven Peter Srensen introduces the pH scale.

1920s Crystal structures begin to be investigated through X-ray structural analysis. 

1937 Emilio Sergré synthesises the first man-made element - technecium.

1939 Linus C. Pauling introduces the first broad, modern theory of organic bonding.

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