Do You Need to Memorize the Periodic Table for Chemistry?

The periodic table has 118 elements, and the poster on the wall of your chemistry classroom makes it look like a giant wall of letters. If you’re starting a college chemistry class, you might be dreading the idea of learning every box by heart. Will there be a...

How to Balance Chemical Equations Step by Step

Balancing equations can feel like guessing. You change one number, something else breaks, and ten minutes later the page is full of crossed-out coefficients. It doesn’t have to work that way. Knowing how to balance chemical equations is mostly about doing things...

How to Do Stoichiometry: A Four-Step Method

Stoichiometry is the point in gen chem where many students stop following along. The word itself sounds intimidating, and the problems pile up conversions until you lose track of which number goes where. The good news is that learning how to do stoichiometry mostly...

Should You Take Chemistry in the Summer? – Pros and Cons

Your friends are posting beach photos. You’re looking at a course catalog, wondering if knocking out chemistry in the summer would finally free up your fall schedule. It sounds smart. Fewer classes at once, one subject to focus on, done by August. But...

How to Memorize Organic Chemistry Reactions – Mechanisms First

Open any organic chemistry textbook to the back and you’ll find a reaction summary that runs for pages. Alkenes, alkynes, alcohols, alkyl halides, each with its own reagents and its own products. It’s no wonder so many students try to figure out how to...

Is Gen Chem 2 Harder Than Gen Chem 1?

You made it through gen chem 1. Maybe you crushed it, maybe you limped across the finish line, maybe you’re still a little mad about that one exam. Now the second semester is coming, and upperclassmen keep giving you that look when you mention it. You know the...