FightingIrish01

Hey guys,

I wanted to ask a question and I want a good explanation. When I look at a Gen Bio Text such as Campbell and Reece, it is very much organized into 8 sections - Ecology, 5 Kingdoms, Genetics, Evolution, Animal Physiology etc..... when I take a look at a Physics text, I expect to see- Kinematics, Dynamics, Nuclear Physics, Electricity, Magnetism etc... same goes for General Chem.

My point is that these table of contents seem so straightforward and understanding. I mean, my approach to science and retaining a lot of this infromation is to have a definite set outline in your head of all the sections for these subjects. Can someone help me understand how Organic Chem is organized. I mean right off the bat, I see chapters titled Alkanes, etc.. and from a general point of view, I get lost.

norcalguy

They're organized by types of molecules (alkanes, alkenes, alcohols, carboxylic acids, etc.). The types of molecules are defined by the types of functional groups they have. If you have no idea what I'm talking about and you're a prefrosh looking at an organic chem textbook, shame on you. Go outside and play.

kihyle

The books are organized by classes of compounds. Depending on what functional group a compound has, you can predict how it will react … generally the books that organize o-chem by classes of substances are not very good ... but that is practically every undergraduate textbook

the better books try to spend more time on types of reactions instead of listing classes of compounds chapter by chapter and giving all kinds of reactions for each class (you'll get a brain inflammation if you try to memorize it all)

undergraduate o-chem is based on some patterns that are not obvious for all people -- people who fail to see those patterns latter end up complaining that o-chem is "hard" -- obviously, the subject seems irrational to them -- some prof's contribute to confusion in that they do not digest stuff as well for you as they possible could have -- success in o-chem depends on 1) how well you can see patterns overall 2) how easily accessible the prof made those patterns for you to see

with organic chemistry you have to be able to conjure up in your mind certain representations as you look at any chemical structure -- for example, you see a C=O and instantaneously you know that C is an electrophile -- and when you look at NaH instead of HCl and you know that Na wants to give away electron while Cl want to keep it, so NaH produces a hydride (H-) and can reduce, and HCl produces a proton (H+) and can protonate – but in these both example you see how you used one concept of electronegativity that you learned about in g-chem?

just like the physics, letters (atoms) and line are supposed to represent for you deeper level topics -- the way you get to them is by working out many examples over and over again until the patterns become clear for you (just like with math)

organic chemistry takes years to master but you do not have to master it to ace o-chem classes and impress the med school admissions

BlueElmo

are campbell and reece bio books popular in college? I used that in my AP Bio course and i thought it was a very good text.

bigndude

Yes it is the standard at least a most colleges I know of. Its a decent text though, its way too general and worded badly. I would prefer a more detailied divided set of books.

kihyle

where i come from ege and vollhardt are standard
ege should be avoided at all costs -- while vollhardt is one of the best ones out there