Juice, vitamin C, titrations, and CHEM123 labs.

If Chem 121 was baking from a recipe…

Chem 123 is like Iron Chef: where, you have to decide what you have to do for your experiment, follow your own steps and then… race against time!

Chem 123 is certainly a change.

But for the Vitamin C lab (Experiment 9) I have a few tips and tricks:

  • If you heat juice (like I did) use a clear juice. I recommend white cranberry. Or white grape. This makes the endpoint in the titration 502749238423x easier to see.
  • Some people did do actual fruit but in reality it will take time to heat your fruit then strain the juice out of it. It’ll be better if you just handle a liquid.
  • Work in a group. It’s always nice to have support and help with the lab report outside of the lab. No joke! The lab report is super complicated at this point. 
  • Plan your experiment well. Think about what takes time and what doesn’t. Think about what you can do while you’re waiting for something to heat up. 
  • Ask your TA for help! (True story, my TA is kinda … well let’s just say I don’t really enjoy asking ANY TA for help in my lab… if you have a situation like this, it’d be a good idea to turn to people who know what they’re doing.)

It’s certainly a different experience from Chem 121. In fact I find it’s a really big jump and that there
should have been an intermediate step at least. 

Keep in mind that in Chem 121 they practically gave you all the steps for your Experimental Design Form. In Chem 123, they don’t. Remember the small things like rinsing your pipets and burets, because those make the difference!

Hope everyone is having a lovely week!

(Anyone else noticing it’s getting brighter earlier and staying that way longer? Because it’s making me happy!)

 

Midterm Round 2!

But round 1 JUST ENDED.

Oh wait.

University don’t care. University don’t give a shit.

Okay, a few things to remember for round 2.

  1. You have now officially BEEN THERE and DONE THAT. So learn from the mistakes you made in first round and don’t let history repeat itself! If you did bad because you didn’t sleep the night before then SLEEP, YOUNG GRASSHOPPER, SLEEP.
  2. Coffee. So I actually forgot that coffee has a bad consequence… AKA: that energy you feel turns into a crash. A crash proportional to the amount of delicious caffeinated goodness you’ve consumed. So, my friends, try not to chug down the coffee so much during midterm season!
  3. Don’t forget about your classes. Remember that during the time you decide to just ignore what your prof was saying so you could study, or maybe even skipping class entirely can be a problem when that material you missed out on is on the next midterm. AKA this week.
  4. Say no to the XBox/PS3/Wii/Tumblr/WhatWeShouldCallUBC/Facebook/Twitter/Where-was-I-going-with-this
  5. Office Hours are friends.
  6. So are TAs
  7. Multiple choice shouldn’t be viewed as “1/4 chance I’m correct! :D” but instead as “35 multiple choice questions is like 35 different doors I have to open and behind ever door is a 75% chance something will punch me in the gut”. Errr, you guys I think last round was a giant hit to my ego.
  8. Do your best and hope for the best!
  9. DON’T LEAVE QUESTIONS BLANK. Even if you have no idea, write anything down, equations, explanations, conclusions. This means you made the effort and sometimes part marks happen. And if all else fails you, draw a picture. At least you’ll make the poor TA marking all of the exams smile.
  10. Group study is a wonderful thing. You can help each other with questions and such.
  11. Biology 112 students this is for you: The Cheat Sheet first round was completely useless, remember that? Just keep in mind that spending time late into the night putting as much information onto the cheat sheet (this was definitely me) is probably not going to help you this time around. Study the main concepts and understand instead of memorize! Put things like pictures and charts on The Cheat Sheet, things you know you’ll forget. Otherwise you’re wasting precious studying time.
  12. Chem 121 students: There’s probably going to be (again) too many questions for 1 hour, so pick your battles, fellow soldiers.
  13. Math 100: … Ganbare! (Which is Japanese for: good luck!)
  14. Physics 101: Formula sheets are SUPER useful! Aside from actual formulas, an idea is to put some diagrams in there! It’s really helpful! Constants too! AND CONVERSIONS, just in case you’re like me and need help with going from mL to metres cubed.
  15. KEEP YOUR HEADS UP! If you do bad on midterms, remember that there are still finals and that hard work WILL pay off. Do your best as long as it really is legitimately the best you could have done given the time you had.

No, this isn’t a super late after midterms post. It’s an early BEFORE midterms post…

 

 

The Oath of Time Management

I am beginning to think that time management is a myth and we’re all just destined to run around, rushing everything and stressing out.

Let me give you a break down of what the next two weeks entail for me:
– Bio midterm
-2nd Chem wet lab
-Math midterm
-Chem midterm
-Physics midterm
-English paper
-Physics lab

WHAT? I’M TOTALLY FINE… (Help me.)

But in all seriousness I may be completely spazzing out but here’s where priorities come in.

YES I WILL…

  • Wake up at 7am on a Saturday to study/do homework (Or blog…)
  • TURN OFF MY PHONE
  • Figure out a schedule to tackle my day (Which subject goes first and for how long should I study)
  • EAT (You can’t think with an empty stomach. Fact.)
  • Take breaks… WHEN I NEED TO
  • Colour-coordinate my notes (I might be a nerd.)
  • Set up a to-do list

NO I WILL NOT…

  • Go on facebook and end up distracted for at least half an hour (DO NOT.)
  • Go out today (Unless it’s something like a birthday party, or other special occasion exception)
  • Take long breaks that mean wasting hours upon hours of time (They creep up on you…)
  • Convince myself that I know enough when I really don’t
  • Say “I definitely have enough time to watch another episode of Major Crimes and maybe White Collar after that and maybe Warehouse 13 too” (THIS IS GOING TO BE SO HARD.)

Set goals for your day, one or two major ones and then a bunch of little ones that you can say are “maybe-can-be-finished” goals. Don’t tell yourself “I can do this tomorrow” for one of your day goals. Otherwise a horrible cycle will develop and you will be in need of sleep. And lots of it.

Don’t forget to take it easy, one day at a time.