CHEM 20B
Chemical Energetics and Change
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisites: course 20A or 20AH, and Mathematics 31A, with grades of C- or better. Enforced corequisite: Mathematics 31B. Second term of general chemistry. Intermolecular forces and organization, phase behavior, chemical thermodynamics, solutions, equilibria, reaction rates and laws. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
Most Helpful Review
First off, I learnt so much chemistry from her lectures comparing to the horrible 20A class I took. She makes Chemistry interesting. Even though her tests are difficult they are not impossible. The first midterm was manageable the second one was a lot harder and the final, true to a lot of reviews, was downright difficult. Each midterm composes of 4 cumulative questions with smaller parts. They pretty much put all the knowledge together into one big problem solving question. DO NOT let yourself get stuck on ONE problem and try to be careful of the one that you can do. Whoever grades the test like to take off points on ridiculous details. The cheatsheet helps but the key to study well in her class is pay attention to the OWL type of homework and don't do them mindlessly. Also, study in a group and do the back of the book problems. They are really similar to what she gives on the test. Last and not least, find exams online with the same format and try to do them. For me, those exams help a lot.
First off, I learnt so much chemistry from her lectures comparing to the horrible 20A class I took. She makes Chemistry interesting. Even though her tests are difficult they are not impossible. The first midterm was manageable the second one was a lot harder and the final, true to a lot of reviews, was downright difficult. Each midterm composes of 4 cumulative questions with smaller parts. They pretty much put all the knowledge together into one big problem solving question. DO NOT let yourself get stuck on ONE problem and try to be careful of the one that you can do. Whoever grades the test like to take off points on ridiculous details. The cheatsheet helps but the key to study well in her class is pay attention to the OWL type of homework and don't do them mindlessly. Also, study in a group and do the back of the book problems. They are really similar to what she gives on the test. Last and not least, find exams online with the same format and try to do them. For me, those exams help a lot.
Most Helpful Review
Walsh is a decent professor. Her class isn't very hard at all. She gives out handouts in each lecture which provide a good summary of what you need to know for exams, but it's very helpful to go to lecture and listen anyway since she only lectures for about 20-30 minutes anyway. She also gives you practice exams before the two midterms (one during 5th week and one during 10th week). If you read the notes and do the practice tests you should do well on the tests. In addition to getting at least 50% on the tests, you have to turn in all the lab reports to get at least a C-. The lab reports consist of a pre-lab and post-lab due every week and are pretty easy (most post-labs are done with your lab partner). If you have questions, ask one of the T.A.'s because Walsh doesn't seem very approachable or helpful.
Walsh is a decent professor. Her class isn't very hard at all. She gives out handouts in each lecture which provide a good summary of what you need to know for exams, but it's very helpful to go to lecture and listen anyway since she only lectures for about 20-30 minutes anyway. She also gives you practice exams before the two midterms (one during 5th week and one during 10th week). If you read the notes and do the practice tests you should do well on the tests. In addition to getting at least 50% on the tests, you have to turn in all the lab reports to get at least a C-. The lab reports consist of a pre-lab and post-lab due every week and are pretty easy (most post-labs are done with your lab partner). If you have questions, ask one of the T.A.'s because Walsh doesn't seem very approachable or helpful.