so im wondering, is there any calculus involved in chemistry? like if a person wanted to go to college for organic chemistry would they have to have taken calculus in highschool?
Back when I did my chemistry stuff (mid-70s) the calculus was required. As was mentioned, it's needed in p-chem. Also for calculating radioactive decay et cetera. Most chemistry math is just simple algebra. If you understand dimensional analysis (the factor-unit method) of setting up problems, you've got it made. the equation PV = nRT is a case in point.
Yes calculus is required for just about every college chemistry major. It isn't used very often in chemistry unless it is chem. engineering or advanced studies involving quantum mechanics. If you take calc. in high school you might be able to test out of it.
Calculas is childs play compared to Organic Chem.!! If math scares you, DON'T even dilude yourself about Orchem!!!!.
nonsense. organic chem and calculus are apples and oranges. though some left-hemisphere (mathmatically-inclined) people cringe at the words "organic chemistry", it's just about the conceptualization of structure, and where electrons shift. likewise, you have people who are naturals in organic chem, but have a distaste for seemingly pointless derivations, proofs, and non-intuitive calculations.. I don't blame them
... i think if polymer, shluBelberg, and geckopelli somehow ended up in the same room together, i swear they'd make a cure for cancer or sumn
It might just be me, but I think OChem is so much more interesting than any other type of chemistry, besides the drug apects. It doesn't involve much sophisticated math at all, just like the majority of chemical principle. If you wanna do OChem or some other form of chemistry as a college major, I say go for it. We as humans could always use another chemist . Besides, chemistry is a great interest to explore; it's one of the major sciences that binds the universe together, You'll probably be needing calculus regardless of what chemistry you do in college, but don't sweat it if you haven't taken it in high school. Many colleges allow you to take it once you've enrolled for your degree program if you haven't already, though it may be a little harder. Even so, if you don't end up going into chemical engineering or physical chemistry, you probably won't be using it very often, if at all with other chemistry fields you might pursue.
I took a year of chem in high school as a junior, then a semester of organic and a semester of inorganic. Then a semester of inorganic in college. Last semester, actually. Never had any kind of calculus. But I did pretty good in chem. In fact, I love it. I did love physics, but then I learned about light and mirrors when I was high once and am scared to death of them. But chem is awesome.
I really hate mathematics and I'm in school for chem right now. It hasn't become a problem yet, like polymer said, especially on the organic side.
I'm a bio major, and have to take chemistry for the first time this semester. I can say that having a solid background in math really comes in handy. I'm in pre-calc, not calculus, and I can understand chemistry, but it is a struggle. Most of my struggle is in the heavy math areas we're learning, not the science aspects...but you kinda need one to know the other. It depends on whether or not you're a fast learner too, and if you're strong and science.
i know im required to take calculus a in order to take physics a next year in high school. NOTHING to do with chemistry though... so im sorry. but math and science often go very hand and hand. im pretty sure most chemistry wont invole math much more complicated than a basic algebra 2 or precalc course.
That's true of much chemistry, mostly the early stuff, where you're learning the gas laws, stoichiometry, calculating heats, and so on. Most of that is just dimensional analysis, or factor-unit, where you set up the basic equation according to what unit you want the answer in. An example: say you want to convert from concentration to molality. Molality is moles solute/kilogram solvent. The solute is NaOH, molecular weight of 40g/mole, and you have 40 grams. So: 40g Naoh/liter solvent x mole/40g x liter solvent/1000g solvent = 1mole/kg. = 1m NaOH (this is not exactly true, because, in making up the 40g.NaOH/liter solution, one uses 40g. solute plus whatever volume of solvent brings it to 1 liter, around 996g. IIRC) One uses calculus later, in calculating radioactive rates of decay etc. P-Chem stuff.
i doubt you can study organic chem as a major without doing units of non-organic chem, which willrequire you to understand maths. but its easy maths, honestly, a few forumals and thats it
