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what are some basic concepts i need to know for preliminary chemistry? (1 Viewer)

lydiaodehh

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I was just wondering if you should start chemistry with some previous knowledge to make it easier.
 

Etho_x

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I’d probably say revise over Chemistry knowledge taught from Years 7-10 as those are the basic fundamentals for the long run. If possible, try to find some of the stuff you’ll need to know for Module 1 because it gives you plenty of time to grasp onto concepts you may not be able to understand easily.
Personally, this is what I’m doing over the holidays but each to their own...
 

Cherrybomb56

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I’d probably say revise over Chemistry knowledge taught from Years 7-10 as those are the basic fundamentals for the long run. If possible, try to find some of the stuff you’ll need to know for Module 1 because it gives you plenty of time to grasp onto concepts you may not be able to understand easily.
Personally, this is what I’m doing over the holidays but each to their own...
Have you bought you Chem textbook ?
 

Etho_x

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Have you bought you Chem textbook ?
Yes I have. Chemistry in Focus for Year 11. I’ve heard it isn’t the best book however I guess there is other options out there and it’s personal preference at the end of the day.
 

Cherrybomb56

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Yes I have. Chemistry in Focus for Year 11. I’ve heard it isn’t the best book however I guess there is other options out there and it’s personal preference at the end of the day.
nice was it from the school or from someone else ?
 

Etho_x

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that too new sylllabus. Wow that's awesome. What about your other subjects?
Yeah the new syllabus for the Chem one.

In terms of my other subjects, for Math, originally I was going to do Maths Advanced and English Advanced, but I decided to do Extension 1 Math and English Standard towards the end of this year. Because of this, I was kind of stupid enough to buy MiF (Maths in Focus) Year 11 for the advanced course rather than Extension 1 earlier on in the year. So now I'm currently trying to find a good price for the Ext 1 MiF book for Year 11 which will be annoying haha. Probably having a couple of different textbooks, including Cambridge, which is relevant to the course would be good in terms of question variation.

I have also got the Biology in Focus Year 11 book which I bought recently, as well as this one called "Blitzing Biology 11" which is tailored towards the current (new) Biology prelim syllabus.

None of my other subjects would require a textbook as such.
 

Cherrybomb56

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Yeah the new syllabus for the Chem one.

In terms of my other subjects, for Math, originally I was going to do Maths Advanced and English Advanced, but I decided to do Extension 1 Math and English Standard towards the end of this year. Because of this, I was kind of stupid enough to buy MiF (Maths in Focus) Year 11 for the advanced course rather than Extension 1 earlier on in the year. So now I'm currently trying to find a good price for the Ext 1 MiF book for Year 11 which will be annoying haha. Probably having a couple of different textbooks, including Cambridge, which is relevant to the course would be good in terms of question variation.

I have also got the Biology in Focus Year 11 book which I bought recently, as well as this one called "Blitzing Biology 11" which is tailored towards the current (new) Biology prelim syllabus.

None of my other subjects would require a textbook as such.
That's good. Don't think it's a waste. I mean it will help you in advanced which is pretty good. Same here. So did you buy the biology , math and chem textbook all from ebay? Sorry for asking so many questions
 

Etho_x

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That's good. Don't think it's a waste. I mean it will help you in advanced which is pretty good. Same here. So did you buy the biology , math and chem textbook all from ebay? Sorry for asking so many questions
All good, the Bio ones I bought second-hand from gumtree.
 

Cherrybomb56

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All good, the Bio ones I bought second-hand from gumtree.
what about math? Is gumtree good? Sorry, apparently I heard like some negative rumours about people like stealing your money beforehand and not actually giving you what you asked for. Don't know if it's true tho.
 

Etho_x

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what about math? Is gumtree good? Sorry, apparently I heard like some negative rumours about people like stealing your money beforehand and not actually giving you what you asked for. Don't know if it's true tho.
The math one I got from eBay. Gumtree is good, at least from my experience.
 

Etho_x

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okay do you still think they are selling the new syllaubs books? Nice I will try it
Yes, people on eBay and Gumtree will be selling these books, however, it's hard to find the textbooks for a good price. Most sellers sell them for a ridiculous price up to $90.
 

Cherrybomb56

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Yes, people on eBay and Gumtree will be selling these books, however, it's hard to find the textbooks for a good price. Most sellers sell them for a ridiculous price up to $90.
wow for that same price you could get the book from the official website for like $80 and it's brand new
 

Etho_x

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How are you finding your textbook for chem so far?
It’s alright but it has plenty of mistakes unfortunately. Good for everything else besides the mathematical concepts since that’s where the mistakes seem to be frequent. Think they rushed the book because of the new syllabus which came out sooner than they expected...
 

Etho_x

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Is there any alternative textbooks you could possibly recommend :)
Pearson Chemistry is probably better. There’s also Surfing Chemistry (which I haven’t heard much about) and the Chemistry excel study guides for Year 11 and 12. Although if you’re looking for a good textbook, I think Pearson Chemistry is your best bet. I think the good thing about the excel study guides over the standard chemistry textbooks though is the fact that the excel study guides give you exam styled questions for each topic of each module, and they also give you a couple of practice papers as well. One more good thing about the excel books is that in terms of marking your answers, it aims to provide feedback for short answer questions by giving you suggested responses and a marking criteria in the answers.

At the end of the day though, either Pearson or Excel I’d recommend. You can buy the excel ones at your local newsagent, but it is possible to find the Pearson Chemistry PDF online. If you need the textbook as a PDF though, shoot me a DM and I’ll send it through.

Hope that helps.
 

Velocifire

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Can I dm you DrDawn, I need to send you a "care package"
 

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