CHEM 205

General Chemistry I (3 credits)

a.k.a. “Gen Chem”

Before we go any further, let’s take a brief moment to hear a message about chemistry from Walter White, our most beloved chemistry teacher. Here

Image result for chemistry breaking bad

If you are enrolled in this course, you may be in one of many programs. This course is comprised of students from a whole host of programs including Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Engineering, and others. Many science students would have taken this course in CEGEP

(If medicine is on your radar, this is the first of the two required general chemistry courses required to be admitted to most medical schools in North America. )

The three most common professors for this course are George Denes, Cerrie Rogers, and Peter Bird.

Labs/Tutorials:

  • This course has alternating labs/tutorials each week. You will need to purchase a lab coat and the course lab manual in order to be allowed into the lab. If you don’t wear glasses, you’ll also need to buy lab goggles. (Don’t wear contacts in the lab. I made that mistake my first week and the chemicals in the room made my eyes really red). Get to know your lab TA. He or she will play a huge role in your semester. Don’t forget, they are students too and are likely more stressed out about their own exams than you are. The lab manual will have questions which will need to be answered and submitted at the next lab. Also make sure to take good notes during the lab experiment with all of your data and observations.
  • For the tutorials, you will have a different TA. You should attend these tutorials, as it is a great way to grasp some of the more difficult chemistry concepts which may have been unclear from the lectures. There are also quizzes at the end of each tutorial (usually the last 30 minutes). The quiz has a few simple questions and should be an easy 100% if you participate during the tutorial. Some TA’s let you get bonus points by submitting recommended problems prior to the tutorial. Once again, these tutorial marks will be the difference in your final grade for the course.

Exams/Grading:

  • The first part of the exam is generally theory-based and comprised of multiple choice questions. When I took the course, these exams were “common” among all the sections – meaning that all the professors teaching the course will collaborate to create the same exam. Of course, some sections cover more material than others and this is taken into account while making the exam. Nevertheless, find out from your instructor specifically what is going to be covered.
  • The latter part of the exams are longer answers, fill-in-the-blanks, balance a chemical equation, etc
  • Since you are all awesome, I will be providing you with a special treat on this page. Here are 3 previous exams for this course. Here, here and here

Additional Resources:

Image result for general chemistry cartoon