6/3/2013

Hi!

As my studying continues, it seems like the days of the week are now nonexistent. I'm just happy that the library I am studying in is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Yesterday I found an amazing book, its called "How to read a book" by Adler. The title is very ironic, but I believe 100% that this book will improve my verbal reasoning skills.

As for today, I have finally finished growth and development for biology content review. The concepts seemed to be very foreign at first, so I read through the Berkeley review chapter also and I believe that it has improved my knowledge dramatically. I am starting to favor content review from Berkeley as opposed to Princeton review. The detailed chapters really help me create a mental movie of what is happening. More importantly, it explains to me "why" things happen the way they do.

For the rest of today, I have scheduled for myself 3 more physical sciences chapters. It seems like a mighty challenge to finish reading all 3 by tonight, but I will have to see what I can do. Hoping for the best!

NEW INSIGHT:

I am starting to learn more about the verbal reasoning section. The syllabus seems to be a very helpful document! The verbal reasoning section will show 3 kinds of articles: Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences.

Humanities:  
Definition - basically study of things that are humane or of human elements

a. the study of classical languages and classical literature.

b. the Latin and Greek classics as a field of study.

c. literature, philosophy, art, etc., as distinguished from the natural sciences.

d. the study of literature, philosophy, art, etc.

 

*What I've learned*

Everything in humanities passages will be very theoretical. There will be no "research" studies for these articles to base off of. These passages will be VERY opinionated, and the author will have a point of view about a certain thing. It is our job to understand his view from tone, word choice, and support from examples. Also we must understand "why" the author is writing what he is writing.

 

examples: architecture, art, literature, music, philosophy, popular culture, religion, and theater

 

Social Sciences

Definition - relationships between the individual and society as a whole

1. the study of society and social behavior.

2. a science or field of study, as history, economics, etc., dealing with an aspect of society or forms of social activity.

  

*What I've learned*

Social Sciences is the middle ground between Natural Sciences and Humanities. Humanities is all very theoretical while natural sciences is very practical. Humanities = no research studies; Natural Sciences = all research studies. In a natural sciences passage, there will be *some* research studies presented to us initially, and then the author will either support this research or undermine it by giving his own opinion on the matter. It is our job to understand "why" this author is supporting or refuting the scientific study or results. Again, we must use the hints given to us through word choice, examples, counter examples, and tone.

examples: anthropology, archaeology, economics,education, history, linguistics, political science, psychology, and sociology

Natural Sciences

Definition - Sciences where knowledge of processes are observable in nature

Natural sciences will have very clear support for a natural phenomenon. Information presented will be based on facts. 

*What I've learned*

Figure out what facts the author is talking about ASAP and figure out whats important! Support will be very clear; UNDERSTAND the support and examples given.

examples: astronomy, botany, computer science, ecology, ethology,geology, meteorology, technology, and zoology

 

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From reading the first paragraph of  passage, you should be able to KNOW which category the passage fits under.

 

6/2/2013

Hi!

Yesterday I finished a few more chapters of content and I will have 1 more chapter of biology left, 2 of chemistry, 3 of physics, and 4 of organic chemistry to finish. This is what my plan for the next 2 days looks like to finish up content review:

6/2 - Finish up biology chapter 12 (growth and development), finish physics chapter 9 electric circuits, and chemistry chapter 8 thermochemistry. If there is time, I will attempt to cover kinetics, chapter 9 from chemistry book 2.

6/3 - Finish up the last of chapter 9 kinetics if I have not finished covering it. Read chapter 10 electrochemistry, Read chapter 10 in physics, optics. Also review physics, biology, and chemistry concepts I'm not comfortable with such as:

electrostatics, sound, springs, and waves and optics.

6/4 - Organic chemistry book 2! Read: section 5 carbonyls and alchols and section 6 carbohydrates.

6/5 - Finish Organic chemistry sections 7 and 8. Nitrogen compounds and organic chemistry lab techniques.

After content review this is my idea for a tentative schedule to finish up all the Berkeley review chapters and also most of the Princeton review science workbook:

Each day I will cover 2 topics: day 1 = physics + biology; day 2 = chemistry and organic chemistry...

Each morning, I will start off the day by rereading each chapter that I will be covering for that day. For biology, I will be reading from the Berkeley review biology book to more adequately understand the concepts. Then I will cover ALL of the end of the book chapters for the corresponding chapters. After that I will cover chapters from each subject in the princeton review hyperlearning science workbook.

The workbook includes: Physics: 425 discretes, 62 passages
Chemistry: 92 discretes, 93 passages
Biology: 146 discretes, 87 passages
Organic chemistry: 138 discretes, 45 passages

Each day for a particular subject, I will cover 10 passages and x amount of discretes

Sample day:

8:30 - begin reread of physics
10:00 - finish reread of physics, begin reading biology
1:00 - finish biology
lunch
1:30 - start passages Biology
3:00 - start passages physics
5:00 - start hyperlearning passages(10-20)
7:00 - review all questions
8:30 - verbal mastery

I probably need to find time to get in the gym at least 2 hours every other day...

edited:

6/12 Bio ch 1 *finished*
6/11 chem ch 1 + orgo ch 1 *finished*
6/13 bio ch 2 + physics ch 4 *finished*
6/14 chem ch 2 + orgo ch 2
6/15 bio ch 3 + phy ch5
6/16 chem ch 3 + orgo ch 3
6/17 bio ch 4 + physics ch6
6/18 chem ch 4 + orgo ch 4
6/19 bio ch 5 + physics ch7
6/20 chem ch 5 + orgo ch 5
6/21 bio ch 6 + physics ch8
6/22 chem ch 6 +orgo ch 6
6/23 bio ch 7 + physics ch9
6/24 chem ch 7 + orgo ch 7
6/25 bio ch 8 + physics ch10
6/26 chem ch 8 + orgo ch 8
6/27 bio ch 9 + physics ch1 +2
6/28 chem ch 9 + chem ch 10
6/29 bio ch 10 + physics ch3

Thats my schedule for the next 3 weeks! T minus 73 days!

5/22/2013

Hi!

I have officially finished reading book 1 of berkeley review Physics and Chemistry. I am also done with chapters 1-3 of BR organic chemistry and also chapters 2-5 in Princeton Review Biology review.
I will be changing it up a bit these next few days by doing some questions to test the extent of my understanding.

Plan:
Examkrackers 1001 physics 1-500
Examkrackers 1001 chemistry 1-500
Examkrackers 101 biology
Examkrackers 16 mini mcats

Finished: up to 277 in physics 1001. Score: 237/277 = 85% (not bad hoping to get past 92%!)

T minus 84 days until test day!

5/21/2013

Hi!

Yesterday, I covered Acids and Bases in general chemistry. I am reviewing with Berkeley review mcat books so it was section four in the first general chemistry book. Here is an overview of what was covered:

Acids and Bases

A. Acid - Base equilibria
    1. Bronsted - Lowry definition of acids and bases
           - Bronsted lowry acid = proton donor; B/L base = proton acceptor
     2. Ionization of water
                   a. Kw, its approximate value (Kw = 10^-14 @ 25 degree c)
                   b. pH definition, pH of pure water = 7.0
                                - pH is equal to the -log[H3O+]; @ pH of 7 [H3O+] = [OH-] ;
                                    @25 degrees pH + pOH = 14
     3. Conjugate acids and bases
           - conjugate acids/basis come in pairs; eg. H2SO4 and HSO4- are conjugate pairs, H2SO4 is the conjugate acid while HSO4- is the conjugate base
      4. Strong acids and bases
      5. weak acids and bases
                   a. dissociation of weak acids and bases with or without added salt
                    b. hydrolysis of salts of weak acids or bases
                            - refer to Ka or pKa of each weak acid; pKa = -log[Ka]
                    c. calculation of pH of solutions of weak acids or bases
                             - pH = pKa/2 - log[HA]; pOH = pKb/2 - log[A-]
     6. Equilibrium constants Ka and Kb
     7. Buffers
                  a. definition, concepts (common buffer systems)
                          - buffers consist of weak acid or weak base conjugate pairs that stabilize the pH when the conjugate pair is in approximately equal concentrations
                  b. influence on titration curves
                           - within a buffering region, the change in pH will decrease while the the volume of acid/base used will increase
                           - when a strong acid titrates  a strong base, the graph will be sinusoidal and the equivalence point will land at pH=7
                           - when a weak acid is titrated with a strong base, the equivalence point will be basic; when a weak base is titrated with a strong acid, the equivalence point will be acidic
                           - in a strong/strong titration, pH changes the most once the pH is at 7; in a weak/strong titration, pH will change the most initially, but once it reaches the buffering zone, pH changes will be minimal
                           - a buffering zone for a conjugate pair buffer will be the pKa +/- 1; e.g. for a pair with a pKa of 5, this buffer will work the best between the pH of 4 and 6

B. Titration
      1. Indicators
               - indicators usually change color as the pH changes; this occurs because the indicator comes in two different forms, protonated and deprotonated; when the pH of the solution is less than the pKa of the indicator, the indicator is protonated; when the pH of the solution is greater than the pKa of the indicator, the indicator is deprotonated. This change in the protonation of the indicator will cause a change in the color of the indicator. When the pH = pKa of the indicator, there will be a mixture of colors between the protonated color and the deprotonated color.
      2. Neutralization
      3. Interpretation of titration curves
     
   

5/18/2013

Hi!

Today's agenda:

2 verbal reasoning passages from the Princeton Review
Passage #29, score: 4/7 time: 9:40
Passage #30, score 7/7 time: 8:00

Comment: I feel like I am getting a bit better at these passages finally. A few things I've learned about reading passages...

1. READ. Reading everyday for a few hours (New Yorker, Economist, etc.) will make you a better reader and more importantly a faster reader.  Passages will seem to flow much smoother once you are up to the reading level. Speed and flow is key.

2. THEME/MAIN IDEA. Every MCAT verbal passage is structured about the same. It goes: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion.

Introduction: This is the first paragraph of the passage and you will ALWAYS be able to know what main idea of the passage just by UNDERSTANDING this paragraph. The rest of the body paragraphs and the conclusion are just to support or refute the claims in this section. KNOW what the main idea is, and know where the author stands if he has an opinion.

Body Paragraphs: Each body paragraph will have its own main idea. It is very important to understand what the purpose of each paragraph is. Most of the time, these paragraphs will hold either support, criticism, or examples. You can get a good idea about each paragraph just from reading the first and last sentences of each paragraph, the middle is usually just details.

Conclusion: This section is used to wrap up the passage with some more interested information about the main idea, or an example to refute the theme or give a different point of view.

The most important parts to know, in my opinion, would be the introduction and the conclusion. At least 2-3 questions will be about information from these sections each passage. For the body paragraphs, if you understand the ideas then you should be able to map out the sections. If a question comes up about body paragraphs, and you are not 100% sure about the answer, you can quickly and efficiently go back to the text to help you answer it. All in all, the verbal section is very difficult to master.

Today's Science Lecture:

CHEMISTRY: EQUILRIUM

Basic concepts:

RATE PROCESSES IN CHEMICAL REACTIONS: KINETICS AND EQUILIBRIUM
1.    Reaction rates
       - Thermodynamics (dG) describes the spontaneity of a reaction, does not have to do with how fast a reaction occurs. Kinects has to do with the rate at which a reaction occurs.
2.    Rate law, dependence of reaction rate on concentrations of reactants
       a.    rate constant
           - only dependent on temperature, all other variables do not change the rate constant
       b.    reaction order
           - dependent on how many variables the rate equation includes. eg.
              Rate = K(T) *[x]*[y] would be a second order reaction dependent on x and y
3.    Rate-determining step
          - Slow step is always rate determining
4.    Dependence of reaction rate on temperature 
       a.    activation energy
             i.    activated complex or transition state
                        - enzyme can lower the activation energy of a reaction by emulating the transition state of the reaction
             ii.    interpretation of energy profiles showing energies of reactants and products,
                    activation energy, ΔH for the reaction
       b.    Arrhenius equation
            - ... K =  A*e^(-Ea/RT) aka K = A*e^(-Ea/KbT)
5.    Kinetic control versus thermodynamic control of a reaction
        - Kinetic control occurs when Product A has a lower activation energy than Product B thus making Product A the kinetic product because this reaction occurs much more rapidly. Product B could possibly have a more stable final product compared to Product A, thus making it the thermodynamic product. Outside pressures acting upon the reaction could effect which product is favored; one example would be temperature.
6.    Catalysts, enzyme catalysis
 - Speeds up the reaction of an chemical reaction without changing the thermodynamics of the reaction. Catalyst is not used up; remade in the reaction. Lowers the kinetic activation energy hill, thus lowering the activation energy for both the forward reaction and also the backward reaction, thus, speeding up BOTH reactions.
7.    Equilibrium in reversible chemical reactions
       a. law of mass action
            - Equilibrium tends to re-establish itself after outside perturbations
       b. the equilibrium constant
            - Keq only changes with temperature
       c. application of Le Châtelier’s principle
            - EQ reestablishes itself after each perturbation.
8.    Relationship of the equilibrium constant and ΔGo
          - ... dG = - RT ln Keq