CM1021 BASIC INORGANIC CHEMISTRY WITH LABORATORY (4.0 AU)

Taken in: AY 21/22 Sem 1
Grade: A-

Midterm CA1 (15%): 13/15
Midterm CA2 (15%): 14/15
Lab (20%)
Finals (50%)

Taught by Dr Sumod and Prof Rei, this module covers the Basics of Inorganic Chemistry. I was a graduate from SP’s Applied Chemistry, hence the content covered in this module pretty much covered most of what was covered in polytechnic though there are some add-on concepts like MO Theory. Otherwise, students from SP Applied Chemistry should have no issue with this course. For JC students, I’ve heard that its similar to H2 Chemistry in JC so this module should be manageable for you as well.

Both professors are the kindest and most understanding professors I’ve encountered in my first semester, hence, don’t be afraid to ask questions when in doubt, they’ll really try to answer your questions thoroughly. Lecture notes will suffice for what will be covered in the quizzes and final exam, but I always recommend getting extra practices from the recommended textbooks.

Lab is manageable as well for polytechnic students, though I believe JC students may find the labs to be fast-paced since you may be encountering with some of the techniques and equipment used for the first time. But, as mentioned earlier, when in doubt, don’t be afraid to ask the TAs or even ask your classmates that appear to know what they’re doing. My advise for students lacking in this area is to prepare for the lab, and I really mean prepare for the lab. Before the lab make sure you know the procedure thoroughly so that you won’t waste your time thinking about what steps to do next, you don’t have a lot of time to waste in lab. If you’re unfamiliar with the techniques, do a quick search on YouTube on how to carry out the techniques covered so you’ll be more confident for the actual lab. Personally, I never use the lab manuals provided by the school, I write up my on procedures that are condensed and involve flowcharts and diagrams that help me better navigate my way through the lab and allow me to clear my lab a lot faster than most of my peers. Some of the TAs also refer to my procedures since it’s a lot clearer than the lab manuals provided, so definitely prepare for lab in such a way that you can move on to the next few steps quickly while having a good overview of what is expected of you for the entire lab. Also, make sure you delegate tasks to do during free times in between the experiment parts, many students just wait around which is a waste of precious time. As much as possible, make sure you are doing something in every minute of the lab until you cannot find anything to do, it’ll make your life a lot easier.

Taken in: AY 18/19 Sem 1
Grade: A-

Midterm CA1 (15%): 10/10 (average: 8. 27/10)
Midterm CA2 (15%): 13/15 (average: 12.25/15)
Lab (20%)
Finals (50%)

This module is basically like JC H2 Chemistry with some new content like Molecular Orbital Theory, which is easy once you get the hang of it, practice makes perfect. I did not quite understand it during lectures but going for tutorials certainly helped. For midterms, doing past year papers (PYP) will help familiarize yourself with the format of the exam, as they do not vary that much. Also, since it is a relatively easy module, to score and be better than your peers, really understanding and knowing the details is important. Being careless is not an option here. CA1 is fully MCQs. CA2 are short answer questions. There were 2 lecturers for this module and they are really nice and made lectures fun. One of the lecturers is Japanese and he kept pronouncing Boron as ‘Moron’ and the entire lecture theatre starting laughing, which I felt was kind of mean.
Labs are done in pairs with a total of 5 sessions. Lab reports are to be handed in by the following Monday 10 am. Try not to leave it to the last minute as you may forget what you have done in the lab. I always finished mine within 2 days after my lab session.

Finals was manageable and many left the exam hall early, but I would suggest you stay for the entire duration and check your work, making sure no careless mistakes were made. However, when doing PYPs, we had to refer to the answers provided by other students in the SPMS Club, of which some I do not agree with their answers, but do not know if I’m wrong or they are wrong. The professors said they would not be uploading the model answers. I think the point of this to do sieve out the better students so that the bell curve would be more spread out.

Things I should have done instead: Having gotten full marks for CA1, I was slightly complacent and thought that CA2 would be super easy and did not study that hard for it, so I ended up making careless mistakes. Though I was above average, most of my friends actually scored full marks or only got 1 wrong. I need to be more consistent.

This review was reposted with the kind permission of Awesome NTU CBC Student. Originally published at https://awesomentucbcstudent.blogspot.com/2018/12/ay1819-y1s1-review.html

Year Taken: AY 16/17, Sem 1
Grade: B

CA1 (15%) – 7/10 (mean: 6.7/10)
CA2 (15%) – 8/15 (mean: 8/15)
Lab (20%)
Final (50%)

The content taught during lectures in the first few weeks was similar to what was taught in JC, but in greater depth. For CA1(MCQs) most of the questions required us to apply the formulas we have learnt to do calculations such as finding the energy absorbed when an electron is excited, or finding the wavelength of a particle. My advice is to read through all the slides given even when the lecturer says those are not going to be tested(I skipped a few of those slides and it came out for CA1). Also, attempt all questions available in Mastering chemistry because a lot of calculation questions and answers with explanations are given. It would definitely help in preparing for CA1.

For CA2( SAQs), the topics tested were taught by another lecturer for the second part of the course. There are blanks in the lecture notes which I think should be the lecturer’s way of making us pay attention to the lectures(which I failed to do so HAHA, that was why I did quite badly for CA2). You need to know how to determine valency, oxidation number, coordination number and formal charge, as well as be very familiar with molecular orbital theory, which is an entirely new concept.

For final exam, everything in CA1 and CA2 was tested plus two new topics, transition metals and infrared spectroscopy. We only covered the basics for both topics and the questions should be manageable as long as you have practised and done the past year papers. However, I noticed that some of the answers for the papers were contradictory so I had to search the web a few times to look for the right answers.

For lab, I think I did quite badly from the number of crosses I got in my lab reports, even though the lecturer said it is actually not difficult to get full marks for lab. I actually agree with him as both my lab partners got a ‘very good’ in their reports. I guess I shouldn’t have left the reports till the day of submission before I started doing them. This is probably the reason why I got this grade ><.

Tutorials are conducted once every two weeks like CM1031, there would be pre-tutorial questions that we are expected to completed before each tutorial, a new set of questions would be given during the tutorial for students to discuss and present their answers.

Random ramblings for this course:
Last year’s CA2 looked so easy that I didn’t bother to study for it, and I only started revision on the day of the test. ( I’M SUPER LAZY HAHA) And this year’s paper was much harder haiz.

This review was reposted with the kind permission of Hairdryer. Originally published at https://ionhairdryer.blogspot.com/2016/12/ay1617-ntu-cbc-y1s1.html

Probably one of the best mods in terms of teaching quality and difficulty in CBC, if Sumod and Kinjo are still the ones taking it. Also most of it is H2 chem inorganic chem, only some parts like atomic structure and IR are new for first half and MO theory for second half. Memorising not gonna work for Sumod’s portion; understand concepts and answer to the point – he spends a lot of time talking in detail so if you don’t fall asleep listening to his voice you get to know in depth the how and why. Kinjo’s part is easy; just go for his tutorial sessions and whenever he says something is “very important” he means it, so don’t waste time studying what won’t come out. Everything is basically a watered down, foundation version of y2 and y3 stuff so don’t forget what you learn.