Frequently Asked Questions for Chemistry

1. Why do I need to do the labs for chemistry?

Each lab in chemistry is to give the student a hands on experience in learning the week's topic.  It also gives the student a taste of what chemists do in a lab: gives them practice in using beakers, measuring milliliters with volumetric cylinders, measuring items in grams and reading thermometers in Celsius.  It gives them practice in applying whatever math conversions were learned in that particular week.

2.  How much math is there in Chemistry?

There is a lot of math in Chemistry!  The student should be comfortable with Algebra 1 and should have already gone through Algebra 2 or be doing it at the same time as Chemistry.  What I tell parents is that the student should be very comfortable with fractions (and how to cancel when multiplying fractions).  In the Parent Manual are step-by-step instructions as to how the math is to be done.  

3. Is it really necessary for my student to memorize the recommended elements?

Yes.  It is very necessary.  Knowing the elements' names and their symbols will help them throughout the year of high school chemistry.  Not only that, but it will make their first year of college chemistry so much easier!