What I am Learning About Junior Year

            It is now junior year and even though it is only a few weeks in I can already tell something is different. I have finally gotten to a point in my studies where all of the classes for my major are a review or using knowledge I learned in the “weed out” classes I had to take over the last two years. Now this is exciting because now the classes are harder but easier all at the same time. They are harder you could say because of how deep we go into the subject and easy because this is material that we at least somewhat have covered in the last two years. All of the comprehension of the basics is over and we are diving into the meat of things. For example, the last two years of various chemistry classes have included the professor giving us equations and saying they are the way they are because I said so. In the last few weeks of physical chemistry we have been deriving these equations, that just existed before, from scratch and seeing where they come from. The puzzle pieces are finally being put together. We always knew that equation works but now we are learning how it works and where it comes from. Specifically we are learning about path dependent variables and how they pertain to ideal gases. This involves derivations and manipulations of the ideal gas law which of course is PV=nRT. Where the pressure times the volume equals the number of mols of gas times the ideal gas constant times the temperature in kelvin. With variations of this equation we can use the first law of thermodynamics (∆U=q+w) where the change in internal energy equals the total heat flow plus the total workflow to solve problems in which the path from the initial conditions to the final conditions vary. This can get complicated and lengthy but one example of a path would be a constant volume cooling of the gas to the final temperature then a constant-pressure isothermal compression to the final volume. There are multiple different ways of getting to the final volume and temperature but the point of all of this is that no matter what path you take the internal energy of the system will always be the same. The amount of workflow and heat flow in each path will vary but always add up to the same internal energy. This can be done with only one variable but can also be done with multiple variables. Of course the more variables there are the more complicated the problem becomes. Through these problems we have been able to derive some of the equations that were just there before which is not only interesting but also relevant to my filed of study.

            I am also currently taking Biochemistry, which is another class that is finally connecting the dots from some of the previous years. This class however spans the gap between molecular biology and organic chemistry. In this class we talk about things that wouldn’t be touched on in o chem because they are more biology subjects and the subjects in molecular bio that are too chemistry-y for a bio class. This class is the perfect harmony of the two. This semester we are dealing with structures and how those structures are key to the functions of the molecules. Seeing as we are looking at structures of molecules that make up living organisms, knowledge of organic chemistry is critical. The molecules we are looking at aren’t just there to demonstrate various aspects of organic chemistry but rather important biological molecules such as proteins, amino acids, nucleic acids etc. These molecules we have leaned about for years in biology and we learned what their functions are. The difference with this class is that now we are learning the structure of these molecules (using our organic chemistry knowledge) so we can understand why their function is what it is and how the molecules interact. I guess the exciting part is that we are no longer learning how stuff works but rather why it works. To most this might not seem that great but to me it’s incredibly exciting. Ever since I could speak I’ve been asking the question why. I have always just been naturally curious and have wanted to know why things are the way they are. All through the general education science classes (weed out classes) I have just had to bite my tongue and just take the professors word for why something is the way it is. Now I am finally learning why they are the way they are and that to me is ridiculously exciting and I have a feeling that this year is going to be the best yet. Plus all of the kids that have made it this far with me and that are in these classes are very smart and we can now learn together and help each other learn at a deeper level as opposed to competing for a higher position in the class ranking like we had to in the weed out classes.

            With all this being said my first blog about learning really is just me being excited about learning how I’m going to be learning in this up coming year.