Question

Why is Chemistry so hard!? Ugh. :(

Answer 1

If Chemistry were easy, we wouldn't have to learn anything. We'd be so advanced, it wouldn't be worth living. (in my opinion)

Answer 2

Haha, Owned.

Answer 3

chemistry isn't hard.. in fact it's generally quite 'soft' since most chemical things involve either liquids or gasses...

Answer 4

Because nearly everything relates to everything else. It's very difficult to find a very simple self-contained starting point, learn that, then add on something else, then add on something else, et cetera, the way you can with math. (You start with adding integers, then move on to subtracting, then multiplying, and only when you introduce dividing do you need to start considering fractions...)

In chemistry there isn't the same kind of simple starting point. There's no equivalent (or not much of an equivalent) to adding integers together. Even the simplest chemical observations -- things burn, iron rusts, water boils -- must, to be explained, delve into quite complicated concepts and theories. So this makes it hard to learn (and hard to teach). You flop around trying to find some small corner of it that is as self-contained and simple as possible, to let students gain mastery and confidence, and then you branch out from there, trying to add things as logically as possible. But usually it only works partially, and you're endlessly forced to revisit what you said earlier and say "well, that was an oversimplification -- ACTUALLY this more complicated process goes on, which we will now explain, confusing you (alas) about stuff you thought you already knew..."

In this way it's something like learning a language, in whch you have your choice of learning very artifiicial speech ("See Spot run!") to try and get you used to the concepts before you branch out, or plunging into real speech and coping with all its complexities at once. Immersion, which tends to produce the best results, is usually dreadfully confusing at first, until you get it all sorted out. But although it's probably just as much work as learning chemistry, people feel less intimidated by learning a language because, first, they know they CAN do it (everyone learned one language when very young, after all), and, second, they aren't as often asked to explain WHY such and such is the right way to say things, whereas you're asked WHY questions in chemistry all the time.

Additionally, chemistry is hard because it is quantitative and exact. It is not a bullsh*ttable subject. You can't make a really cool or inspired argument and be considered right. You've either get the right number, or you don't, and all the persuasiveness and charm you can bring to bear on the subject doesn't matter a fig. That makes the subject in practice often harder than less quantitative subjects, because in the less quantitative subjects you will find often enough classes that SEEM rigorous but really aren't, in which, for example, a teacher will grade you on how persuasive or witty your essays are. You can't really teach chemistry that way.

Answer 5

Actually, there's one social reason also why chemistry is hard, and that is because being a chemist is quite lucrative. People with chemistry degrees usually have no problem finding good, high-paying jobs doing chemistry. Consequently, it is hard to persuade people who are good at chemistry to teach it, and essentially impossible when you don't pay them very well and/or subject them to a load of silly rules about how they can do their jobs (which is the norm in K-12 education).

Consequently, the further down the educational ladder you go, which normally involves lower and lower pay, and more and more rules, the more difficult it is to find people who undertand the subject well who are willing to teach it at that level, and, in practice, the more likely you are to end up, as a student, with a teacher who doesn't understand the subject himself, and can't teach it well to save his life.

I have occasion to hire people with chemistry degrees, both undergraduate and graduate. I can tell you a generic starting salary for someone with just a bachelor's degree in chemistry is probably above $45,000 a year, and for a PhD it's above $75,000. Mid-career salaries can be $90,000 and $150,000, respectively. How are you going to persaude a person to go into teaching 9th grade chemistry instead? It's difficult. You aren't likely to get the best applicants for the job.

Answer 6

i think its also related to the student ....how much interested the student is in the subject ...is the student just studying the subject to pass a class...or the student is really interested in opening the treasure of that subject.......subject can be any of them available on the planet..............!!!

Answer 7

I'm not sure I agree, anur. In my experience, it's very often the students who are most interested in the subject who find it very hard. That's in part because they *want* it all to make sense, and they are trying for a deep understanding -- which is difficult. The contradictions, simplifications, and apparent inconsistencies bother them more. Someone who is just trying to pass the class is often content to simply memorize, or shrug off things that don't make sense.

There are certainly some -- usually relatively small -- fraction who delude themselves about how hard the subject is because they don't want to face an ugly reality: that they must learn a subject they don't want to know, for various reasons (need to get into med school, say), and it will be a long hard road. It's true these are often in for a rude awakening, which will lead to loud complaints.

But for the average student, who in my experience is really trying to do the best he can, the subject appears hard simply because...well...it really is.

Answer 8

chem is hard cuz there is only about a few elements in liquid form and most are solid :P