Main Sequence     Overview Cycle     Interdisciplinary Discussions     Verbal Reasoning     Essay

Module 4 - Matter at the Atomic, Molecular and Intermolecular Levels

We are at an important stage in the course in terms of both logistics and the curriculum. At the fourth module you have come far enough to be able to make informed judgments about your routine and make adjustments if they are necessary. Take a moment to reflect on your study methods. Are your learning materials working for you? Does your schedule fit well into your life? Do you feel confident about the learning process? It is still not too late to find a study group. Are you getting enough regular sleep? Reflect on how things feel and make adjustments to improve the quality of your learning. Sieze the opportunity. Don't just let the wind carry you.

In teaching my small group course over the years, I have always tried to encourage my students to think of preparing for the MCAT as more than just a hurdle to cross. Preparing for this exam is more than just another achievement goal. Sure, it's important in that down-to-earth practical sense. This is your life after all. I am not down-rating a practical approach to things, but what I mean to get across is the sense that preparing for the MCAT is your opportunity to gather up the knowledge you have worked hard to gain throughout your undergraduate years and form it into true mastery. Preparing for the MCAT is your chance to build a structured knowledge base that you will be proud to bring to medical school. Truly, I admire the designers of the science sections of the MCAT because they have managed to create an exam with very little difference between the answer to the question 'Will this be on the test?' and the answer to the question 'Do I need to know this for medical school?'. Consider how both questions are important for you, but in different ways. Thinking about the test will make you sit down and study. Thinking about what's coming up for you in medical school will awaken your intelligence while you are studying.

Module 4 - Overview

Main Sequence - Atomic Theory, Periodic Properties, Chemical Bonding, and Intermolecular Forces.

Overview - Make a second complete survey of General Chemistry.

Interdisciplinary Discussions - The discussions this module focus on developing your ability to use classical Physics to help you better understand Atomic Theory, Chemical Bonding, and Intermolecular Force.

Verbal Reasoning and Essay - Reading program, exercises, and writing assignment.

Module 4 - Main Sequence        { 12 - 15 hours }

We have reached a transition in the Main Sequence. We are ready to begin General Chemistry. Take a few minutes to get your bearings, a few moments to think carefully about what we have covered so far, the fundamental topics of Mechanics, the special topics in Mechanics, and the fundamental forces of Gravity and Electricity. You have reviewed the basic behaviors and interactions of physical bodies.

.The material we covered in the first three modules is core MCAT knowledge, and the first three modules of the course are also important in that they have prepared us for Module 4. We are now ready to begin our study of matter in Chemistry. We are ready to understand the structure of matter and the transformations it can undergo. We our ready to begin General Chemistry! Your fresh understanding of Motion & Force, Work & Energy, and Electricity gained from your recent review of Physics will now serve you as an intuitive basis for understanding the structure of matter. The basic Physics is the foundation of conceptual imagination in Chemistry.

As you study the changes that matter can undergo in General Chemistry, it is absolutely essential that you continuously make yourself step back and 'defamliarize' the phenomona. Get out of the Chem 101 mindset. A curse on the Chem 101 mindset! When you learn to see Chemistry in terms of the more fundamental principles of Physics, even the classical Physics with all of its limitations in the quantum world, you will awaken a much more conceptually intuitive understanding. If your college is like most colleges, for better or for worse, you have probably learned General Chemistry without having much Physics in the discussion. This practice of teaching General Chemistry without Physics is the bane of my existence. It is the result of how universities are organized not how the universe is organized. In fact, approaching Chemistry through Physics makes understanding Chemistry much, much easier. Below are our Main Sequence topics for Module 4:

Atomic Theory on the MCAT

Questions directly concerned with Atomic Theory, or more generally, basic quantum mechanics, do appear with fair regularity on the MCAT, although they tend to be easier questions than they may seem at first glance. More important than the direct appearance of these concepts on the exam is that these initial chapters of Chemistry, dealing with the instrinsic structure of matter, i.e. Atomic Theory, Periodic Properties, and Chemical Bonding, are absolutely crucial for the scientific understanding of the physical and natural world. The rest of General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Biology will make profoundly better sense, and be much more interesting besides, if you take special care to understand the structure of matter.

Learning Goals for Atomic Theory

Suggested Assignments

Periodic Properties on the MCAT

Only rarely to questions appear on the MCAT that ask you directly about periodic properties, but like so many of these early chapters, the material is fundamental to much else which comes later. Of the periodic properties, the electronegativity is especially crucial, although all of them are important. Considering the electronegativity difference between bonded atoms is the first step to assigning bond polarity. Understanding bond polarity is necessary for predicting intermolecular forces, solubility relationships or assigning oxidation numbers, for example.

Learning Goals for Periodic Properties

Suggested Assignments

Chemical Bonding on the MCAT

Although you will probably see a few traditionally framed chemical bonding questions on the MCAT, no other topic is more important for your overall goals in MCAT preparation in the sciences. Huge portions of the general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biology can only be coherently understood if you understand the fundamentals of chemical bonding.

Learning Goals for Chemical Bonding

Suggested Assignments

Intermolecular Forces on the MCAT

Because intermolecular forces are of great importance in living organisms, this topic is of major MCAT importance. The MCAT will often pose both explicit questions from this topic and questions depending on reasoning which takes intermolecular force as its starting point. Furthermore, many other topics, such as States of Matter or Solutions in Chemistry or Proteins or Membranes in Biology greatly rely on your understanding of Intermolecular Forces.

Learning Goals for Intermolecular Forces

Suggested Assignments

Module 4 - Overview Cycles        { 3 - 5 hours }

Our Overview Cycle work this module is to perform the second half of our two module grand tour of the physical science sections of Alfa Diallo's excellent MCAT Pearls. In the second module of the course we completed the first half of this tour with Physics. This module you will read the MCAT Pearls entries on General Chemistry from beginning to end. Pace yourself to get through it in less than 3 hours. As you make your way through this Overview Cycle, be sure to keep the Overview Cycle frame of mind. Get through it and don't get bogged down. In an Overview Cycle, you are walking around the mountain and surveying it, not tunneling through it. Take the long view.

Overview Cycle - Learning Goals

Suggested Assignments

THE STRUCTURE OF MATTER Atomic Theory Periodic Properties The Chemical Bond Intermolecular Forces STOICHIOMETRY Stoichiometry CHEMICAL THERMODYNAMICS AND CHEMICAL KINETICS Thermochemistry The States of Matter Chemical Thermodynamics and the Equilibrium State Chemical Kinetics SOLUTIONS AND AQUEOUS SYSTEMS Water Solutions Acids and Bases OXIDATION REDUCTION AND ELECTROCHEMISTRY Oxidation/Reduction Electrochemistry COORDINATION CHEMISTRY Coordination Chemistry

Module 4 - Interdisciplinary Discussions        { 3 hours }

From our Main Sequence point of view within the Structure of Matter: Atomic Theory, Periodic Properties, Chemical Bonding, and Intermolecular Forces, this module the Interdisciplinary Discussions look back toward the portions of classical physics we have already covered to discuss the forces involved in chemical systems and the energy tranformations that occur in chemical change. In other words, a major theme this module will be to discuss Newton's Laws, Work & Energy, and Electricity in the context of the fundamental structure of matter.

In the few Interdisciplinary Discussions associated with Atomic Theory, we will try to develop a sense of how to benefit from classical physics reasoning in the light of quantum mechanics.

In addition to looking back towards classical physics, another major theme in the discussions this module will be to look ahead toward later chemistry topics. We introduce Thermochemical reasoning this module within our discussion of Periodic Properties, Chemical Bonding, and Intermolecular Forces. Additionally, several discussions are the start of a long thread in the discussions we will pull numerous times in the months ahead. This is the theme of Oxidation-Reduction in the context of the energy description of Chemical Bonding.

Before you begin these discussions, take a sheet of plain paper and write down the following formula in big, bold letters to keep on the desk.

This is the formula for electrostatic potential energy from classical physics. It describes the state of potential energy that exists in a system of two point charges. Although chemical systems are quantized, the classical picture is useful as thumbnail representation of energy changes. What does the formula tell you about opposite charges as they are drawn closer together? (Potential energy falls down into the well of binding energy, a negative number that gets more and more negative). What does the formula tell you about like charges pushed together? (Potential energy rises, reflecting the work you are doing to push the charges together)

As you make your way through the Interdisciplinary Discussions associated with Atomic Theory, Periodic Properties, Chemical Bonding, and Intermolecular Forces, any time you read the word 'energy' stop and look over at this formula then imagine the chemical system in a defamiliarized way as an arrangement of charged particles. Try to see a single atom with its nucleus and electrons, two bonded atoms in a covalent bond, or the molecules associated by intermolecular forces as systems of charged particles. Imagine like charges being pushed together or unlike charges pulled apart as you imagine the changes these systems can undergo. Look at the formula and think about what is happening with energy in things like the ionization of an atom, the formation of a chemical bond, or the condensation of a vapor.

Interdisciplinary Discussion - Learning Goals

Suggested Assignments

Module 4 - Verbal Reasoning        { 2 - 3 hours }

Reading Program and Exercises

To help make you into a stronger reader, an important part of this Learning Program will be to spend a few hours approximately every other module reading difficult and interesting works. This will make your brain stronger.

Additionally, we have another exercise to help you understand the thinking processes of the people who write MCAT verbal reasoning questions.

Verbal Reasoning Tip of the Week

As you read a Verbal Reasoning passage, pay extra attention when you run into contrast words such as 'although', 'however', 'despite' or 'nevertheless' because there will almost always be a question coming from that. Take special stock of the content of the author's change of direction or the relationship between any counter-premise and the main idea.

Verbal Reasoning Assignments

Module 4 - Essay        { 1 hour }

This is your fourth essay. The keys to preparing for the essay are to learn a good technique and practice. In module 2 we discussed how to structure a unified critical MCAT essay. Here is a LINK to that discussion for a quick review.

Essay - Assignments - Module 4