Main Sequence     Overview Cycle     Interdisciplinary Discussions     Testing     Verbal Reasoning     Essay

Module 8 - Water, Solutions, and Acids & Bases

ALERT! - Get Ready for a Practice Test in Module 10

After the Overview Cycles of this module and the next, you will have reviewed the basic material of Physics, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Biology from beginning to end at least a few times. Furthermore, in the Main Sequence, we will have studied a good portion of the Physics, General Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry in depth. Although we won't have begun Biology yet in the Main Sequence, you should at least have a good familiarity from your Overview Cycle work. You will have performed an intense program of reading and verbal reasoning exercises, and you will have written a good number of essays. In two modules time then, you will arrange to have your first serious practice test. In other words, it is time to begin holding yourself responsible for the knowledge from beginning to end.

See if you can't convince yourself that you are actually taking the MCAT after module 10. Work the next few weeks as if the test were just around the corner. Let yourself stress out now, so that you can get the knowledge into your head, and get the stress out of your system, with plenty of time left after this first practice test to fix your weaknesses and build superior mastery before the real exam.

Module 8 - Overview

Main Sequence - Water, Solutions, Acids & Bases, and Organic Acids and Bases

Overview Cycle - Take a tour of Biology as a whole. Review the structure of Biology and the main ideas throughout the discipline.

Interdisciplinary Discussions - Integrate fundamental physics and chemistry principles with the Solution and Acid/Base concepts. Preview these concepts within various biological contexts.

Testing - Take a comprehensive diagnostic test on Mechanics, Waves and Thermodynamics at the Testing Center

Essay and Verbal Reasoning - Learn to recognize the different types of verbal reasoning questions. Write another essay.

Module 8 - Main Sequence        { 12 - 15 hours }

In previous modules we have discussed how to interpret the the changes which may occur within a chemical system focusing on the kinetic energy of the particles and electrostatic potential energy at the atomic, molecular, and intermolecular levels. We have discussed how to describe change in the internal energy of a chemical system as a whole, and we connected internal energy change to thermodynamic work and heat flow. In the last module, we discussed the spontaneity of chemical change, seeking an improved understanding of the test of spontaneity, whether a change in a chemical system will produce an increase in entropy in the universe, in other words, whether free energy is being lost by the system either due to an increase in disorder in the system or to heat flow from the system to the surroundings. In our previous discussions of chemistry, we have been working to develop the intuitive feel at the heart of a rich conceptual understanding of chemistry.

At our current stage, in the current module, we will bring our intuition and conceptual understanding to bear on two important fields of chemistry, the first being Solution Chemistry and the second being Acids & Bases. Because the role of water is centrally important, not only for these two topics, but within chemistry and biology as a whole, we will also take time focus separately on the physical and chemical properties of water.

Water on the MCAT

Although you definitely may see some direct questions about water on the MCAT, beyond those, the aqueous solution context will be omnipresent on the exam. Simply put, aqueous solution is the most important field of play for phenomena both for general chemistry (solutions, acids & bases, and electrochemistry) and biology. Direct questions regarding the properties of water may involve its phase equilibria, for example. The H - O - H bond angle is another favorite, but beyond the direct questions, bear in mind that for many, many questions on the test, water will figure indirectly as the medium in which the phenomena in question are occuring. Just as the chemical behavior of water plays a crucial role in science, especially the science underlying medicine, understanding water is crucial for mastering the MCAT.

Learning Goals for the Properties of Water

Suggested Assignments

Solutions on the MCAT

If you do not know this material backwards and fowards, you will suffer on the MCAT. The topic of Solutions equals any other in importance for the MCAT. Nearly every exam will require you to apply this material multiple times. Practically guaranteed, you will see something about colligative properties and something from heterogeneous solution equilibria. Do not neglect this material. Solutions will be on the test in a major way.

Learning Goals for Solutions

Suggested Assignments

Acids & Bases on the MCAT

As with Solutions, the previous chapter, every MCAT will have a number of questions deriving from the material in Acids & Bases. Although big, multi-variable quantitative acid-base equilibrium questions are a standard of Chem 101, you are not likely to run into such questions on the MCAT. However, the MCAT definitely will call on you to demonstrate that you understand the basic concepts of acid-base equilibrium. Buffers & indicators are MCAT favorites, as well as titration curves.

Learning Goals for Acids & Bases

Suggested Assignments

Organic Acids and Bases on the MCAT

The MCAT likes to use the specific detailed knowledge in this area as a good index of overall student mastery of organic chemistry, so in addition to the basics, the MCAT may ask if you know about the special acidity of phenol or if you understand the behavior of the acidic alpha proton in keto-enol tautomerism. Questions regarding substituent effects on acidity or basicity are fairly common as well. From a test-writer's perspective, for a student to be able to judge the effect of a near substituent on acidity or basicity is a good index of their overall conceptual understanding of organic chemistry.

Learning Goals for Organic Acids and Bases

Suggested Assignments

Module 8 - Overview Cycles        { 3 - 5 hours }

Preparing to walk into the exam in command of extensive factual knowledge of Biology is one of your most important challenges. Although the technical prerequisite for the MCAT is only 1st year Biology, in truth, you really need to be a step past that level to earn a superior score on the biological sciences section of the MCAT. Although the technical ground floor prerequisite is supposed to be the year of general Biology only, it would have to be an extremely demanding Bio 101 to prepare a student to earn an 11 or higher on the MCAT Biological Sciences Section. From the macromolecular level of Biochemistry to the organ system level of Physiology, at each level of organization, the MCAT writers push the envelope of general Biology just a bit into the specialized course material. If this were not the case, their exam would be unable to differentiate the superior ranks of premedical students, for whom Biology is the most common undergraduate major. This is who you are competing with.

At this stage in the course, you must start hitting the Biology hard. Comb through the facts. Walk around with notes all the time. Play retention games. Go through the material over and over until you are completely comfortable with the facts. Overview Cycles. Look at all the pictures in your textbook. Make a set of flash cards. Skim your Main Sequence book multiple times. Overview Cycles will not only help you make the interconnections necessary for conceptual understanding. Overview Cycles help your retention by encouraging integration, interrelationship and recall. Overview Cycles will make the knowledge smaller.

In this module, we have our first Overview Cycles for Biology. You will make it all the way through the conceptual discussions of Biology in your Overview Cycle Book this module. As before with these things, when the word is 'get through them', that means to read a section at a comfortable pace. Assess its organization. Glance over it again. Think about the where the topic fits in the overall structure of Biology. Finally, go through a mental checklist of the main facts. Then move on! By the end of this course, you will know your Overview Cycle book backwards and forwards. Learn what the pages look like. Don't put a ton of pressure on yourself in this Overview Cycle and get bogged down. Get through it. Show it to your brain.

Overview Cycle - Learning Goals

Suggested Assignments

BIOMOLECULES Proteins Carbohydrates Nucleic Acids Lipids THE CELL Biological Membranes The Prokaryotic Cell The Eukaryotic Cell BIOENERGETICS AND BIOSYNTHESIS Bioenergetics and Cellular Respiration Photosynthesis  not on MCAT Biosynthesis of Macromolecules Integration of Metabolism GENETICS & REPRODUCTION Gene Expression Cellular Reproduction Mendelian Genetics Recombination and Mutation The Molecular Biology Laboratory Human Genetics DIVERSITY OF LIFE Viruses Monera Protista Fungi Plants  not on MCAT Animals Animal Development and Embryology Mammalian Tissues and Histology HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY The Nervous System Sensory Systems The Endocrine System The Musculoskeletal System The Cardiovascular System Blood The Respiratory System The Lymphatic System and Immunity The Urinary System The Digestive System and Nutrition The Reproductive System EVOLUTION AND ECOLOGY Populations Evolution Ecology

Module 8 - Interdisciplinary Discussions        { 2 hours }

Many of the Interdisciplinary Discussions in this module are devoted to understanding the concepts of Solutions and Acids & Bases in the light of more fundamental principles of Physics and Chemistry. As with our earlier discussion of the States of Matter, we take the current field of discussion as a 'field of play' for the more fundamental principles of mechanics, electrodynamics, and thermodynamics. When you can see everyday concepts of Solutions & Acids and Bases such as boiling point elevation, common ion effect, or comparative acidities in the light of the more fundamental principles, it grounds the understanding in a way that makes the knowledge much richer and more intuitive.

In addition to looking to earlier, more fundamental concepts this week, we will also be looking ahead to the relevance of solutions and acids & bases in biology.

Interdisciplinary Discussion - Learning Goals

Suggested Assignments

Module 8 - Testing        { 3 hours }

As we move into next phase of the learning program, testing becomes an increasingly important feature. Although by far your most important form of assessment will be practice MCATs using actual AAMC materials, there will also be other types of testing practice which we will include under this heading.

Although will soon be knee-deep in Organic Chemistry and Biology in the Main Sequence, we should not neglect to consolidate the gains we have made in Physics and General Chemistry. Our Interdisciplinary Discussions will help us stay on top of the physical sciences somewhat, but this is not enough. One useful tool to help your Physics mastery become finely tuned in the latter half of the course are the four online diagnostic tests available in the Testing Center of this site. These are intense, physics exams providing comprehensive score reporting and complete explanations. In this module you will take the one covering the first semester material, i.e. Mechanics, Waves, Gravity and Thermodynamics, and make sure you understand the explanations.

Testing and Self-Assessment Assignments

Module 8 - Verbal Reasoning        { 2 - 3 hours }

For this module in Verbal Reasoning we will continue with our program of reading and exercises.

Verbal Reasoning Assignments

Module 8 - Essay        { 2 hours }

At this stage in the course, you have written six MCAT essays. In module 2 we discussed how to structure a unified critical MCAT essay. If you would like to review the advice from that module, here is a LINK to that discussion for a quick review.

Essay Assignments