excel or conquering chemistry? (1 Viewer)

[pLuvia]

is the excel chem book for preliminary as gud as the excel for bio preliminary??.. coz i wanna buy one.. i want one that follows the syllabus.. .. or should i buy that conquering chemistry one..?

 

[Dreamerish*~]

I definitely would say no to Excel. I hate Excel, mainly because they're so boring.

I find it's a lot more convenient and motivating to study from Conquering Chemistry. It contains basically everything you need for the syllabus, and doesn't go off on extensive-knowledge tangents like Pathways seems to do sometimes (I think), which I find confusing, and always chases me back to the syllabus to check what I really need to know.

C.C. is great also because it has good colours - I'm serious, a good format appears less boring and is more "student friendly". It has exercises every few pages to test you on what you've just learnt; at the end of each topic, it has around 50 revision questions; and at the end of each module, it has a module test. Answers are included for all mini-exercises and module tests. If you use C.C., I strongly suggest you try to answer all the questions it asks you.

The only thing that bugs me about C.C. is that there are some questions marked by an asterisk, and there are no answers to those. I still haven't quite figured out what the asterisks mean (help, anyone?). But that's hardly an issue because asterisk-questions are rare.

 

[pLuvia]

I definitely would say no to Excel. I hate Excel, mainly because they're so boring.

I find it's a lot more convenient and motivating to study from Conquering Chemistry. It contains basically everything you need for the syllabus, and doesn't go off on extensive-knowledge tangents like Pathways seems to do sometimes (I think), which I find confusing, and always chases me back to the syllabus to check what I really need to know.

C.C. is great also because it has good colours - I'm serious, a good format appears less boring and is more "student friendly". It has exercises every few pages to test you on what you've just learnt; at the end of each topic, it has around 50 revision questions; and at the end of each module, it has a module test. Answers are included for all mini-exercises and module tests. If you use C.C., I strongly suggest you try to answer all the questions it asks you.

The only thing that bugs me about C.C. is that there are some questions marked by an asterisk, and there are no answers to those. I still haven't quite figured out what the asterisks mean (help, anyone?). But that's hardly an issue because asterisk-questions are rare.

do u no how much they are in the shops?..

 

[Dreamerish*~]

do u no how much they are in the shops?..

I have my boyfriend's C.C.. I ripped off the price tag but I think it's around $55. Excel was around $30.

 

[pLuvia]

I have my boyfriend's C.C.. I ripped off the price tag but I think it's around $55. Excel was around $30.

55$ ay. ok.. ill try and find that.. but does is excel very similar to it.. coz i like the excel format.. :uhhuh:

 

[Dreamerish*~]

55$ ay. ok.. ill try and find that.. but does is excel very similar to it.. coz i like the excel format.. :uhhuh:

If I knew you I would gladly give you my Excel.

Try get both. Borrow from school, or from friends. It's always good to use several textbooks, when one doesn't have enough information on something specific.

 

[pLuvia]

Dymocks

Conquering Chemistry Bk1 Preliminary - $52.95
Addresses the 2002 Stage 6 chemistry syllabus amendments with new features to reflect the syllabus requirements more closely. Clear chemical conce...more
ISBN: 0074714937 - Paperback

Excel Preliminary Chemistry - $24.95
C.M. Roebuck
ISBN: 1740200861 - PaperBack

Angus and Robinson

Conquering Chemistry Bk1 Preliminary $52.96
Author:
Format: Paperback
Category: Juvenile Nonfiction - Science & Technology - Chemistry

 

[pLuvia]

If I knew you I would gladly give you my Excel.

Try get both. Borrow from school, or from friends. It's always good to use several textbooks, when one doesn't have enough information on something specific.

u dislike it that much ahhaa

 

[Dreamerish*~]

u dislike it that much ahhaa

It works like sleeping pills for me.

 

[Casmira]

use a variety of sources, CC never has enough

 

[04er]

there is no comparison between the two. excel will never come close to conquering chemistry. though having more texts would definitely help you in finding info for assignments, and perhaps pracs.

 

[Dreamerish*~]

I just thought of something. It is deadly important - to me, anyway.

Whichever textbook you decide to buy, or better yet, if you get yourself several for cross-referencing, make sure that they have a good index. I can't stress this enough. When you need help understanding a particular concept or experiment, the index is where you go. For me, it's like a dictionary of chemistry terms, and I use it all the time. It's different for everyone, I guess, but just to let you know.

The best index belongs to Conquering Chemistry. Pathways' index makes my blood boil, because it's only like, 2 pages long, and therefore misses out on some of the most important terms, like Brønsted-Lowry! And Excel doesn't have an index, apparently. That is why you should use it in conjunction with others.

 

[Emma-Jayde]

Conquering Chemistry is a textbook. Excel is a study guide.
Study guides are supposed to be used in conjunction with a textbook, no AS a textbook. They're there for additional information, not as a complete source.

 

[Dreamerish*~]

Conquering Chemistry is a textbook. Excel is a study guide.
Study guides are supposed to be used in conjunction with a textbook, no AS a textbook. They're there for additional information, not as a complete source.

Excel is a study guide?

My one is pretty much a textbook. Maybe they come in textbooks and study guides.

 

[pLuvia]

i think wat that person means is.. coz theres a excel guide as well..that person is prob referring to that.. i dunno

 

[Emma-Jayde]

Excel is a study guide?

My one is pretty much a textbook. Maybe they come in textbooks and study guides.

Hmmm maybe. But the one I have doesn't address the whole syllabus, and goes into random extra info that is interesting but we don't reall nee to know

Atually, Chemistry Contexts is a good textbook too. It has lots of pretty pictures

 

[kim_]

I really think that you shouldnt waste your money on excel it is really really shit...waset of money the bio one is really good but the chem one sux...gt CC or Maquarie...Macquarie is a pretty good one to use also see of you can get your hands on a surfing chem book for prelims coz thats pretty good aswell...NO EXCEL

 

[pLuvia]

I really think that you shouldnt waste your money on excel it is really really shit...waset of money the bio one is really good but the chem one sux...gt CC or Maquarie...Macquarie is a pretty good one to use also see of you can get your hands on a surfing chem book for prelims coz thats pretty good aswell...NO EXCEL

is the excel for chemistry that bad.. wouldnt it be similar to the biology excel one??.. coz it is the same brand

 

[04er]

is the excel for chemistry that bad.. wouldnt it be similar to the biology excel one??.. coz it is the same brand

Excel Biology was surprisingly good, considering it came from Excel. The same can be said for Physics. But Chem was shit as. I wouldn't even call it a revision guide. More like an unreliable supplement.

 

[stainmepink]

I definitely would say no to Excel. I hate Excel, mainly because they're so boring.

I find it's a lot more convenient and motivating to study from Conquering Chemistry. It contains basically everything you need for the syllabus, and doesn't go off on extensive-knowledge tangents like Pathways seems to do sometimes (I think), which I find confusing, and always chases me back to the syllabus to check what I really need to know.

C.C. is great also because it has good colours - I'm serious, a good format appears less boring and is more "student friendly". It has exercises every few pages to test you on what you've just learnt; at the end of each topic, it has around 50 revision questions; and at the end of each module, it has a module test. Answers are included for all mini-exercises and module tests. If you use C.C., I strongly suggest you try to answer all the questions it asks you.

The only thing that bugs me about C.C. is that there are some questions marked by an asterisk, and there are no answers to those. I still haven't quite figured out what the asterisks mean (help, anyone?). But that's hardly an issue because asterisk-questions are rare.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i know what you mean !!! those asterisk questions bug me alot, you'd think that they would give you the answers to those kinds of questions. does anyone know where to find the answers to the asterisk questions? i've looked all over the net and i havent been able to find a website with answers to it. Apparantly theres also a website with corrections to the answers from the book as well.