Very useful unit, but also very time consuming and frustrating at times. There are 2+ hours of lectures a week, a 1.5-hour weekly workshop, & a 3-hour lab every fortnight. The workshops are very useful but often cover extra content on top of the lectures. Despite ‘explanations’ being given in the workshops, sometimes the quizzes still require a lot of figuring out and some trial and error. Luckily, they are always preceded by a similar practice quiz the week before. I can’t complain too much as the theory component is quite decent at the end of the day. The labs are simple, but the calculations have a tendency to get quite difficult. The post-labs are open for 48 hours, so it’s generally possible to get quite a good grade. However, the demonstrators were very unhelpful during some of the labs. They clearly didn’t know what was going on as they hadn’t read the lab protocol beforehand. This was seriously annoying as they often gave incorrect information regarding any questions surrounding the lab. The review stating that this unit is a ‘free HD’ is completely ridiculous. I definitely agree that a HD is very possible, but a lot of effort is required. The exam was generally fine, but you really had to know your stuff. I highly recommend studying quite hard for it as it comes quite soon. Revise all workshop questions, the lecture notes, and the practice quizzes several times. Good unit but don’t do it as an elective unless you really love physical chemistry.

Didn't enjoy it at all

Easiest unit. Exam is 3 times easier than the workshop questions, and Rob is funny. Do the weekly quizzes, and grab this free HD while it’s still going.

Unit has very good content with 3 lectures weekly and a lab fortnightly. There are some lecturers for this unit and they are good, just one of them have poor audio recording. This unit is mostly about Physical Chemistry and almost similar with high school chemistry. Do the practice quiz before you attempt the assessed quiz so you know what to expect in the practice quiz. Lab also is quite easy and can be done in 2 hours, with prelab quiz must be attempted before and postlab worksheet after. Look at the pre-recorded video first before do the prelab! This unit is very recommended as an elective.

Unit is very content heavy, a LOT of lectures each week (3 lectures, 30-60 minutes per lecture). Different lecturers teach different parts of the unit so you would have to get used to a new teaching style each time. The exam was pretty hard.

Amazing unit that builds on core concepts from high school. Unit coordinator is very polite and knowledgeable. Lectures are easy to follow, if you have a solid understanding from prior experience. However, some critical thinking is needed to discern non-assessable content in lectures. Weekly quizzes are very enjoyable and are at a respectable difficulty. Labs are less stressful than other units, as there is more of a focus on learning techniques and applications, rather than theory and results. Tutorials are extremely useful, with the tutors providing stimulating questions, being very understanding of you making mistakes and are always willing to help. Exam was still a challenge, so ensure you have the correct prior knowledge.

Overall the lecturers and lab demonstrators were helpful, and willing to answer questions. As there were a couple of different lecturers for one semester alone, it was a bit difficult constantly adjust to different teaching styles. The labs were manageable, and every one except the first one was done in pairs. For the lab quizzes that are online, I recommend doing the basic working in the booklet given, but do actual answers as you do the postlab, as sometimes 5-6 decimal places are needed and redoing all your answers can be tedious. If you generally enjoy chemistry and don't mind a bit of a challenge, this unit can be good as a core unit.

Labs took too much effort and weren't worth a lot grade-wise. Literally guessed my way through the final exam as it was really difficult. Would not recommend as an elective.

Definitely a bit harder and more maths oriented than CHEM1002. The labs were THE WORST. Like every one was such a struggle (almost always staying late to try and quickly finish it or write stuff down last minute), but almost all in pairs so good to have people to work with to get through them. Also for a few of the last labs they did online post-lab tests and the software they used was quite annoying and overly sensitive to scientific notation, sig-fig ect. (eg. 10 had to be written as 1.0x10^1)

Long labs and exam was pretty difficult. Would not recommend taking as an elective.