CM2021 INORGANIC & BIOINORGANIC CHEMISTRY (3.0 AU)

Taken in: AY 19/20 Sem 1
Grade: B+

Midterm CA1 (20%): 17/20
Midterm CA2 (20%): 52/68 → 15.3/20 [average: 13.93/20]
Finals (60%)

This module is also conducted by 2 professors (Dr. Kinjo & Dr. So). This module is taught in both sem 1 and 2 by different profs. I would suggest that you take it in sem 1 because the profs teach better. The first part was taught by Dr. Kinjo (same prof that taught CM1021), he is very nice but the only problem is that his accent can be quite difficult to understand. The content can also be very dry. Also, he teaches quite slowly which results in him being unable to finish teaching 2 short chapters and his solution to that is not examining it in the finals which is a good thing for us I guess 😂 To do well for his part, you will just need to pay special attention to the parts marked with the yellow star that is not in his lecture notes, he will flash it as a question during the lecture itself and you will need to copy the answers down. His part requires mainly memorisation. MO diagram is back again as well as main group chemistry reactions where you will need to memorise which elements/compounds are able to undergo what reactions as well as their corresponding equations.

The second part was taught by Dr. So, and his teaching style is very entertaining and interesting as he would use a lot of real-life examples to explain abstract concepts. His most iconic example is using the titanic video to explain how complex undergoes dissociation of ligands 😂 He also emphasizes that understanding is more important than pure memorisation. His pet phrase is that if you try to memorise everything in his lecture notes, you are bound to fail his part. And I can attest that this is really true, like his Dr. Kinjo’s part you cannot run away from memorising but Dr. So’s part you will “die” if you try to memorise. One more thing, please please attend his lectures as he likes to reward students who attend his lectures by giving them hints for the midterms/finals. The hints will not be recorded in the lecture recording as he will remove the microphone. I attended almost all of his lectures and got all the hints but his questions sometimes make you have a strong urge to kill him after the paper HAHAH. Our TA says Dr. So is a nice guy but his exam questions are not nice lol. If you do have any questions just ask him after lectures or book consults with him, he will try his best to explain it to you and he always tells us there are no stupid questions, just ask everything you are unclear about.

Both midterms comprise of short answer questions that are totally doable just do not be careless (like I was). Overall, this is quite a manageable modules if you put in the effort and not be careless. Also, I managed to spot some questions from Dr. So’s part based on his hints and some logical deduction 😏

This review was reposted with the kind permission of Awesome NTU CBC Student. Originally published at https://awesomentucbcstudent.blogspot.com/2019/12/ay1920-y2s1-review.html

Year Taken: AY 17/18, Sem 1
Grade: A-

Midterm 1(25%) 78/100
Midterm 2(25%)
Final(50%)

This module is about bonding (VSEPR and molecular orbital theory), symmetry and point groups(a very important part of the course), character tables and transition metals. The lecturer decided to leave out main group chemistry and focus on transition metals instead during the second part of the course, so our final exam only tested on transition metals. A very good thing about this mod is that ample practice questions were given with detailed answers provided! 😀 So can don’t go for lectures and just stare at the answers provided. 😡 Just kidding! Of course attending lectures is much better than racking your brains trying to figure out the concepts, but I was too lazy haha. Don’t be like me, really, go for lectures. There is a tutorial during recess week to prepare us for mid term 2 but I didn’t go, argh I should have went for it cos I heard from my classmate that the questions discussed during that tutorial were similar to those in the mid term. >.<

Mid term 1 is about molecular orbital theory, so we were tested on MO diagram drawing, and to determine point groups of molecules. Mid term 2 also required the drawing of MO diagram, plus character tables(A NIGHTMARE), and chirality(actually I still don’t really get it).I would suggest doing the exercises provided to prepare for the tests, as well as attempt the questions from the Miessler textbook. There are actually detailed solutions for the textbook questions online, so can go find it. I can’t find any free textbook online so I guess you would have to buy one(Update: I found the textbook online! Look for it at the side bar). For the final exam, it seems to be dependent on the lecturer’s mood HAHA cos the content tested for each year differs greatly. Nevertheless, I think he is really nice as he tried to explain new concepts to us patiently which took a lot of time, and used interesting analogies to help us understand the concepts. The Tanabe-Sugano diagrams looked scary when I first saw it but not that hard if you understand them, and there are actually a lot of online resources to help you.

This review was reposted with the kind permission of Hairdryer. Originally published at https://ionhairdryer.blogspot.com/2018/01/ay1718-ntu-spms-cbc-y2s1.html

Basically a more advanced version of CM1021, similar topics minus IR spectroscopy and atomic structure but more in depth esp on transition metal chem. Difficulty depends on who’s teaching partly because the content changes with the profs. First half is basically memory game, and if Prof Kinjo is teaching he usually give hint for finals. Prof So’s taught concepts can be quite tricky but with practice and some consultation from him should be doable, hints given for finals also.