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I'm sure you are all familiar with the "placebo effect", the ability of an inactive substance to produce biological effects. The usual explanation is that the placebo substance activates the patient's "belief" that a treatment is being received and this… Continue reading →

Chapter 4 introduces so-called “road map” problems. Problem 4.51 & 4.52 are typical examples. A “road map” problem gives you some information about the composition of a molecule and its chemical behavior (what you can turn it into, how you… Continue reading →

This has nothing to do with o chem, but watching 5000+ small birds fly into a chimney (they sleep there) is one of the most fascinating and FREE displays of urban wildlife you will ever see and it coincides with… Continue reading →

I posted the study guide for chapter 1 yesterday but forgot to tell anyone. Maybe you've seen it already? You can follow this link or the one on Study Guides page…. Continue reading →

(updated version of post from Aug 20, 2008)An idiosyncratic assortment of suggestions and observations based on 23+ years of teaching…. Continue reading →

(initial version published Aug 20, 2008)Once you get used to them, you may find that the problems in your textbook have a game-like quality. If you make the right mental "moves", you will nearly always solve the problem. It's a… Continue reading →

(first published Aug 20, 2008)My first genuine taste of organic chemistry came in my sophomore year of college (73-74). I studied from a large (1000 page) textbook not too different from yours. There was a lot to remember, but I… Continue reading →

Piles of paper surround me. Wrapping paper for presents. Your exams and lab reports. (Not to worry, no one in the family received socks wrapped in a lab report.) And it's snowing. So what do I do?What would anyone do?Surf… Continue reading →