So I'm generally a pretty good student, especially when it comes to chemistry. I passed with an A in OChem 1&2, and feel pretty confident about myself.
Until I got to BioChemistry.
Apparently, I have one week to learn the names, structures, pKa, short-names, and single-letter abbreviation of all 20 major amino acids.
Does anyone know of any good sources or tricks for studying these? My class notes break it down based on polarity and general structure, but... just argh.
I've found this little game online: http://www.studystack.com/matching-23027 which while neat, isn't quite as useful as I'd have hoped (it would help a lot more if the structures were drawn out and not just the formulas given).
Studying Amino Acids
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Username17
- Serious Badass
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- Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm
It's just a list of 20 objects with some pretty standard stuff in them. There's some crap to help you like the fact that Tyrptophan kind of looks like a "W" from the side... but seriously, fuck it. We're talking substantially less information than is on a magic card and you're looking to memorize a stack of 20!
The weird cases of Glycine, Proline, and Cysteine are easy to remember because they are weird. Then you have 17 "cards" to memorize in three groups (polar, charged, and hydrophobic). Oh noes! The hydrophobic ones are an opening Magic: the Gathering Hand. 8 separate cards in it. And that's the worst group.
Nut up and write 20 cards.
-Username17
The weird cases of Glycine, Proline, and Cysteine are easy to remember because they are weird. Then you have 17 "cards" to memorize in three groups (polar, charged, and hydrophobic). Oh noes! The hydrophobic ones are an opening Magic: the Gathering Hand. 8 separate cards in it. And that's the worst group.
Nut up and write 20 cards.
-Username17
If you pass with an A in OChem 2 then you should be able to do some rote memorization.
Just go through them one section at a time. There's the weird dudes (Glycine, Proline, Cysteine), and the dudes that are so large they're hard to forget (Tryptophan, some other one that I am forgetting right now which is hurting my point), ones whose names tell you what's on their side group -- like Isoluceine. After that you've cut your memorization list down in half.
Just go through them one section at a time. There's the weird dudes (Glycine, Proline, Cysteine), and the dudes that are so large they're hard to forget (Tryptophan, some other one that I am forgetting right now which is hurting my point), ones whose names tell you what's on their side group -- like Isoluceine. After that you've cut your memorization list down in half.
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DragonChild
- Knight-Baron
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- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 7:39 am
That explains so much, and actually helps.There's some crap to help you like the fact that Tyrptophan kind of looks like a "W" from the side.
I actually have 60 already made - one set with the name, one set with the initial, and one with the structure.Nut up and write 20 cards.
I was just hoping there was a nice online flash card website. I find it kinda hard to do flashcards effectively alone, and the main person I would ask to help with is overseas. I guess it's off to bug random friends for help.
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Pulsewidth
- Apprentice
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- Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2010 8:54 am
It's too short notice to get the full benefit, but this is the kind of task where Spaced Repetition can help. If you're not familiar with the concept then read supermemo.com .
The best Spaced Repetition software is Anki ( http://ichi2.net/anki/ ). Supermemo's scheduling algorithm is marginally superior, but Anki is easier to use, has an active community, and is free.
Anki's card/fact/model structure is ideal for studying amino acids. Create a model with fields for every property you're trying to memorize and automatically create cards for each one. I recommend configuring Anki to ask you to type the answer where possible so you can quickly and easily judge if you got it right.
The best Spaced Repetition software is Anki ( http://ichi2.net/anki/ ). Supermemo's scheduling algorithm is marginally superior, but Anki is easier to use, has an active community, and is free.
Anki's card/fact/model structure is ideal for studying amino acids. Create a model with fields for every property you're trying to memorize and automatically create cards for each one. I recommend configuring Anki to ask you to type the answer where possible so you can quickly and easily judge if you got it right.