Monday, January 25, 2010

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.... hmmm

When the math gets hard and heavy in General Chemistry, and my students get frustrated, I tell my students that if they can count to 5, they have the math skills needed to handle about 90% of what we cover in Organic Chemistry.

For those of you not into chemistry, carbon can only form 4 bonds. I tell my organic students to count the bonds to carbon and if they get to 5, something is wrong.

My beloved Vikings need something similar to the number 12. Despite all of the stupid mistakes they made last night, they actually had a chance to win the game until they got penalized for having 12 men in the huddle...after a time out!!!!

From now on, they should hire someone who's only job is to count the people on the field. If that person gets to 12, they should alert the coach.

Of course, in the scenario last night, there was nothing they could have done. They can't call back to back time outs. The blame lies squarely on the coaching staff. And then of course, Brett Farve decided to once again dash the hopes of a long suffering fan base by throwing in interception.....


I know, I was going to quit blogging, but this is cathartic.

OK, say with me:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
uh oh!!!!!!!!!!!!

10 comments:

MJenks said...

When we were grading undergrad exams, we used to exclaim loudly "There's another Nobel-prize winning carbon!" when we'd find someone who had drawn five bonds to a carbon.

Usually, we'd let it slide if it was in the middle of a mechanism. When it was a final product, pointing-and-laughing ensued.

Unknown said...

We called them Texas Carbons, because everything is bigger in Texas!

Also... he had space to run! Run 5 yards, slide to the ground, kick a field goal, game over.

Seriously.

MJenks said...

Five yards, run out of bounds, save the time out in case anything untoward happens.

Trust me, I feel your pain, fellaz.

the other anonymous said...

This semester I am teaching a section of GenChem II which covers the quantitative material (Eq, A-B eq, Kinetics & Thermo). I give daily quizzed to incentivize the regular occurrence readings and practice problems. Today I gave them an equilibria problem that required the use of the quadratic equation to solve for eq. concentrations. I even mentioned the importance of this mathematical technique on the quiz...many blank answers :(

p.s. sorry about your viqueens.

ChemGrad said...

hahaha that was really really cute!!

OrganicOverdose said...

I couldn't help but feel Brees threw quite a number of intentionally grounded balls early on but all in all it was a great game. Just a shame that Favre couldn't come up trumps. Better luck next year Vikes

joe said...

Chemistry is unmangable to understand so these trics can be helpful but yes online reading is also possible through http://www.letterofrecommendation.biz/our-services/letter-of-recommendation-for-student/ so get it your service now.

RobertKY said...

Chemistry is one of the most complicated subject. I need such kind of article which help me in understand about organic chemistry and other terms of chemistry. We http://www.statementofpurposemba.net/best-mba-statement-of-purpose-for-hospitality-management/ for all MBA students.

paulKimson said...

Sometime student got frustrated due to complicated theories and reactions of chemistry. They need guidance to find more info about chemistry. Our online https://www.sopwriting.org/our-statement-of-purpose-writing-services/statement-of-purpose-for-mba-writing-service is perfect for mba students.

James K. Marcotte said...

Organic chemistry is difficult for every student and this is not a new thing to discuss. I always want to have help in such topic and also you can check here for your homework.