Elemental, My Dear Watson

by Lorien E. Menhennett

As I was studying for the MCAT yesterday (General Chemistry), doing the Examkrackers practice problems, I kept having to refer back to the periodic table at the beginning of the book. Now, I know quite a bit of the periodic table information – the molar masses of oxygen (~16), carbon (~12), and nitrogen (~14), for example. But if a problem comes up about nickel, I’m gonna be in a pickle.

Thankfully, I discovered today, we DO get a periodic table on the MCAT, which includes atomic numbers and atomic weights (whew!). Otherwise, I thought I was going to have to memorize this song …