#a level chemistry

[studyhrs]

27th oct 2024, i know it’s actually the 29th and i haven’t updated for almost a week but here’s what i did do (very little omg). so first of all, the horrible cold i was suffering from litera -lly wiped me out good for nearly three days lmao. i did watch several videos from allery chemistry on module 5 - it actually started to make sense lol. i got a haircut that i think i hate on friday. i then went over enthalpy which i completely forgot and module 5 & muscle contraction on saturday. on sunday i finished off transport in plants ( because my old notes had so many gaps ) & made some/went over psych flashcards. hope have a much more productive week because those exams are coming up fast. yesterday i tidied my desk because it was an abomination and today i will be hopefully actually have a nice long study day. see you later, happy studying, rara ♡

[eastontheomlette]

[consult-sherlockholmes]

Can you explain to me the chemistry behind the denaturation of enzymes and the process of allosteric and competitive inhibition?

First of all it's important to understand what an enzyme is. An enzyme is a protein, that catalyses reactions after binding to a substrate and then converts it or splits it. An enzyme has a very specific shape so it can bind to the substrate, it's like a key and a lock. The substrate binds to the binding site, and in the catalytic or active centre the reaction takes place.

This is important to understand denaturation: Proteins are made out of amino acids that are bound with peptide bonds. Proteins have several levels of structure: Their primary level is the sequence of amino acids, the secondary structures are folded structures due to interactions of the peptide backbones via hydrogen bonds, like alpha helices or beta sheets. The tertiary structure is folding of the peptides due to electrochemical interactions between different amino acids. Amino acids can have different charges due to their side chains, they can be positive, negative or neutral charged. So those charges will either attract or repel each other, putting the peptide chain in a certain three dimensional shape or conformation. In the quaternary structure several peptide chains come together to create a bigger functional unit (the enzyme) made out of subunits, they often also interact with ions (cofactors) as their catalytic centre where the catalysed reaction takes place. All those levels create the specific shape of the enzyme that is required to bind to their target substrate. So if those structures are changed in any way, it won't work anymore because it can't bind. Just reading it probably makes it difficult to understand, so here's a textbook graphic.

This shape can be changed by denaturation. A protein can be denaturated by heat, or changed pH or high salinity and other not optimal conditions. During those conditions like changed pH the interactions between the molecules and side chains do not work anymore because pH can change the charges of the sidechains, so secondary, tertiary and quarternary structures will be changed. When those structures are changed the binding site will change too and not resemble the lock anymore where the key substrate can bind, so now the enzyme is inactivated/inhibited.

Enzymes can also be inhibited (or activated) by regulatory molecules binding to the enzyme, inhibitors or activators. This can be a competitive inhibition, when the inhibitor binds at the same binding and active site and blocking it, making the actual substrate that should be processed unable to bind there. Like a lock that already has a key stuck in it, you can't put another key in there. Allosteric inhibition is when the inhibitor binds at another site, not directly at the active site where the substrate binds. But by binding to the allosteric site the conformation of the enzyme gets changed by chemical interactions, changing the binding site so the substrate doesn't get recognised anymore. A key can't be insterted into a lock that has been changed.

Inhibtion can be irreversible (making the enzyme dysfuntional for the rest of it's existence until it is degraded) or reversible.

[rain-is-studying]

Progress, as of now.

I've made progress with Arabic! I've made progress with forming sentences with somewhat accurate grammar involving the pronoun 'i' but still struggle with forming sentences in the present continuous tense and 3rd person perspective. I also struggle with pronouncing the letter 'ض'. I can type now too :)

My GPA has reduced though, like by 10%. Previously my GPA was a 65% and now it's a whopping 56% and that's pretty disappointing coming from me. My teachers were so disappointed and the worse part is my self disappointment was greater! But hey, just because I'm struggling doesn't mean I'm failing, right? I have another exam this month so I'm sure I'll be able to do better!

I've also started going to many places like the cat cafe and the local library. I've never been to a local library back in india cuz they were always far from home, now that I moved to Dubai, by GOSH I LOVE HOW ACCESSIBLE IT IS!

Till then, see ya!

[luv4kokafox]

・┆✦ʚ♡ɞ✦ ┆・

day 056/100 of study!

< 19/03/2024 >

hello!!

I haven’t used flora in a hot minute, and it’s changed so much?? I’m gna start using it again because it looks so cute :3

mocks are hitting soon, so I’m doing loads of past papers and just hitting my way through as many as I can. I’m starting to look at questions where I’ve gone wrong and rewriting them until I get 100 ☺️🙏

[goals]

✔️ read

✔️ finish work experience module

maths countdown : 21 days!

chem countdown : 27 days!

bio countdown : 29 days!

・┆✦ʚ♡ɞ✦ ┆・

[blue2dawn]

sometimes my chemistry teacher will drop bombs like “simple covalent molecules don’t exist” and we just run with it

[polarmolecule]

molecular geometry my sweetheart my baby. electron orbitals kill yourself.

[bueris]

god I suffer with my a level choices but everyday I wake up and thank god I didn't pick chemistry. if you picked chemistry you are a person stronger than I can imagine, good luck

[redfrogs]

Introduction To This Account

I’ve never even posted on tumblr before, and I’m not entirely sure how studyblr works, but it’s what I’m going to be calling this.

My point in making this is just to help me keep on top of my school work - sort of keep myself organised but also track my habits and progress. 👍👍

- I’m studying biology, chemistry and geography at a-level

- I’m 16

- I hope to eventually go to university and study to get a career mainly biology related (since everybody knows it’s the best science by a long shot)

- I LOVE stem subjects, except for maths. I aced my science GCSEs and just BARELY scraped a 5 In maths, the first 5 I ever got. Maths is not welcome on this account 😔

- I’m super into things marvel related too, so that may end up tying into what I post

I’ll mainly be recording things I get done in the day to do with revision, and write down my goals for the next week etc. I’ll probably also track things not entirely school related, like how I’m learning French at the moment.

My eventual goals are:

- get the best grades I can in my A-Levels, though I’m not sure what that’ll be until I start in September

- get into my university of choice, which again I’m still not quite fully decided on yet 😅

- complete all my non-school related goals (such as finishing learning French, improving my crochet skills and picking up the keyboard that’s been collecting dust under my bed for 3 years)

- overall just trying to have fun while I push through the next two years 🎉

[studyhrs]

22nd oct 2024, today i added to my anki flashcards (bio deck) and started some topic tests on homeostasis, enzymes, which i will complete tomorrow and also transport in plants (which i will also actually do tomorrow !!) i drafted a few essay plans which i will memorise and make into flashcards tomorrow because this extremely irritating cold i think is starting to somewhat shift (idk maybe lol). must go over organic mechanisms in chem and practice inorganic chem equations from module 5 for tomorrow. i hope my cold leaves me alone soon lol. that is literally it. that’s all i did today. see you tomorrow (hopefully !) bye, rara ♡

[areaderinlove]

this is the fourth a level results and this time i did not fail all of them you may congratulate me , i got a C in chem a C , as for the fuckin bio i just got another U like tf mate anyways , imma switch to english language and literature so yeah

[studynxiety]

me omw to fail A2 chem :) wish me luck on my exam tomorrow please.

[alevelshateme]

some morning revision!

1hr 45min of Chemistry revision: Acids/Bases/Salts, Moles (gases, solutions, formulae, titrations)

1hr 45min of Biology revision: Carbohydrates and Lipids (in photo), Proteins and Enzymes

[rain-is-studying]

30th and 31st August 2023

(Yes 2 daily logs in a row)

Today's goals

Complete one past paper for bio

Finish chemistry homework

Finish the 8th question for physics worksheet

Read about gas exchange for bio

Revise projectile motion

Speed run Python course

Figure out personal learning plan for French

Break-down and simplify some tasks (simplifying tasks literally helps a lot if you have too many things going on)

what I did for self-care:

Listened to music

did some journalling

looked for some study motivation

tried to plan for tomorrow

read a book i like

Binge-watched some anime (also Zoro got shut down 😭😭😭 how can I keep track of my anime now)

"I'm sighing in my dreams"

how are you guys?!?

I forgot to check my school messages lmao (I do online school), I woke up late opened my laptop and sat there waiting for the teachers to reply to my messages. Guess who forgot yesterday and today are holidays? I DID! Honestly, I was so stressed out but I started by reading some bio, then did my chemistry homework. After that, I met up with my tutor and studied Enzymes with her. Then I sat down again to do some speed running, looked into a webinar for my French learning and self-care and gosh it's tiring to be a student!

[luv4kokafox]

Wow how do u get the motivation to study like this?

I actually get this question a lot, so I’ve tried to put some tips together that help me to stay concentrated for as much time as possible! 🙏

Here's how I do 3-5+ hours of revision each day on top of school*:

1. Set achievable goals

Everyone falls into the trap of thinking they can do more than they think, but ultimately it just makes you feel bad :( There’s nothing worse than feeling unfulfilled at the end of the day because you haven’t “completed your work.”

They best thing you can do is write out your tasks that need to be completed, ordering them in terms of priority and then get cracking! It’s important to note that forcing yourself to do work will never help, it’ll just make the work looked rushed and won’t be your best, do what you can and don’t feel disheartened if you leave something uncompleted for now!! (finish it eventually, ofc ☺️)

2. Don’t put work over your other needs!

I’ve heard some people say that they’ve put off snacking/drinking and hanging out with friends just so that they can study. I can almost 100% guarantee this will just make you more upset!! If you want to go out, go out. If you want to snack, go get a snack! Don’t ever put off your needs for some short term work when we both know you’d be a lot happier talking to your friends 🩷

I know that out there, there are some people who will tell you they forget to eat or drink when they work. Please do not let this influence you. Everyone works differently, and their way is not healthy.

3. Time management

Setting up a revision timetable, with time blocks or not, can really help you to set out an idea of work you’d like to complete! Make it colour coordinated!! Stick it up in your room, or throw it on your home/lockscreen for a reminder!

Everyone works a little differently, for example, I do have a timetable, but I don’t use it in extensive detail. If something else has higher importance, I’ll finish that. If I know that working on a subject really won’t “help” at the time (I’ll go over this later 😋) then I’ll ignore it. It's helpful to have the idea, but don’t restrict yourself to just what you've written on the timetable!

4. Apps!!

I've also found it helps to have a non-academic goal to work towards! I use an app called “Flora” to set time goals and write to-do lists that helps me to get through the nights. For each task I have, the app plants a virtual tree or plant in your garden! You can customise the garden, the title of your tasks and each plant that you grow. The best thing about this app is that it restricts apps on your phone (you can choose which ones!). It acts as a massive deterrent to spending time on your phone and helps you to focus on your work! You can also work with friends and grow trees together, completely free :)

There are many apps like this, Flora is just the one that I use. Take some time to find one just for you!! (flora is the best tho <3)

5. Choosing the right focus

So you have some homework due in a couple of days, an essay next week and a project due in in a month. You're really not feeling good about the homework and the essay just really isn't up your street right now, but that project? You wanna do that! And thats fine!! It's never good to miss deadlines and procrastinate, but if you feel like doing that work now will just lead to it being rushed and feeling incomplete, leave it until later on! Forcing yourself to do a task might make you relieved when you're finished, but it's no way to cheer yourself up.

By all means, don't miss deadlines because of this! You should always try to complete assignments right as they're set rather than leaving them until last minute. Getting compulsory work done leaves more time for you to be yourself, work on your own ideas and have that extra edge above anyone else!

*3-5+ hours on top of schoolwork is a big commitment. I understand this, and everyone is different. Please do not think that this is how much you should be doing, or how much is what makes a "good student." Do what feels right for YOU.

That's all from me, if anyone has any other questions on how I revise or how to revise, ask away! <3

Have a good day everyone!

[blue2dawn]

alevel sciences are CRAZY. because in humanities you build on your knowledge from gcses and learn new aspects of the subject.

but so far bio and chem have been the biggest mindfucks ever.

as the bell is ringing, my cells bio teacher casually drops the bombshell that the term “cell membrane” is now obsolete to us because it’s “too general”???? like ok??

everything about electron shell orbitals. lord have mercy on my soul

every single new organelle we’ve learned about (what the FUCK do you mean there’s other shit in here???)

the fact that all bonds technically started off as covalent bonds???? the whole electronegativity chapter absolutely killed me

the existence of LONE PAIRS.

thank you for reading. pray for me