I passed P-Chem a few years ago and when I did, I swore that I’d get one of the “famous” (or perhaps “mythical”) bumper stickers that proclamed such:
“Honk If You Passed P-Chem”
And in years of sporadic searching, I’ve yet to find one. A google search on the phrase turns up references to the bumper sticker, but no actual stickers. One site claims the ACS sells them; I searched the ACS site and found none. Years ago, I asked a Chem prof about them. Sure, he’d heard of them and told me they existed, but could not hook me up with where one might be purchased.
So on to the general questions:
Do these things even exist? Have they ever, or are they just part of chem-lab lore? I’ve never seen them, Can’t find who sells them, and Frequently find that nobody I talk to has ever actually seen one either.
If they do exist, who does sell them? I’m sure the next post will have several links to suppliers, demonstrating my inadequacies as a Googler, but I’m at a total loss here. Per question 1, I’m starting to doubt their existance.
(And, BTW, not only did I pass–I say as I blow on my tucked-in fingernails and polish them on a jacket I’m not wearing–I passed with an “A”. Honk!)
Which I guess is cheating if you’re more interested in the thrill of the hunt. If you get tired of hunting and just want the sticker, on the other hand, there it is.
Yes, they do exist; one of the chem professors at my school has one. Tomorrow, I’ll ask her where she bought it and let you know.
xcheopis, who just recieved an A- on her first P-chem exam.
lieu, of course I took P-Chem in bizzaro-Sid Rich… you know, the Mars McLean building.
Sublight, thanks for the link, but I am looking for the alleged OFFICIAL bumper sticker, that hopefully xcheopis can get the straight dope on.
And, Anthracite, um… of course it wasn’t hard… yeah… that’s it! BTW, I’m running off to class right now where I shall tell my intro Geology students about “Anthracite” (and other organic sed rocks). Whadda coincidence!
Thanks for your efforts, xcheopis; I eagerly await the results of your inquiry!
I am a bit shocked. I’d resisted posting this thread until I thought that I had exhausted Google, yet was convinced that I somehow didn’t Google “correctly” and that a quick link was on it’s way. I’m starting to think that the titular bumper sticker may be more a part of campus lore than not…
Apparently the bumper stickers are no longer available from the ACS. The professor had been trying to obtain a small supply to hand out to students who completed the course and has found no information at all.
Actually, I found that it was more time-consuming than anything. All the formulas and assumptions and whatnot you needed were there somewhere, it was just a matter of manipulating things right. I want one of these bumper stickers!
OK, my comment was pretty unclear. Let me clarify it to say that it was intended to just rib the OP, not to deride them or mock them. PChem was actually quite difficult for me as well, and I had to work very, very hard for a “B”.
Your comment, however, was quite clear, and needs no further explaining.
That’s the watered down version for the poetically inclined
Seriously, there’s a much greater emphasis on colligative properties, transport phenomena, and large molecules in a biophysical chem course than in straight p-chem. The equations get just as nasty.
