Chemistry seems to be too difficult and challenging and many students fail the subject. Chemistry is the bane of high school life for many students. Instead of depending on your high school chemistry teacher to get you good grades in chemistry, why not go the extra mile yourself? Here are some common mistakes many high school students just like you have made and how you can avoid them.

1. Procrastination

You think why study chemistry today when the concepts they teach you are quite easy, right? Wrong. The first days of your chemistry class may seem very easy, but you must start studying from the beginning to gain a complete understanding of the subject.

With or without a quiz, study at least 10 minutes a day. This will prevent you from getting overwhelmed when your exam approaches. Each concept is linked to another and you need to build concept upon concept. Laying a bad chemistry foundation won’t help you in the long run.

2. Insufficient math practice

It’s chemistry, what do you need math for? Balance equations and perform unit conversions. Solve chemistry problems daily and show them to someone.

Always do them the way you are supposed to do them on your quizzes and exams, including units and full work. Make the known and unknown data necessary to clarify the problem.

3. Death of the text

Not taking time to read the text is a mistake that you should avoid completely. The same goes for any lab manual you need to read. A book is necessary for household chores. Read the book even if you take notes at the lectures to get a detailed understanding.

Your high school chemistry teacher may not cover everything in class sometimes. They’ll leave you some reading. Read the chapters at home and ask the teachers to explain the concepts you don’t understand.

4. Believe in yourself

Believe you can understand chemistry concepts. If you think you are capable of learning chemistry, you will be motivated to do so.

5. Copy responses

This includes not only copying from your friends, but also from the constructed answers in the back of the book and the study guides. They are there to make learning easier for you, not to cheat on homework. Do your homework yourself so you have plenty of practice for tests.

Believe you can understand chemistry concepts. If you think you are capable of learning chemistry, you will be motivated to do so.