Learning from Patrick

Use anything from this site in real life at your own risk.

List of topics that could be taught better or more thoroughly explained:

Limiting Reactant Problems

Cooling Tower Calculations - humidity calculations, mass balance, energy balance, and number of transfer units (NTU) for a cooling tower with inlet and outlet dry and wet bulb air temperatures, inlet and outlet water temperatures, and a pressure differential between the inlet and outlet air. Lab equipment this was developed for was an Armfield cooling tower (example manual).

Ideal Gas Scenario Calculations - covers reversible isothermal, adiabatic, isochoric, and isobaric processes for the ideal gas.

Mixed Second Order Kinetics - covers the derivation of the integrated rate law for the second order 'A + B -> products' reaction.

Advanced pH Calculations - how to easily correct acid/base ionization equilibrium calculations for low concentration weak acids with very small acid ionization constants; corrections include 1) including the auto-ionization of water in the RICE table and equilibrium constant expression and 2) charge balance in the equilibrium solution.


Patrick's history that led him to creating this website:

Patrick got his first D the first 6 weeks of Texas History in 7th grade.

Patrick then failed a 9th grade Biology quiz and therefore didn't get to dissect a frog.

Patrick wasn't doing so hot in English either, but the acquisition of eyeglasses unremarkably helped him get it together.

Patrick was sick one day in high school, missing the day in Physics where they switched from 1-D Newtonian mechanics to 3-D. Patrick was mostly lost the rest of the semester.

Patrick also got a C in Pre-Calculus. Patrick took the class again his senior year and got the A. If it weren't for Dr. Carl Seaquist, Patrick would have never learned how to learn.

Patrick hated high school Chemistry. Patrick liked Biology the most so he took Biology II instead of Physics II or Chemistry II his senior year of high school. Patrick loved the instructor so much he decided to be a Biology major in college. There was no end goal; just study Biology.

Patrick took freshman Biology and Chemistry at Lyon College. Girls were more interesting than Chemistry. He got a B in Chemistry II, somehow.

Patrick decided he hated Chemistry so much he would opt for a Bachelor of Arts in Biology instead of a Bachelor of Science in Biology, which would allow him to skip taking Organic Chemistry.

Then, about 2 minutes before registering for the next year's classes, a friend of Patrick's told him he was being lame and that he should take Organic Chemistry.

Patrick agreed and took Organic Chemistry.

Good thing too, since Patrick got a D on his first Cell Biology exam and an A on his first Organic Chemistry exam. Patrick ultimately got a B in Cell Biology, but the conversion to the Chemistry he thought he hated was already set.

Patrick graduates with Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Lyon College. Patrick has no idea what to do with this degree.

Patrick goes to graduate school back in his hometown where his fiance' is trying to get into medical school.

After experimenting with experimental Physical Chemistry and Bio-Inorganic Chemistry, Patrick settles on computational Physical Chemistry. Hence why Patrick even has a website; he ended up spending A LOT of time in front of a computer.

Patrick obtains a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Texas Tech University.

Patrick's wife had since finished medical school and was in pediatric residency, so Patrick was hired as a part-time instructor of freshman-level Chemistry at Texas Tech; a position he held for 5 years.

During that time, Patrick learned a lot about the Chemistry he hated in high school and his freshman year of college.

Patrick also decided that some things could be taught better or more thoroughly explained. Here they are!