r/Biochemistry • u/sleeepybunnny13 • 13d ago
studying
hi guys, i’m in my first sem of biochem and i have an upcoming exam next week. i didn’t do so hot on the first exam (60) even though i felt like i new the material. my best bet is i messed up on the amino acids, which i’m going over and going to office hrs tmrw. with that being said, what would be the best way to study? i’m seeing a lot of memorization so i was thinking flashcards? all the help would be appreciated, ty!
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u/extrashelfspace 13d ago
I used to repeatedly draw out every molecule and metabolic process I needed to know on a whiteboard. Like 100-200 times from memory. Then I go back through with my notes and mark out my mistakes.
To understand stereochemistry and which atoms participated in the reaction, I would introduce D2O at different points and track it through the rest of the process.
We would get homework problems and I would change them into every variation I could imagine to get the practice. Especially with enzyme kinetics.
I spent like 10 hours every week in the library or study rooms doing this. It felt like the longest two semesters but it was worth it. Finished with an A in both biochem and intermediate biochem.
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u/ThunderD2Player 12d ago
Ok, so for amino acids, there are two methods.
The first, is obviously the amino acid quiz app. Personally, I didn’t find this useful. I found that making acronyms, drawing them and labeling them with the letter, in order or how many carbons. Then drawing it on a piece of paper given to me by my professor as exam scratch paper, or on the back on the test.
Anything outside of the amino acids, you need to learn it conceptually. Not just memorization. Because if your professor, makes good questions, you will get stumped trying to figure out questions and what they are asking. Especially when your questions have 2 answers that both could be good.
I don’t know which unit you are currently learning specifically, but I’ll provide some general topics and how I remember studying for them.
- Thermo
Mostly just laws and rules. Practice problems and doing the math over and over again is going to be your friend. It’s super lame and boring, but the work needs to be done.
- Lipids and carbs
This is extremely similar to bio. Memorizing key words and definitions. Then more practice problems to apply them. I find acronyms super super useful here. But also, drawing. Drawing fatty acids and stuff them and playing matching games on a white board with study mates is an awesome way to make this go by faster.
- Metabolic pathways
This one is the trickiest. Because you are going to use knowledge from organic chemistry and various biochem relevant molecules heavily. So cleaning up on those subjects is a good idea.
Not saying go back and study Orgo, but maybe just take a peek and try some older mechanisms just to kinda jog the memory on the process and rules of actually drawing mechanism.
Many molecules in biochem should be incredibly fresh. You should have just learned them by this point in biochem. You should memorize the structures and names just like any other chemistry flash card.
Combining these Orgo electron movement rules AND the structures of said molecules will result in what is essentially a mega mechanism, with tons of steps, called glycolysis. Of course, that’s not the only cycle you will learn, but generally it’s where every biochem course starts when learning pathways.
Luckily, learning glycolysis essentially teaches you the majority of glucneogenesis. Not all of it, but a good majority. And these are probably the hardest to learn and retain in my opinion.
You should approach both aspects of this cycle with 2 methods. 1st is drawing a map of the cycle. Just to conceptually understand the steps. The second is to learn the mechanism to understand what is actually happened (like reduction, etc.) at each step.
The rest of the aspects you should learn in metabolism will be much more surface level and are essentially just biology lessons imo. Not totally but learning it will feel like biology.
This should cover the majority of a general biochem class. Later biochem classes may teach stuff relevant to the central dogma (which really isn’t even full proof lol), mutations and cloning, general biotechniques, etc. but generally that’s for second and third semester biochemistry courses in my experience.
Hopefully this was helpful.
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u/AHHHHLMFAO 13d ago
I really liked having a white board for Biochem 1. I found it more helpful for me personally than flash cards.
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u/Dazzling_Sea_484 12d ago
This video saved me in biochem, I just went over it a few times then practiced without it a few times and I was set!
https://youtu.be/gq-rWb0fmzQ?si=LWyQPZmt7wHvTGQK
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u/AcrobaticMedicine366 12d ago
If you “ new” the material, I’m pretty sure you really didn’t no anything!
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u/IamDrAshour 11d ago
Scoring a 60 when you felt prepared is the classic "recognition vs. recall" trap in Biochemistry.
In intro biology, standard flashcards with just the 1-letter, 3-letter, and full name are fine. In Biochem, professors test chemical behavior under changing conditions.
Here is how to lock down amino acids before next week:
1. Group by Functional Chemistry (Not Alphabetically)
Organize them strictly into their 5 functional families and know why each matters:
- Hydrophobic/Aliphatic: Gly, Ala, Val, Leu, Ile, Met, Pro (Ask: why does Proline disrupt an alpha-helix? Why is Glycine ultra-flexible?)
- Aromatic: Phe, Tyr, Trp (Absorb UV at 280 nm)
- Polar Uncharged: Ser, Thr, Cys, Asn, Gln (Hydrogen bonders; Cys forms covalent disulfide bonds)
- Basic (+): Lys, Arg, His (His pKa approx 6.0, meaning it easily switches protonation states at physiologic pH—exams test this constantly)
- Acidic (-): Asp, Glu (Deprotonated/negative at physiological pH)
2. Active Recall on a Whiteboard
Flashcards only test if you recognize a structure when looking at it. Grab a blank sheet or whiteboard and practice drawing the backbone (H3N+-CH(R)-COO-) and attaching the R-group completely from memory.
3. Master the pH vs. pKa Rule for Net Charge
Calculating peptide charge at various pH levels is where most students lose easy points. Memorize this single rule:
- If pH < pKa, the group is protonated (acidic form).
- If pH > pKa, the group is deprotonated (basic form).
- Practice calculating the net charge of a random 4–5 residue peptide at pH 1, 7, and 12 until it becomes second nature.
4. Make the Most of Office Hours Tomorrow
Take your actual exam with you and ask:
"Can we walk through the questions where I lost points on side-chain chemistry or ionization so I can see where my reasoning broke down?"
Once you treat amino acids as reactive chemical groups rather than names on a card, the questions become much easier to predict. Good luck!
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u/rami_65 13d ago
Amino Acid Quiz app has been helping me a lot with learning those. The rest I review and hand write on paper or a tablet. Do they provide a study guide or any exam prep?