How to Take Chemistry Notes You'll Actually Use
Most notes are written once and never opened again. A simple system for turning lessons into notes that make revision faster.
Copying the board word for word is the slowest way to learn. Good notes are shorter than the lesson, written in your own words, and built to be tested on later.
Split every page in two
Keep a narrow column on the left for questions and a wide column on the right for answers. After each lesson, write a question for every key idea. When you revise, cover the right side and answer from memory.
Draw more, write less
- Sketch apparatus instead of describing it.
- Turn trends — like ionisation energy across a period — into small graphs.
- Use one colour for observations and another for explanations.
If you can explain a diagram out loud without looking at your notes, you understand it. If you can't, that's exactly what to revise next.
