“How to Succeed in Chemical Engineering” Series

Why Students Fail to Solve Problems

q Failure to work on a problem in a systematic rather than a scatter-brained way (start too soon; skip essential steps)

q Failure to read/understand the problem thoroughly

q Failure to draw a diagram and enter all data thereon and the symbols for the unknowns

q Failure to ascertain the unknown

q Fixing on the first, a poor, or an incorrect strategy of solution without considering alternative strategies

q Selection of the wrong principle or equation to use (total moles instead of total mass, ideal gas instead of real gas) and solution of the wrong problem

q Working with false information

q Picking the wrong entry from a database, chart, or table (wrong sign, wrong units, decimal misplaced, etc.)

q Entering incorrect inputs/parameters into calculations (transpose numbers, wrong units, etc.)

q Failure to include units in each step of the calculations

q Sloppy execution of calculations introduce errors (add instead of subtract, invert coefficients, etc.)

q Difficulty in distinguishing new features in a problem that superficially looks familiar

q Incorrect algebraic manipulations

q Use of unsatisfactory computer code for the problem (too much error, premature term in ad on

q Inability to locate needed data or coefficients by not reading the problem thoroughly or looking in the wrong database

q Inability to estimate what the answer should be to use in comparison with the calculated answer

q Inadequate (your database) (you have forgotten, or never learned, some essential laws, equations, values of coefficients, conversion factors, etc.)

q Employment of only forward reasoning rather than both forward and backward reasoning

q Emotional stress (fear of making a mistake, looking foolish or stupid)

q Lack of motivation

q Inability to relax