[Eclipsonix]

I'm wondering how far along I am to understanding certain parts of chemistry. I'm curious which direction my studies should be going towards to learn things like say I was given a picture of a relatively simple molecule -->


I imagine this being kind of simple compared to most things

--> With a brief synthesis only including the chemicals used and instructions involved, (like the synthesis' Wikipedia gives for substances) but excludes the amounts used. Example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracetamol#Synthesis

How strong of an understanding in chemistry do I have to have to be able to determine the amounts per chemical used and have a overall good understanding from reading broad synthesis's like that? And to be able to pull it off myself first to second try.

I know it's organic chemistry, just wondering how far into it would I have to go.  Thanks!       the more information the better

[Eclipsonix]

At the moment this is what I've covered in my studies (I fully understand the following):

states of matter
Soids, liquids, evaporation, gases, plasmas, BE condensate
solutions and mixtures
alloys
amalgams, emulsions, atoms, ions, electrovalence
compound basics, elements, periodic table, inert gases
equilibrium basics, catalysts, inhibitors
metabolism, carbohydrates, acids and protines
20 amino acids, enzymes, units basics, constants basics

Basically every single thing from http://chem4kids.com I've studied and "Aced" through lol =]

[408]

Stoichiometry will tell you how much you need in an ideal situation.  But to get experience with exactly which to use in excess, when to use a double equivalent, etc, it is best to be actively carrying out chemical work.

[Eclipsonix]

Ahhh you nailed it for me, thank you so much! I'm already studying it lol

I got another question, say I wanted to "synthesize" something, and I have the ruff directions Wikipedia delivers, but I want to change the way completely / even chemicals used I imagine. I'm basically asking what do I have to learn to understand how to make easy things in the lab by just looking at the molecule then determining everything from there?