Preface
My goal in writing the second edition of this book has been the same as it was for the first edition: to present only the material that is essential for a one-year general chemistry course. I have included all the core topics that are necessary for a solid foundation in general chemistry without sacrificing depth, clarity, or comprehension.
    Essential Chemistry covers these core topics in the same depth and at the same level as 1200-page texts. Therefore, this book is not a condensed version of a big text. Rather, I have written it so that an instructor can cover 95 percent of the content, instead of the two-thirds or three-quarters that in my experience is typical for the big books. My hope is that this concise-but-thorough approach will appeal to efficiency-minded instructors and will please value-conscious students.

WHAT'S OUT, WHAT'S IN

Planning for this text involved a certain amount of selectivity. Each time I started a chapter, I asked myself, "What is essential for students to know about this area of chemistry?" and of course, "What is not?" In deciding what to include and what to omit, I relied on my experience as a classroom teacher, on my knowledge of how instructors have used the six editions of my full-length chemistry textbook, and on extensive interaction with fellow chemistry instructors. With this awareness, I chose the following:

What's Out

o Discrete chapters on descriptive chemistry. Most instructors do not find the time to implement an extensive survey of the chemistry of the periodic groups. Therefore, with the exception of Chapter 18, "The Chemistry of Coordination Compounds," there are no chapters focusing on descriptive chemistry. However, descriptive chemistry is integrated throughout the text to show how chemical principles are applied to the real world.

o Molecular Orbital Theory. It is my observation that many instructors choose not to include molecular orbital theory in the general chemistry course. For this reason, I have omitted coverage of this topic.

o Diversions. Secondary readings and boxed features spotlighting current events or everyday phenomena, common in almost all full-length books, can be interesting and fun to read, but they are often skipped over by instructors and ignored by time-strapped students. So, in the interest of sticking to the essentials, I have for the most part left out tangential readings. However, because I believe that a foothold in the history and application of the science falls under the "essential" category, I open each chapter with a short historical vignette or contemporary story that orients students to the content of the chapter.

What's In

Scanning the table of contents will verify my previous statement that this text covers all the core topics. Included is a complete chapter introducing organic chemistry (Chapter 13), as well as a chapter (Chapter 22) at the end covering organic polymers.
    The organization of this text is fairly conventional and flexible. Chapters 1 to 12 follow a familiar sequence for easy coordination with lab work. Organic chemistry is placed in Chapter 13, allowing the use of organic compounds in examples and problems in subsequent chapters. This chapter can be covered later in the course without a break in continuity. Organic polymers are now covered in the final chapter, for instructors who choose to cover this topic.
    As I mentioned earlier, there are no discrete chapters on descriptive chemistry. Instead I have integrated this topic in many parts of the text, especially in Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 8, as well as in many of the worked-out examples and end-of-chapter problems.
    Each chapter opens with a short vignette, as I described. By emphasizing chemistry as a human endeavor, the fruits of which are all around us, these introductions provide a real context for chemistry, and I hope they will stimulate the reader's interest.

WHAT'S NEW (AND IMPROVED)

The response to this text's first edition leads me to believe that I am on the right track in offering a briefer book that benefits from the heritage of my big book. However, writing a text is an interactive process between author and user, and from this interaction a number of ideas for additions and improvement have arisen, leading to the following new items for the second edition:

o Essential Concepts. This distinctive rundown of key concepts now begins every chapter. More than just an outline, it is designed to introduce students to what they will need to master and to provide a gauge of their knowledge as they review the content of the chapter.

o Essential Animations (with icons). Included with this edition is a set of top-quality animations that demonstrate the core concepts of general chemistry. Icons in the margins identify correlated animations so that students can readily turn to an animation online to view a concept in motion. Instructors can use the animations as an easy-to-use tool to help students understand the most abstract and important processes in chemistry.

o Essential Notes. To help students sharpen crucial problem-solving skills, I have added these new notes in the margins alongside selected worked-out examples. These notes appear at the exact part of the problem to which they apply.

o Online Learning Center. This comprehensive, exclusive web site provides a wealth of electronic resources for instructors and students alike. For students, it offers ChemQuest, Visual Chemistry, additional quizzes, and links to chemical databases, listings of professional opportunities, and banks of equations. Instructors will have password-protected access to the answers to ChemQuest and Visual Chemistry, as well as additional quiz questions to assign.

o End-of-Chapter Problems. I have added more than 200 new problems to this edition, mostly in the "Additional Problems" section at the end of each chapter. In this edition, I have also included a new category, "Special Problems," which draws on the student's ability to apply comprehensive knowledge of the chapter's content.

o New Topic Coverage. Based on comments from users of the book, I have added or expanded on my coverage of selected topics. Specifically, Chapter 11 now includes treatment of the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, and Chapter 14 covers second-order kinetics. Both of these topics were absent from the first edition. New chapter-opening essays have been added to Chapters 13 and 22, and molecular model drawings now accompany worked examples on chemical bonding in Chapter 9.

THE PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGY

To a great extent, a student's understanding of chemistry depends on his or her ability to solve and analyze problems. I have structured this book with the idea of weaving the techniques of problem-solving throughout the content, so that the student is systematically guided and challenged to view chemistry as a series of solvable problems. The strategy employs a number of specific items within the chapters:

o Examples with Solutions and Practice Exercises. The text provides 163 example problems with full solutions, showing students how to approach a given type of problem. Their placement demonstrates problem-solving strategies in context.
Some examples in this edition also offer "Essential Notes" in the margin, providing helpful pointers or additional
information to further assist students. Each worked example is followed by a related practice exercise that lets students try their hand at the problem type just discussed. Students can turn to the end of the chapter to view solutions to these practice problems to complete their introduction to the methodology for solving a given type of problem.

o End-of-Chapter Problems. The text provides three types of end-of-chapter problems, which appear in the following order:     1. Review Questions/Problems. The questions explore the "why" of chemistry and check students' understanding of the conceptual side of it. Organized by chapter subject headings, review questions are followed by quantitative problems.
    2. Additional Problems. These exercises further test students with more challenging problems that may involve two or more concepts. They give students experience in identifying concepts and techniques needed to solve real problems.
Answers to the even-numbered problems appear at the end of the text.
    3. Special Problems. These serve as challenges to summarize the chapter's content, testing students' comprehension of multiple concepts and themes.

In summary, I have attempted to provide a clear pathway by which students learn to be problem-solving strategists and in
this way become active thinkers about chemistry and physical science in general.

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