Chemistry is a dynamic and rapidly changing field. It is an extraordinarily interesting subject to study and a challenging one to teach. The diversity of knowledge of the beginning student presents a unique challenge to the student and to the teacher. This text is written primarily for use in courses designed to prepare students who wish to pursue a science major requiring a comprehensive course in general chemistry. These students, in most cases, have never taken a course in chemistry or have had limited instruction in the basic math that is required to solve chemistry problems, so a chemistry course can be very threatening to them.
To address this issue, this text has two major goals:
1. To provide a clear, consistent methodology that a student can follow to develop conceptual and quantitative problem-solving skills.
2. To engage the student by relying heavily on analogies that relate chemistry to daily life.
Develop Problem-Solving Skills
Students have numerous demands on their time, so helping them organize their thoughts and identifying the key concepts is important. This book has several ways to accomplish this task.
Chapter outline and learning objectives At the beginning of every chapter, the outline of the entire chapter is listed. The learning objectives are presented to alert the students to the key concepts covered in the chapter. These objectives are also a valuable study tool for the students when they are reviewing.
Review Clues At the beginning of each chapter, there is a list of Review Clues. These clues provide the students the opportunity to go back to previous sections in the book or to Appendix 1 and review or relearn material pertinent to the present chapter.
Summarizing what they have learned Summarizing the chemistry within a chapter can appear daunting. The book guides the student through the summary of the material, ensuring that the student again identifies the key concepts.
Many problems are worded so as to show the students that very different questions may sound similar and that the same question may be presented in very different words. This will encourage students to understand concepts rather than memorize solutions.
All examples have the solutions following the stated problem. The solutions range from a simple statement (Example 1.4 on page 7) to a short explanation (Example 3.3 on page 80) to a step-by-step solution (Example 7.13 on page 194). New to this edition are side-by-side examples with the general method for the technique presented on the left with a specific example of the method on the right (Example 6.6 on page 165).
After most examples, a practice problem is presented for the students to practice the problem-solving method. The students will then use these methods to solve the end-of-chapter problems.
Stop and Review (new to this edition) A Stop and Review subsection concludes each section of the book, giving a sentence or two to emphasize a significant point and then a few problems for student self-testing. The answers to the Stop and Review problems are presented before the end-of-chapter problems.
Self-Tutorial This end-of-chapter section presents problems in simple form designed as teaching devices. Many are from everyday life, and they emphasize the importance of identifying the information needed to answer questions. By considering different terms that look or sound alike in a single problem, the students can more easily distinguish and learn both. (see Problems 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, and 5.6 on page 154).
Engaging Student Interest
Frequent use of analogies to daily life helps students understand that chemistry problems are not significantly different from everyday problems. For example, calculations involving dozens of pairs of socks and moles of diatomic molecules can be carried out by the same methods (Problems 7.9 and 7.10 on page 200). Oxidizing and reducing agents can be compared conceptually to dish towels and wet dishes (Example 16.13 on page 428). Specific heat calculations are like those involving room rates at a hotel (Example 14.5 on page 380).
Students are engaged in the study of a topic by use of a real-world problem. The students easily understand by frequently using analogies to apply the scientific concept to a normal daily event. In working with conceptual problems, the use of chemistry in the real world is brought alive to the student. (See Problem 7.123 on page 205.)
Periodically throughout the book the students will find Items of Interest within the textual material. These items demonstrate the use of chemistry in the present and future. An example is the industrial Solvay process in Chapter 8 on page 222.
Today’s students are much more visually oriented than any previous generation and many are visual learners. We have attempted to develop this style of learning through the expanded use of color and illustrations. Each chapter is amply illustrated with accurate, colorful diagrams that clarify difficult concepts and enhance learning.
Content Changes in the
Third Edition
Chapter One_New coverage of physical properties; new coverage on the scientific method including a step-by-step example using the law of definite proportion; clarified coverage on the ratio of atoms in chemical formulas.
Chapter Three_New coverage on atomic masses; new Enrichment box on visible light.
Chapter Four_New coverage on atomic line spectra; expanded coverage of the Bohr model.
Chapter Five_Expanded coverage on ionic compound formulas.
Chapter Eight_New coverage on bonding in compounds predicting double-substitution reactions; expanded coverage on combustion reactions; expanded coverage on acid-base reactions.
Chapter Ten_New method for limiting quantity problems; detailed coverage using step-by-step process for calculating quantity of product produced and quantity of excess reactant in one calculation.
Chapter Eleven_Expanded coverage on titration.
Chapter Twelve_New Item of Interest box on Neil Bartlett; separate coverage on molar masses and molecular formulas; new section on volume ratio in chemical reactions.
Chapter Thirteen_New art and summary on molecular geometries.
Chapter Sixteen_New coverage of electrochemistry.
Chapter Seventeen_Expanded coverage on equilibrium.
Chapter Eighteen_New material on conjugate acids and bases; expanded coverage on acid strength.
Acknowledgments
The preparation of a textbook is a family effort, and the quality of the final product is a reflection of the dedication of all the family members. First, I would like to thank my own family, without whose patience and support this project would not have been possible. Second, I would like to thank the scores of my fellow chemists and my students who have taught me much in the past and continue to do so. Learning is a never-ending process, and I continue to learn from my colleagues and students. I would also like to thank the members of my extended family at McGraw-Hill, without whom there would not have been a text: my developmental editor, Shirley Oberbroeckling, and my sponsoring editor, Kent Peterson. I gratefully acknowledge the invaluable help of the following dedicated reviewers, who provided expert suggestions and the needed encouragement to improve the text:
Melissa Armstrong
Gaston College
Thomas Bolden
Alcorn State University
Kate Deline
College of San Mateo
Patricia Draves
University of Central Arkansas
Evelyn Erenrich
Rutgers University
Nancy Gardner
California State University-Long Beach
Fathi Halaweish
South Dakota State University
Nicole Heldt
State University of New York-Canton
Leslie Hersh
Delta College
Lesie Kinsland
University of Southwestern Louisiana
John Langston
Yuba College
William Lumbley
Indiana University
William A. Meena
Rock Valley College
Nancy Mullins
Florida Community College
Sherrol Nicklas
Lorain County Community College
Patricia Rogers
University of California-Irvine
Ed Stisko
University of Nebraska-Omaha
Since this edition benefits from the improvements in the previous edition, I also gratefully acknowledge the invaluable help of the reviewers of the previous edition:
Caroline Ayers
East Carolina University
A. Kurtz Carpenter
Lower Columbia College
Pamela Coffin
University of Michigan-Flint
Donald Gauntlett
Lehigh County Community College
Stan Grenda
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Susan A. Herking
Vincennes University-Jasper Center
Narayan S. Hosmane
Southern Methodist University
T. G. Jackson
University of South Alabama
Leslie Kinsland
University of Southwestern Louisiana
Howard Lessoff
Montgomery College
Lyle L. Lowry
Brevard Community College
Richard Moreau
Alpena Community College
Steven Murov
Modesto Junior College
Dennis Pederson
California State University-San Bernardino
Scott M. Savage
North Arizona University
Ruth Sherman
Los Angeles City College
Phil Silberman
Scottsdale Community College
Vijju Sinha
Spartanburg High School
Trudie Jo Slaper Wagner
Vincennes University
Vickie M. Williamson
Illinois State University
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