General Chemistry

The essay series “A Chemist Looks At…” includes many contemporary topics, such as “The Discovery of New Elements” and “Lithium-Ion Batteries.” The essays on “Instrumental Methods” describe modern methods in chemistry, such as NMR and mass spectrometry. Both series of essays have accompanying end-of-chapter problems to help integrate the essays into the course.

A major feature of the text is the problem-solving program set forth in each Example Problem. The “Gaining Mastery Toolbox” lays out the critical concept involved in the problem, as well as the essential ideas required in its solution. After the problem statement, the example describes the problem strategy, followed by the solution and answer check (reminding the student of a vital step in problem-solving: reviewing the result for reasonableness). Interactive versions of examples are assignable in OWLv2.

In each chapter, “A Checklist for Review” is laid out to provide a variety of review help to students with different ways of learning. This checklist includes a summary of facts and concepts given in the chapter, a list of learning objectives and important terms, and a list of key equations described in the text.

A wide variety of end-of-chapter problem types are available to meet the demands of today’s varied students. This includes “Conceptual Problems” to help the student understand the basic concepts. In addition to a wealth of basic problem sets, there are also “Strategy Problems” to challenge students and “Capstone Problems” that combine skills from earlier chapters.

Each of the Example Problems have been formatted to provide a clearer path for student learning and the parallel OWLv2 Interactive Examples have been reimagined to better match the problem-solving approach and tools in the book.

New Capstone Problems have been added to a number of chapters.

Throughout the text, the authors adopted the terms “atomic weight”, “molecular weight”, and “formula weight” in place of corresponding terms “atomic mass”, “molecular mass”, and “formula mass”.

Throughout the text, the authors adopted IUPAC periodic table conventions.

Essays have been added, updated, and revised to reflect current understanding of a variety of relevant topics. Several “A Chemist Looks At” essays, including “Carbon Dioxide Gas and the Greenhouse Effect,” “Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR),” “Acid Rain,” “Limestone Caves,” and “Superconductivity”, were updated. New essays on “The Discovery of New Elements” and “Lithium-Ion Batteries” were added.

The discussion of electrostatic potential maps and the application of formal charge were improved.

New material was added explaining the modern view of bonding in central atoms having more than eight valence electrons.