Chemistry 12th Edition

Book Preface

The twelfth edition continues the tradition by providing a firm foundation in chemical concepts and principles and to instill in students an appreciation of the vital part chemistry plays in our daily life. It is the responsibility of the textbook authors to assist both instructors and their students in their pursuit of this objective by presenting a broad range of topics in a logical manner. We try to strike a balance between theory and application and to illustrate basic principles with everyday examples whenever possible.

As in previous editions, our goal is to create a text that is clear in explaining abstract concepts, concise so that it does not overburden students with unnecessary extraneous information, yet comprehensive enough so that it prepares students to move on to the next level of learning. The encouraging feedback we have received from instructors and students has convinced us that this approach is effective.

The art program has been extensively revised in this edition. Many of the laboratory apparatuses and scientific instruments were redrawn to enhance the realism of the components. Several of the drawings were updated to reflect advances in the science and applications described in the text; see, for example, the lithium-ion battery depicted in Figure 18.10. Molecular structures were created using ChemDraw, the gold standard in chemical drawing software. Not only do these structures introduce students to the convention used to represent chemical structures in three dimensions that they will see in further coursework, they also provide better continuity with the ChemDraw application they will use in Connect, the online homework and practice system for our text.

In addition to revising the art program, over 100 new photographs are added in this edition. These photos provide a striking look at processes that can be understood by studying the underlying chemistry (see, for example, Figure 19.15, which shows the latest attempt of using lasers to induce nuclear fusion).

Problem Solving

The development of problem-solving skills has always been a major objective of this text. The two major categories of learning are shown next. Worked examples follow a proven step-by-step strategy and solution.
• Problem statement is the reporting of the facts needed to solve the problem based on the question posed.
• Strategy is a carefully thought-out plan or method to serve as an important function of learning.
• Solution is the process of solving a problem given in a stepwise manner.
• Check enables the student to compare and verify with the source information to make sure the answer is reasonable.
• Practice Exercise provides the opportunity to solve a similar problem in order to become proficient in this problem type. The Practice Exercises are available in the Connect electronic homework system. The margin note lists additional similar problems to
work in the end-of-chapter problem section. End-of-Chapter Problems are organized in various ways. Each section under a topic heading begins with Review Questions followed by Problems. The Additional Problems section provides more problems not organized by section, followed by the new problem type of Interpreting, Modeling & Estimating.

Many of the examples and end-of-chapter problems present extra tidbits of knowledge and enable the student to solve a chemical problem that a chemist would solve. The examples and problems show students the real world of chemistry and applications to everyday life situations.

Visualization

Graphs and Flow Charts are important in science. In Chemistry, flow charts show the thought process of a concept and graphs present data to comprehend the concept.

A significant number of Problems and Review of Concepts, including many new to this edition, include graphical data.

Molecular art appears in various formats to serve different needs. Molecular models help to visualize the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in a molecule. Electrostatic potential maps illustrate the electron density distribution in molecules. Finally, there is the macroscopic to microscopic art helping students understand processes at the molecular level. Photos are used to help students become familiar with chemicals and understand how chemical reactions appear in reality.

Figures of apparatus enable the student to visualize the practical arrangement in a chemistry laboratory.