Chemistry by OpenStax

Book Preface

About OpenStax

OpenStax is a nonprofit based at Rice University, and it’s our mission to improve student access to education. Our first openly licensed college textbook was published in 2012, and our library has since scaled to over 25 books for college and AP® courses used by hundreds of thousands of students. Our adaptive learning technology, designed to improve learning outcomes through personalized educational paths, is being piloted in college courses throughout the country. Through our partnerships with philanthropic foundations and our alliance with other educational resource organizations, OpenStax is breaking down the most common barriers to learning and empowering students and instructors to succeed.

About OpenStax Resources Customization

Chemistry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY) license, which means that you can distribute, remix, and build upon the content, as long as you provide attribution to OpenStax and its content contributors.

Because our books are openly licensed, you are free to use the entire book or pick and choose the sections that are most relevant to the needs of your course. Feel free to remix the content by assigning your students certain chapters and sections in your syllabus, in the order that you prefer. You can even provide a direct link in your syllabus to the sections in the web view of your book.

Instructors also have the option of creating a customized version of their OpenStax book through the aerSelect  platform. The custom version can be made available to students in low-cost print or digital form through their campus  bookstore. Visit your book page on openstax.org for a link to your book on aerSelect.

Errata
All OpenStax textbooks undergo a rigorous review process. However, like any professional-grade textbook, errors sometimes occur. Since our books are web based, we can make updates periodically when deemed pedagogically necessary. If you have a correction to suggest, submit it through the link on your book page on openstax.org. Subject matter experts review all errata suggestions. OpenStax is committed to remaining transparent about all updates, so you will also find a list of past errata changes on your book page on openstax.org.

Format
You can access this textbook for free in web view or PDF through openstax.org, and in low-cost print and iBooks editions.

About Chemistry

Chemistry is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the two-semester general chemistry course. The textbook provides an important opportunity for students to learn the core concepts of chemistry and understand how those concepts apply to their lives and the world around them. The book also includes a number of innovative features, including interactive exercises and real-world applications, designed to enhance student learning.

Coverage and Scope

Our Chemistry textbook adheres to the scope and sequence of most general chemistry courses nationwide. We strive to make chemistry, as a discipline, interesting and accessible to students. With this objective in mind, the content of this textbook has been developed and arranged to provide a logical progression from fundamental to more advanced concepts of chemical science. Topics are introduced within the context of familiar experiences whenever possible, treated with an appropriate rigor to satisfy the intellect of the learner, and reinforced in subsequent discussions of related content. The organization and pedagogical features were developed and vetted with feedback from chemistry educators dedicated to the project.

Chapter 1: Essential Ideas
Chapter 2: Atoms, Molecules, and Ions
Chapter 3: Composition of Substances and Solutions
Chapter 4: Stoichiometry of Chemical Reactions
Chapter 5: Thermochemistry
Chapter 6: Electronic Structures and Periodic Properties of Elements
Chapter 7: Chemical Bonding and Molecular Geometry
Chapter 8: Advanced Theories of Covalent Bonding
Chapter 9: Gases
Chapter 10: Liquids and Solids
Chapter 11: Solutions and Colloids
Chapter 12: Kinetics
Chapter 13: Fundamental Equilibrium Concepts
Chapter 14: Acid-Base Equilibria
Chapter 15: Equilibria of Other Reaction Classes
Chapter 16: Thermodynamics
Chapter 17: Electrochemistry
Chapter 18: Representative Metals, Metalloids, and Nonmetals
Chapter 19: Transition Metals and Coordination Chemistry
Chapter 20: Organic Chemistry
Chapter 21: Nuclear Chemistry

Pedagogical Foundation and Features
Throughout Chemistry, you will find features that draw the students into scientific inquiry by taking selected topics a step further. Students and educators alike will appreciate discussions in these feature boxes.
Chemistry in Everyday Life ties chemistry concepts to everyday issues and real-world applications of science that students encounter in their lives. Topics include cell phones, solar thermal energy power plants, plastics recycling, and measuring blood pressure.

How Sciences Interconnect feature boxes discuss chemistry in context of its interconnectedness with other scientific disciplines. Topics include neurotransmitters, greenhouse gases and climate change, and proteins and enzymes.

Portrait of a Chemist presents a short bio and an introduction to the work of prominent figures from history and present day so that students can see the “face” of contributors in this field as well as science in action.
Comprehensive Art Program
Our art program is designed to enhance students’ understanding of concepts through clear, effective illustrations