Chemistry: The Science in Context (Fifth Edition)

Book Preface

We wrote this book with three overarching goals in mind: to make chemistry interesting, relevant, and memorable; to enable you to see the world from a molecular point of view; and to help you become an expert problem-solver. You have a number of resources available to assist you to succeed in your general chemistry course. This textbook will be a valuable resource, and we have written it with you, and the different ways you may use the book, in mind.

If you are someone who reads a chapter from the first page to the last, you wil see that Chemistry: The Science in Context, Fifth Edition, introduces the chemical principles within a chapter by using contexts drawn from daily life as well as from other disciplines, including biology, environmental science, materials science, astronomy, geology, and medicine. We believe that these contexts make chemistry more interesting, relevant, understandable, and memorable. Chemists’ unique perspective of natural processes and insights into the properties of substances, from high-performance alloys to the products of biotechnology, are based on understanding these processes and substances at the particulate level (the atomic and molecular level). A major goal of this book is to help you develop this microscale perspective and link it to macroscopic properties. With that in mind, we begin each chapter with a Particulate Review and Particulate Preview on the first page. The goal of these tools is to prepare you for the material in the chapter. The Review assesses important prior knowledge you need to interpret particulate images in the chapter. The Particulate Preview asks you to speculate about new concepts you will see in the chapter and is meant to focus your reading.

If you want a quick summary of what is most important in a chapter to direct your studying on selected topics, check the Learning Outcomes at the beginning of each chapter. Whether you are reading the chapter from first page to last, moving from topic to topic in an order you select, or reviewing material for an exam, the Learning Outcomes can help you focus on the key information you need to know and the skills you should acquire. In every section, you will find key terms in boldface in the text and in a running
glossary in the margin. We have inserted the definitions throughout the text, so you can continue reading without interruption but quickly find key terms when doing homework or reviewing for a test. All key terms are also defined in the Glossary in the back of the book.

Approximately once per section, you will find a Concept Test. These short, conceptual questions provide a self-check opportunity by asking you to stop and answer a question relating to what you just read. We designed them to help you see for yourself whether you have grasped a key concept and can apply it. You will find answers to Concept Tests in the back of the book.