Laboratory Manual For General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry 2nd Edition

Book Preface

In the process of writing the lab manual for General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry, I have developed experiments that illustrate each of the chemical principles we discuss in our chemistry classes. I have also taken care to make each experiment workable as well as provide critical-thinking tools. The main organizational concepts of this laboratory manual are as follows:
● Experiments relate to basic concepts of chemistry. Experiments are designed to illustrate the chemical principles we discuss in our classes.
● Experiments are flexible. Each experiment includes a flexible group of sections that can be taught in any order, which allows instructors to select sections that fit into their weekly laboratory schedule. Lab times and comments are given for each.
● Safety. A detailed safety section in this preface includes a safety quiz. The aim here is to highlight the safety and equipment preparation on the first day of lab. In addition, each lab section contains instructions on safe behavior in the laboratory specific to that section. Students are reminded to wear goggles for every lab session. Some experiments are recommended as instructor demonstrations.
● Experiment format provides clear instructions and evaluation. Each lab section begins with a set of laboratory goals, a discussion of the chemical concepts, and examples of calculations. The report sheets begin with pre-lab questions to prepare students for laboratory work. Students obtain data, draw graphs, make calculations, and write conclusions about their results. Each lab contains questions and problems that require the student to discuss the experiment, make additional calculations, and use critical thinking to apply concepts to real life.
I hope that this laboratory manual will help you in your chemistry instruction and that students will find they learn more chemistry by participating in the laboratory experience.
Karen C. Timberlake
Los Angeles Valley College
Valley Glen, CA 91401

● Each experiment now begins with the Laboratory Goals and Lab Information.
● The Chemical Concepts (formerly called ‘Discussion’) now include a complete discussion of the chemistry topics relevant to the experiment.
● Art has been added to the Chemical Concepts, including figures from the text that give visual
representations of the concepts.
● The diagrams of Laboratory Equipment in the Preface were updated and new illustrations were added.
● Section titled Using a Pipet was added to the Preface.
● Layout of the Experimental Procedures section was revised. Changes include:
● An overview statement with each procedure to indicate what students will be doing.
● Procedures rewritten for clarity and consolidated for better flow of laboratory work.
● Removal of the boxed-type framework and procedures keyed to the Report Sheet.
● All experiments were revised for this edition to create a more efficient lab experience for students.
● A Correlation Guide that matches each experiment lab to the corresponding chapters in all Timberlake texts is placed on the Instructor Resource Center at www.pearsonhighered.com/chemistry.
● The Appendices, which include materials needed for each lab for 20 students, have been moved to the Instructor Resource Center at www.pearsonhighered.com/chemistry.
● Inclusion of both new and rewritten Pre-lab questions for clarity and stronger assessment of concept comprehension.
● Increased font size for the Pre-lab questions and Report Sheets to improve legibility.

Here you are in a chemistry laboratory with your laboratory book in front of you. Perhaps you have already been assigned a laboratory drawer, full of glassware and equipment you may never have seen before. Looking around the laboratory, you see bottles of chemical compounds, balances, burners, and other equipment that you are going to use. This may very well be your first experience with experimental procedures. At this point you might have some questions about what is expected of you.
This laboratory manual is written with those considerations in mind.
The activities in this manual were written specifically to parallel the topics you are learning in your chemistry class. Many of the laboratory activities include materials that will be familiar to you, such as household products, diet drinks, cabbage juice, antacids, and aspirin. In this way, chemical topics are related to the real world and to your own science experience. Some of the labs teach basic skills; others encourage you to extend your scientific curiosity beyond the lab.
It is important to realize that the value of the laboratory experience depends on you investing time and effort in it. Only then will you find that the laboratory can be a valuable learning experience and an integral part of the chemistry class. The laboratory gives you an opportunity to go beyond the lectures and words in your textbook and experience the scientific process from which conclusions and theories concerning chemical behavior are drawn. In some experiments, the concepts are correlated with health and biological concepts. Chemistry is not an inanimate science, but one that helps us to understand the behavior of living systems.
A section on laboratory safety is included in the preface and followed by a detailed Safety Quiz, which highlights safety and equipment. Each lab also includes reminders of safe behavior and the author specifically recommends certain experiments for instructor demonstrations.