Workbook in Organic Chemistry

Book Preface

Welcome to the Workbooks in Chemistry

The Workbooks in Chemistry have been designed to offer additional support to help you make  the transition from school to university-level chemistry. They will also be useful if you are studying for related degrees, such as biochemistry, food science, or pharmacy.

Introduction to the Workbooks

The Workbooks cover the three traditional areas of chemistry: inorganic, organic and physical. They are designed to complement your first year chemistry modules and to supplement,  but not replace, your course text book and lecture notes. You may want to use the Workbooks  as self-test guides as you carry out a specific topic, or you may find them useful when you  have finished a topic as you prepare for end of semester tests and exams. When preparing  for tests and exams, students often use practice questions, but model answers are not always  available. This is because there is usually more than one correct way to answer a question and  your lecturers will want to give you credit for your problem-solving approach and working, as  well as having obtained the correct answer. These Workbooks will give you guidance on good  practice and a logical approach to problem solving, with plenty of hints and tips on how to  avoid typical pitfalls.

Structure of the Workbooks

Each of the three Workbooks is divided into chapters covering the different topics that appear  in typical first year chemistry courses. As external examiners and assessors at different UK and  international universities, we realize that every chemistry programme is slightly different, so  you may find that some topics are covered in more depth than you require, or that there are  topics missing from your particular course. If this is the case, we would be interested in hearing  your views! However, we are confident that the topics covered are representative, and that most  first year students will meet them at some point.

Each chapter is divided into sections, and each section starts with a brief introduction to  the theory behind the concepts to put the subsequent problems in context. If you need to, you  should refer to your lecture notes and text books at this point to fully revise the theory.
Following the outline introduction to each topic, there are a series of worked examples, which  are typical of the problems you might be asked to solve in workshops or exams. These examples  contain fully worked solutions that are designed to give you the scaffolding upon which to base  any future answers, and sometimes provide you with hints about how to approach these types  of question and how to avoid common errors.

After the worked examples relating to a topic, you will find further questions of a similar type  for you to practise. The numerical or ‘short’ answers to these problems can be found at the end  of the book, whilst fully worked solutions are available on the Online Resource Centre. At the  end of each book is a bank of synoptic questions, also with worked solutions on the Online  Resource Centre. Synoptic questions encourage you to draw on concepts from multiple topics, helping you to use your broader chemical knowledge to solve problems.