Like its predecessors, the fourth edition of General Chemistry: The Essential Concepts, presents only the material that is essential for a one-year general chemistry course. The core topics are treated in a concise manner without sacrificing depth, clarity, or rigor. This text provides a solid foundation in general chemistry both in principle and applications. Its shorter length will appeal to efficiency-minded instructors and will please value-conscious students. Comments from users show that there is a strong need for a shorter text like this one.
New and Improved Changes for the Fourth Edition
The main goal of this edition is to further improve areas that will facilitate the instructor and aid students in important areas such as organization, art program, pedagogy, readability, and media. Summarized here are the highlights of this edition.
Organization
Expanded discussion on types of reactions appears in Chapter 4.
A clearer explanation of atmospheric pressure is given (Section 5.2).
In Chapter 6, the units for enthalpy change for chemical reactions (H) are now given in kJ/mol. The same per mole unit is used for changes in entropy (S) and Gibbs free energy (G) in Chapter 18. As a result, the units are consistent in important thermodynamic equations such as Equation (18.14).
The radial probability plots are used to explain the shielding effect in Chapter 7.
The influence of temperature on a reacting system at equilibrium is clarified in Chapter 15.
A section on molecular structure and acid strength is added in Chapter 16.
Substantially revised the discussion of entropy and Gibbs free energy in Chapter 18.
A section on coordination compounds in living systems is added in Chapter 20.
Art
A completely new design can be seen throughout the fourth edition. As always, I strive for a clean but visual design. Many of the line art drawings have a new look while still maintaining accurate chemical information.
Molecular art, created by the Spartan drawing program, is effective in emphasizing molecular geometry. Because I have also used electrostatic potential maps extensively to show charge distribution in molecules, a brief explanation of the meaning of these maps is in order. Imagine the situation in which a positive charge is brought toward a molecule. The interaction between this positive charge and some point in the molecule will be attractive if the point bears a negative charge. Conversely, the interaction will be repulsive if the point bears a positive charge. In this way, we can calculate such interactions over the entire molecule and present the results as a “map” according to the colors of the rainbow (red through blue tracks regions of greater negative charge to greater positive charge). The electrostatic potential map for a given molecule can be used to represent the charge distribution within the molecule, as illustrated in Figure 9.3. These maps help students better understand polarity of molecules, intermolecular forces, acid and base properties, and reaction mechanism.
I have also added new molecular art to line drawings and to a number of end-of-chapter problems. In addition, we have updated the photo program to complement the visual layout of the design. There are new photo and art combinations focusing on macroscopic to microscopic chemical processes.
Pedagogy
The development of problem-solving skills has always been a major objective of this text. Almost all of the Worked Examples in the fourth edition have been substantially revised. I have added a strategy step after stating the problem, followed by a step-by-step solution process, and then a check requesting the student to look at the answer to see if it makes sense. Additionally, marginal references enable students to apply new skills to other, similar problems at the end of the chapter. Each Worked Example is followed by a Practice Exercise, which asks the students to solve a similar problem on their own. The answers to the Practice Exercises are provided after the end-of-chapter problems in each chapter. Anumber of new end-of-chapter problems and Special Problems have been added.
As an instructor, I often tell my students that a good learning tool is to sketch out the inner workings of a problem. In some of the Worked Examples, I have included this type of drawing (i.e., see Example 6.1 on p. 175). It is what a scientist would do as he or she works out a problem (sometimes called back-of-the-envelope calculations).
The Essential Concepts on the chapter opening page are listed to focus student attention on the concepts within the chapter. The Interactive Activity Summary enables the student and instructor to see at a glance the media that can be incorporated into the learning process.
Inside the front cover of this text you will see a periodic table. I have added the names of the elements under the symbols to this table. This format makes it convenient to have the relevant information all at the same location.
Index to Important Figures and Tables
The back inside cover shows a list of important figures and tables with page references. This index makes it convenient to quickly look up information when a student is solving problems or studying related subjects in different chapters.
Media
Within the text, an icon shows the student where the concept of the animation or interactive is introduced. The icon also tells exactly where the student can find them for viewing. For the instructor, there are directions for finding the animation or interactive in the instructor materials.Animations
With the creation of eleven new animations, we have a library of animations created to specifically support General Chemistry. The animations visually bring to life the areas in chemistry that are difficult to understand by reading alone. All of the animations are marked by the Interactive Activity iconSimulations
New simulations enable the student to manipulate several variables. The student can “see” how changes affect the topic being studied. The seven topics include stoichiometry, gas laws, kinetics, equilibrium, acid/base, nuclear reactions and radioactivity, and electrochemical cells.Interactives
The interactives are simple and fun learning tools that encompass a broad range of topics. All of the interactives are marked by the Interactive Activity icon.Online Learning Center
The student will find the animation center and interactive center in the improved Online Learning Center for General Chemistry. Also located on the Online Learning Center are self-assessment quizzes, current news articles in chemistry and supporting sciences, as well as a library of links to help with difficult concepts or to do research for chemistry.
To obtain an instructor login for this Online Learning Center, ask your local sales representative.
If you're an instructor thinking about adopting this textbook, request a free copy for review.
2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education