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General Chemistry: The Essential Concepts

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The fifth edition of General Chemistry continues the tradition of presenting only the material that is essential for a one-year general chemistry course. It strikes a balance between theory and application by incorporating real-world examples; helping students visualize the three-dimensional atomic and molecular structures that are the basis of chemical activity; and developing problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Although the fifth edition incorporates many new features, such as macro to micro artwork, six new animations correlated to the text, and the addition of new hand-sketched worked examples, General Chemistry is still 200 to 300 pages shorter and much less expensive than other two-semester textbooks. Dr. Chang’s concise-but-thorough approach will appeal to efficiency-minded instructors and value-conscious students.

832 pages, Hardcover

First published October 18, 2001

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About the author

Raymond Chang

214 books21 followers
Raymond Chang was an emeritus professor at Williams College in the Department of Chemistry and a textbook author. His most popular textbook was titled Chemistry, which was published up to the thirteenth edition. He also published a few children's books.
He was a naturalized American citizen who came from Hong Kong to America to start graduate studies at Yale University. There he received both his master's and PhD degrees. His family was originally from Shanghai, but Chang was born in Hong Kong as a result of his family's deportation in 1937. They left to escape the Japanese invasion of China. However, in 1941, Chang and his family returned to Shanghai for eight years before they again re-returned to Hong Kong. As a result of his forced movement through different regions of China Chang became fluent in many Chinese dialects. At the age of seventeen, Chang followed his sister to London. He received his B.Sc. with a first-class honors degree in chemistry from the University of London and Ph. D. from Yale University. He completed his postdoctoral research at Washington University in St. Louis and served as a professor at Hunter College of the City University of New York, prior to joining the faculty at Williams College in 1968.
On August 3, 1968, he married Margaret A. Scrogin. They had one daughter, Elizabeth Chang.

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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Profile Image for Andara Claresta Rabbani.
31 reviews
October 17, 2024
Previously I didn't really like reading chemistry books. However, this book not only made me like reading but also made me like chemistry. The chemistry concepts that usually make me nauseous are presented so deliciously here.

I easily understand each material because the materials here are presented in quite detail and conceptually. The practice questions provided are also very helpful and fun to complete. I am very grateful to everyone involved in this book, especially to Mr. Raymond Chang.

This book really reduces my allergy to chemistry.
46 reviews
May 7, 2021
I quite enjoyed this book. I used it as a reference when I was tutoring General Chemistry 2 and found it thorough, well-organized and interesting. I read it with my Kindle app for the most part and the ability to bookmark and highlight and copy snippets was very helpful.
Currently reading
August 21, 2013
I'll give a review later

from preface
"What's new in this edition?
Kenneth Goldsby, Florida State University, has joined Raymond Chang as an author on the seventh edition of General Chemistry. Ken's background in inorganic chemistry has added insight into content and problems, and his extensive work with undergraduate students, both in the classroom and in the laboratory, reinforces Raymond's long tradition of understanding and respecting the student's view of the material as well as that of the instructor's.

Many new End-of-Chapter Problems have been added to this edition of General Chemistry, with an emphasis on interpreting graphs and solving problems based on visual information. End-of-chapter problems are organized in various ways. Each section under a topic heading begins with Review Questions followed by Problems. The Additional Problems section provides more problems not organized by section.

Many of the examples and end-of-chapter problems present extra tidbits of knowledge and enable the student to solve a chemical problem that a chemist would solve. In particular, numerous problems are based on descriptive and applied chemistry that would be found in boxed essays and later chapters of a longer text; see Problems 1.72, 4.115, 6.108, 8.108, 11.73, 13.105, 19.127. These examples and problems show students the real world of chemistry and applications of everyday life situations.

New is the creation and versatility of our Connect Chemistry system. McGraw-Hill has initiated a rigorous process to ensure high quality electronic homework. Through careful observation of real students and active instructors, we have advanced online homework to an online learning and engagement environment. The goal of Connect is to usher in a new era of meaningful online learning that balances the conceptual and quantitative problem solving aspect of this most vital disciplin.

McGraw-Hill is offering students and instructors an enhanced digital homework experience using Connect Chemistry. Each problem within Connect Chemistry carries the text problem-solving methodology and is tailored with specific hints, as well as answer-specific feedback for common incorrect answer. Each question has been accuracy checked by two or more chemistry professors. Several rounds of editorial and chemical accuracy checking, in addition to numerous instructor and student tests of all problems, ensure the accuracy of all content.
In addion to the specific hints and feedback provided for all questions, many questions allow students a chemical drawing experience that can be assessed directly within their online homework. Connect Chemistry utilizes ChemDraw, which is widely considered the ''gold standard'' of scientific drawing programs and the cornerstone application for scientists who draw and annotate molecules, reactions, and pathways. This collaboration of Connect and ChemDraw features an easy-to use, intuitive, and comprehensive course management and homework system with professional-grade drawing capabilities.

New Review of Concepts have been added to many chapters. Review of Concepts are quick conceptual exercises spread throughout the chapters to enable the student to gauge his or her understanding of the concept just presented. The answers to the Review of Concepts are availible in the Problem-Solving Workbook and on the companion website in Connect.

The entire text has been revised to improve clarity and readability, hallmark characteristics of General Chemistry. New and substantial revisions to chapters and sections include:
chapter 3 - summary of solving stoichiometry problems based on the mole method.
chapter 4 - new Example 4.4 on writing molecular, ionic, and net-ionic equations addressing common misconceptions for diprotic and triprotic acids.
chapter 9 - Example 9.11 provides insigth into drawing Lewis structures for all compounds containing elements in the third period and beyond, and addresses the controversies in drawing these structures.
chapter 19 - discussion of the increasingly important lithium-ion battery has been updated, including a new figure highlighting the role of graphene in these systems.
chapter 21 - up-to-date information on the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima, Japan, and its implications for the nuclear power industry."Kenneth Goldsby
15 reviews2 followers
May 7, 2009
begginings are usually essentials
Profile Image for Alex.
116 reviews14 followers
April 20, 2014
too complicated! I've never had chemistry in my life, so I come to college, and they give me this. waaay to much blah blah blah, hard to get the point..
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