Preface

Welcome to Chemistry, an OpenStax College resource. This textbook has been created with several goals in mind: accessibility, customization, and student engagement—all while encouraging students toward high levels of academic scholarship. Instructors and students alike will find that this textbook offers a strong foundation in psychology in an accessible format.

About OpenStax College

OpenStax College is a non-profit organization committed to improving student access to quality learning materials. Our free textbooks go through a rigorous editorial publishing process. Our texts are developed and peer-reviewed by educators to ensure they are readable, accurate, and meet the scope and sequence requirements of today’s college courses. Unlike traditional textbooks, OpenStax College resources live online and are owned by the community of educators using them. Through our partnerships with companies and foundations committed to reducing costs for students, OpenStax College is working to improve access to higher education for all. OpenStax College is an initiative of Rice University and is made possible through the generous support of several philanthropic foundations. Since our launch in 2012 our texts have been used by millions of learners online and over 1,100 institutions worldwide.

About OpenStax College’s Resources

OpenStax College resources provide quality academic instruction. Three key features set our materials apart from others: they can be customized by instructors for each class, they are a “living” resource that grows online through contributions from educators, and they are available free or for minimal cost.

Customization

OpenStax College learning resources are designed to be customized for each course. Our textbooks provide a solid foundation on which instructors can build, and our resources are conceived and written with flexibility in mind. Instructors can select the sections most relevant to their curricula and create a textbook that speaks directly to the needs of their classes and student body. Teachers are encouraged to expand on existing examples by adding unique context via geographically localized applications and topical connections. Chemistry can be easily customized using our online platform (http://cnx.org/content/col11760/). Simply select the content most relevant to your current semester and create a textbook that speaks directly to the needs of your class. Chemistry is organized as a collection of sections that can be rearranged, modified, and enhanced through localized examples or to incorporate a specific theme of your course. This customization feature will ensure that your textbook truly reflects the goals of your course.

Curation

To broaden access and encourage community curation, Chemistry is “open source” licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license. The academic science community is invited to submit examples, emerging research, and other feedback to enhance and strengthen the material and keep it current and relevant for today’s students. Submit your suggestions to info@openstaxcollege.org, and check in on edition status, alternate versions, errata, and news on the StaxDash at http://openstaxcollege.org.

Cost

Our textbooks are available for free online, and in low-cost print and e-book editions.

About Chemistry

Chemistry is designed for the two-semester general chemistry course. For many students, this course provides the foundation to a career in chemistry, while for others, this may be their only college-level science course. As such, this textbook provides an important opportunity for students to learn the core concepts of chemistry and understand how those concepts apply to their lives and the world around them. The text has been developed to meet the scope and sequence of most general chemistry courses. At the same time, the book includes a number of innovative features designed to enhance student learning. A strength of Chemistry is that instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom.

Coverage and Scope

Our Chemistry textbook adheres to the scope and sequence of most general chemistry courses nationwide. We strive to make chemistry, as a discipline, interesting and accessible to students. The organization and pedagogical features were developed and vetted with feedback from chemistry educators dedicated to the project.

  • Chapter 1: Essential Ideas
  • Chapter 2: Atoms, Molecules, and Ions
  • Chapter 3: Composition of Substances and Solutions
  • Chapter 4: Stoichiometry of Chemical Reactions
  • Chapter 5: Thermochemistry
  • Chapter 6: Electronic Structures and Periodic Properties of Elements
  • Chapter 7: Chemical Bonding and Molecular Geometry
  • Chapter 8: Advanced Theories of Covalent Bonding
  • Chapter 9: Gases
  • Chapter 10: Liquids and Solids
  • Chapter 11: Solutions and Colloids
  • Chapter 12: Kinetics
  • Chapter 13: Fundamental Equilibrium Concepts
  • Chapter 14: Acid–Base Equilibria
  • Chapter 15: Equilibria of Other Reaction Classes
  • Chapter 16: Thermodynamics
  • Chapter 17: Electrochemistry
  • Chapter 18: Representative Metals, Metalloids, and Nonmetals
  • Chapter 19: Transition Metals and Coordination Chemistry
  • Chapter 20: Organic Chemistry
  • Chapter 21: Nuclear Chemistry

Pedagogical Foundation

Throughout Chemistry, you will find features that draw the students into scientific inquiry by taking selected topics a step further. Our features include:

Chemistry in Everyday Life ties chemistry concepts to everyday issues and real-world applications of science that students encounter in their lives. Topics include cell phones, solar thermal energy power plants, and measuring blood pressure.

How Sciences Interconnect feature boxes discuss chemistry in context of its interconnectedness with other scientific disciplines. Topics include neurotransmitters, greenhouse gases and climate change, the thermodynamics of ATP, and proteins and enzymes.

Portrait of a Chemist features present a short bio and an introduction to the work of someone actively working in this field so that students can see the “face” of contributors in this field as well as science in action. Chemists profiled include Lee Cronin, Richard Smalley, Fritz Haber, and Deanna D’Alessandro.

Comprehensive Art Program

Our art program is designed to enhance students’ understanding of concepts through clear, effective illustrations, flowcharts, and photographs.





Interactives That Engage

Chemistry incorporates links to relevant interactive exercises and animations that help bring topics to life through our Link to Learning feature. Examples include:

  • PhET Rutherford Scattering simulation
  • IUPAC data and interactives
  • TED talks

Assessments That Reinforce Key Concepts

In-chapter Examples walk students through problems by posing a question, stepping out a solution, and then asking students to practice the skill with a “Check Your Learning” component. The book also includes assessments at the end of each chapter so students can apply what they’ve learned through practice problems.

Atom-First Alternate Sequencing

Chemistry was conceived and written to fit a particular topical sequence, but it can be used flexibly to accommodate other course structures. Some instructors prefer to organize their course in a molecule-first or atom-first organization. For professors who use this approach, our OpenStax Chemistry textbook can be sequenced to fit this pedagogy. Please consider, however, that the chapters were not written to be completely independent, and that the proposed alternate sequence should be carefully considered for student preparation and textual consistency. We recommend these shifts in the table of contents structure if you plan to create a molecule/atom-first version of this text for your students:

  • Chapter 1: Essential Ideas
  • Chapter 2: Atoms, Molecules, and Ions
  • Chapter 6: Electronic Structure and Periodic Properties of Elements
  • Chapter 7: Chemical Bonding and Molecular Geometry
  • Chapter 8: Advanced Theories of Covalent Bonding
  • Chapter 3: Composition of Substances and Solutions
  • Chapter 4: Stoichiometry of Chemical Reactions
  • Chapter 5: Thermochemistry
  • Chapter 9: Gases Chapter 10: Liquids and Solids
  • Chapter 11: Solutions and Colloids
  • Chapter 12: Kinetics
  • Chapter 13: Fundamental Equilibrium Concepts
  • Chapter 14: Acid-Base Equilibria
  • Chapter 15: Equilibria of Other Reaction Classes
  • Chapter 16: Thermodynamics
  • Chapter 17: Electrochemistry
  • Chapter 18: Representative Metals, Metalloids, and Nonmetals
  • Chapter 19: Transition Metals and Coordination Chemistry
  • Chapter 20: Organic Chemistry
  • Chapter 21: Nuclear Chemistry

Ancillaries

OpenStax projects offer an array of ancillaries for students and instructors. The following resources are available.

  • PowerPoint Slides
  • Instructor’s Solution Manual

Our resources are continually expanding, so please visit http://openstaxcollege.org to view an up-to-date list of the Learning Resources for this title and to find information on accessing these resources.

About Our Team

Content Leads

Paul Flowers, PhD, University of North Carolina – Pembroke
Dr. Paul Flowers earned a BS in Chemistry from St. Andrews Presbyterian College in 1983 and a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Tennessee in 1988. After a one-year postdoctoral appointment at Los Alamos National Laboratory, he joined the University of North Carolina–Pembroke in the fall of 1989. Dr. Flowers teaches courses in general and analytical chemistry, and conducts experimental research involving the development of new devices and methods for microscale chemical analysis.

Klaus Theopold, PhD, University of Delaware
Dr. Klaus Theopold (born in Berlin, Germany) received his Vordiplom from the Universität Hamburg in 1977. He then decided to pursue his graduate studies in the United States, where he received his PhD in inorganic chemistry from UC Berkeley in 1982. After a year of postdoctoral research at MIT, he joined the faculty at Cornell University. In 1990, he moved to the University of Delaware, where he is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and serves as an Associate Director of the University’s Center for Catalytic Science and Technology. Dr. Theopold regularly teaches graduate courses in inorganic and organometallic chemistry as well as General Chemistry.

Richard Langley, PhD, Stephen F. Austin State University
Dr. Richard Langley earned BS degrees in Chemistry and Mineralogy from Miami University of Ohio in the early 1970s and went on to receive his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Nebraska in 1977. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Arizona State University Center for Solid State Studies, Dr. Langley taught in the University of Wisconsin system and participated in research at Argonne National Laboratory. Moving to Stephen F. Austin State University in 1982, Dr. Langley today serves as Professor of Chemistry. His areas of specialization are solid state chemistry, synthetic inorganic chemistry, fluorine chemistry, and chemical education.

Senior Contributors

  • Mark Blaser, Shasta College
  • Don Carpenetti, Craven Community College
  • Simon Bott, University of Houston
  • Andrew Eklund, Alfred University
  • Don Frantz
  • Paul Hooker, Westminster College
  • George Kaminski, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
  • Jennifer Look, Mercer University
  • Carol Martinez, Central New Mexico Community College
  • Troy Milliken, Jackson State University
  • Jason Powell, Ferrum College
  • Vicki Moravec, Trine University
  • Tom Sorensen, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Reviewers

  • Lara Al-Hariri, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • Sahar Atwa, University of Louisiana at Monroe
  • Todd Austell, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  • Bobby Bailey, University of Maryland University College
  • Robert Baker, Trinity College
  • Jeffery Bartz, Kalamazoo College
  • Gregory Baxley, Cuesta College
  • Ashley Beasley, NIST
  • Patricia Bianconi, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • Daniel Branan, Colorado Community College System
  • Dorian Canelas, Duke University
  • Emmanuel Chang, York College
  • Carolyn Collins, College of Southern Nevada
  • Colleen Craig, University of Washington
  • Yasmine Daniels, Montgomery College-Germantown Campus
  • Patricia Dockham, Grand Rapids Community College
  • Emad El-Giar, University of Louisiana at Monroe
  • Erick Fuoco, Richard J. Daley College
  • Andrea Geyer, University of Saint Francis
  • Daniel Goebbert, University of Alabama
  • John Goodwin, Coastal Carolina University
  • Stephanie Gould, Austin College
  • Patrick Holt, Bellarmine University
  • Paul Hooker, Westminster College
  • George Kaminski, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
  • Kevin Kolack, Queensborough Community College
  • Amy Kovach, Roberts Wesleyan College
  • Judit Kovacs, University of Dayton
  • Krzysztof Kuczera, University of Kansas
  • Pamela Lord, University of Saint Francis
  • Oleg Maksimov, Bryant & Stratton College; Excelsior College
  • John Matson, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  • Rachel McKinley, Texas A&M University
  • Katrina Miranda, University of Arizona
  • Doug Mulford, Emory University
  • Mark Ott, Jackson College
  • Adrienne Oxley, Columbia College
  • Richard Pennington, Georgia Gwinnett College
  • Rodney Powell, Coastal Carolina Community College
  • Jeanita Pritchett, Montgomery College-Rockville Campus
  • Aheda Saber, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Raymond Sadeghi, University of Texas at San Antonio
  • Nirmala Shankar, Rutgers University
  • Jonathan Smith, Temple University
  • Allison Soult, University of Kentucky
  • Bryan Spiegelberg, Rider University
  • Ronald Sternfels, Roane State Community College
  • Cynthia Strong, Cornell College
  • Kris Varazo, Francis Marion University
  • Victor Vilchiz, Virginia State University
  • Alexander Waterson, Vanderbilt University
  • Juchao Yan, Eastern New Mexico University
  • Mustafa Yatin, Salem State University
  • Kazushige Yokoyama, State University of New York at Geneseo
  • Curtis Zaleski, Shippensburg University
  • Wei Zhang, University of Colorado, Boulder