Product Description: The image on the front cover depicts a carbon nanotube emerging from a glowing plasma of hydrogen and carbon, as it forms around particles of a metal catalyst. Carbon nanotubes are a recently discovered allotrope of carbon. Three other allotropes of carbon-buckyballs, graphite, and diamond-are illustrated at the left, as is the molecule methane, CH4, from which nanotubes and buckyballs can be made. The element carbon forms an amazing number of compounds with structures that follow from simple methane, found in natural gas, to the complex macromolecules that serve as the basis of life on our planet. The study of chemistry also follows from the simple to the more complex, and the strength of this text is that it enables students with varied backgrounds to proceed together to significant levels of achievement.
excellent text This textbook is an excellent way to learn chemistry. It provides very nice graphics to explain the text. This text makes learning chemistry very enjoyable and interesting. Senese and Brady did a wonderful job with this book. I highly recommend it.
this text does stand out from the pack... ...in a number of ways. The chapter on stoichiometry is the first one I flip to when I'm evaluating a new text. This book does a better job of providing a conceptual foundation for the mole concept than any other book I've seen. It shows the rationale behind the concept by working a few simple problems with and without moles. The problem setups emphasize strategic thinking by asking students to identify the 'critical link' that connects given information with the problem's goal. The "Is the answer reasonable" checks given with each problem are more detailed and more helpful than in other texts; they help students develop a sense for what is and isn't reasonable in the answer, using alternative back-of-the-envelope solutions that often provide additional insight into the nature of the problem.
The chapter on atomic structure is the only one I've seen that uses the central idea of quantum mechanics (wave-particle duality) as its central theme. It elegantly uses the de Broglie relation to tie wave and particle behaviors together, in the process naturally explaining where quantum numbers come from and why changes in electron confinement in a reaction can lead to color changes.
The thermodynamics chapter is also quite innovative, discarding the idea of entropy as a measure of disorder and instead stressing its connection with the number of ways a state can be realized. A simple model of heat flow from a hot object to a cold object makes the connection between probability and process spontaneity clear.
The approach for explaining and predicting molecular shapes is much better than that used in other texts, where students end up memorizing a large table of molecular shapes. This text starts by showing how electron domains arrange themselves the central atom, and then visualizes how the molecular geometry changes as bonding domains are replaced with nonbonding domains, one at a time. Students see the underlying idea without getting lost in a mass of detail and special cases.
I also like the "Thinking it through" problems at the end of each chapter, that emphasize critical and strategic thinking rather than simply getting a numerical answer. Ebbing and Chang don't have this feature. The "Test of facts and concepts" are cumulative tests that students can use to synthesize material from several chapters; I haven't seen another text with this feature, either.
a chemistry book for all science purposes THIS BOOK IS A GREAT GUIDE FOR ANY STUDENT WHO WANTS TO LEARN CHEMISTRY AND ALSO A GREAT GUIDE FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO PREPARE3 THEM SELVES FOR WHAT'S AHEAD AT UNIVERSITY.
Best in itself I have read older editon of this textbook. Older 3rd edition (1988). But it still stands tall among couple of other chemistry books on my shelf. No other book can match the style and elegance of Brady's book IMHO.
There are a lot of books out there maybe more detailed. But Brady's is the one that explain why certain concept is important, how they were discovered and by whom they were developed. Instead of starting explaining each key concenpts in Chemistry, Brady's always start with how previous researchers reached the theory at that time period. And how we can relate them in terms of our current understanding of this wonderful of chemistry.
If Brady didn't lose any his touch, I am 100 % sure and can gaurantee this newer edition will follow its earlier edition's tradition. Even if your course doesn't require this book as a text, go grap one. If you can't afford newer one, go buy old edition. They are still a classic and in fact I am still using 1988 edition.
Very conceptual, not very mathematical When I used this textbook, I was looking for a mathemtical/engineering approach to chemistry. This textbook, however, explains concepts with examples but little or no scientific proofs. I found myself filling in proofs from other courses like thermodynamics and science of materials. Overall, a very thorough book, but heavy on the memorization, and light on math and graphs.
Anything Goes Trivia
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