John T. Moore - Chemistry Essentials For Dummies

Chemistry Essentials For Dummies

by John T. Moore, EdD

Chemistry Essentials For Dummies

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2010925163

ISBN: 978-0-470-61836-3

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Author

John T. Moore grew up in the foothills of Western North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina-Asheville where he received his bachelors degree in chemistry. He earned his Masters degree in chemistry from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. After a stint in the United States Army, he decided to try his hand at teaching. In 1971, he joined the chemistry faculty of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas where he still teaches chemistry. In 1985, he started back to school part time and in 1991 received his Doctorate in Education from Texas A&M University.

Johns area of specialty is chemical education, especially at the pre-high school level. For the last several years, he has been the co-editor (along with one of his former students) of the Chemistry for Kids feature of The Journal of Chemical Education. He has authored Chemistry For Dummies and Chemistry Made Simple, and hes co-authored 5 Steps To A Five: AP Chemistry, Chemistry for the Utterly Confused, and Biochemistry For Dummies.

John lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife Robin and their two dogs. He enjoys brewing his own beer and mead and creating custom knife handles from exotic woods. And he loves to cook. His two boys, Jason and Matt, remain in the mountains of North Carolina along with his twin grandbabies, Sadie and Zane.

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Introduction

C ongratulations on making a step toward discovering more about what I consider a fascinating subject: chemistry. For more than 40 years, Ive been a student of chemistry. This includes the time Ive been teaching chemistry, but I still consider myself a student because Im constantly finding out new facts and concepts about this important and far-reaching subject.

Hardly any human endeavor doesnt involve chemistry in some fashion. People use chemical products in their homes cleaners, medicines, cosmetics, and so on. And they use chemistry in school, from the little girl mixing vinegar and baking soda in her volcano to the Ivy League grad student working on chemical research.

Chemistry has brought people new products and processes. Many times this has been for the good of humankind, but sometimes its been for the detriment. Even in those cases, people used chemistry to correct the situations. Chemistry is, as has been said many times, the central science.

About This Book

My goal with this book is to give you the really essential information and concepts that you would face in a first semester chemistry class in high school or college. Ive omitted a lot of topics found in a typical chemistry textbook. This book is designed to give you the bare essentials.