CliffsNotes
Chemistry
Quick Review
2nd Edition
By Harold D. Nathan, Ph.D. and Charles Henrickson, Ph.D.
Revised by Robyn L. Ford, M.Ed.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Boston New York
About the Authors
Charles Henrickson received the PhD in chemistry from the University of Iowa with additional work at the University of Illinois and the University of California, Berkeley. He currently is Professor of Chemistry at Western Kentucky University.
Robyn L. Ford is a classroom teacher having taught all levels of chemistry and physics. She currently teaches a dual enrollment course in AP Chemistry and adjuncts at a local university. She is working toward her Ph.D. in Chemistry Education.
Publishers Acknowledgments
Editorial
Acquisitions Editor: Greg Tubach
Project Editor: Kelly D. Henthorne
Technical Editors: Dr. Lester L. Pesterfield, Ph.D., and Dr. Darwin Dahl, Ph.D.
Composition
Indexer: BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services
Proofreader: Henry Lazarek
Wiley Publishing, Inc. Composition Services
Copyright 2013 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2011927302
ISBN 978-0-470-90543-2 (pbk)
eISBN 978-0-544-18078-9
Introduction
You can learn chemistry! Its not impossible if you start right at the beginninglearning about the elements, the building blocks of nature. Thats how you do it in this book. You start with the elements and learn that every element exists as atoms. Learning what these atoms look like and how they join together to form molecules and compounds is the next step, and along the way, you will gain an understanding of the way nature works. From that point, it is a matter of looking at different kinds of compounds and elements and learning how their properties make each of them unique. Youll start with the elements and end by seeing how batteries work, with a bunch of interesting stuff in between.
Although it is useful if you have some general science and math in your background, it isnt mandatory. And even if you choose to overlook most of the calculations in the book, you can still learn a great deal of chemistry. Dont try to go too fast. Take your time; you will learn chemistry!
Why Do You Need This Book?
Can you answer yes to any of these questions?
- Do you need to review the fundamentals of chemistry fast?
- Do you need a course supplement to chemistry?
- Do you need a concise, comprehensive reference for chemistry?
If so, CliffsNotes Chemistry Quick Review is for you!
How to Use This Book
You are the boss here. You get to decide how to use this book. You can either read the book from cover to cover or just look for the information you want and put the book back on the shelf for later. However, here are a few recommended ways to search for topics.
- Look for areas of interest in the books table of contents or use the index to find specific topics.
- Flip through the book, looking for subject areas at the top of each page.
- Get a glimpse of what youll gain from a chapter by reading through the Chapter Check-In at the beginning of each chapter.
- Use the Chapter Check-Out at the end of each chapter to gauge your grasp of the important information you need to know.
- Challenge yourself with the Problems sprinkled throughout the chapters. The answer explanations can be found in the appendix at the back of the book.
- Test your knowledge more completely in the Review Questions and look for additional sources of information in the Resource Center.
- Use the glossary to find key terms fast. This book defines new terms and concepts where they first appear in the chapter. If a word is boldfaced, you can find a more complete definition in the books glossary.
- Or flip through the book until you find what youre looking forwe organized this book to gradually build on key concepts.
Hundreds of Practice Questions Online!
Go to www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/chemistry-quizzes for hundreds of additional chemistry practice questions to help prepare you for your next quiz or test. The questions are organized by this books chapter sections, so its easy to use the book and then quiz yourself online to make sure you know the subject. Go to CliffsNotes.com to test yourself anytime and find other free homework help.
Chapter 1
ELEMENTS
Chapter Check-In
- Discovering the building blocks of all substances
- Understanding the arrangement of the periodic table
- Learning about atomic number and atomic weight
With all the different substances that exist, you may be surprised to learn that they are formed from a relatively small number of elements. For example, carbon is one of 112 known elements. Yet carbon can combine with other elements (like hydrogen and oxygen) to form thousands of substances (like sugar, alcohol, and plastics). Although some elements have been known from the earliest times, most were discovered during the last 300 years.