E-Book Overview
Problem-solving is one of the most challenging aspects students encounter in general chemistry courses leading to frustration and failure. Consequently, many students become less motivated to take additional chemistry courses after the first year. This book deals with calculations in general chemistry and its primary goal is to prevent frustration by providing students with innovative, intuitive, and systematic strategies to problem-solving in chemistry. The material addresses this issue by providing several sample problems with carefully explained step-by-step solutions for each concept. Key concepts, basic theories, and equations are provided and worked examples are selected to reflect possible ways problems could be presented to students.
E-Book Content
Chemistry in Quantitative Language
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CHEMISTRY IN QUANTITATIVE LANGUAGE Fundamentals of General Chemistry Calculations ...................................................................
Christopher O. Oriakhi
2009
Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Copyright © 2009 by Oxford University Press Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Oriakhi, Christopher O. Chemistry in quantitative language: fundamentals of general chemistry calculations / Christopher O. Oriakhi. p.cm Includes index. ISBN 978-0-19-536799-7 1. Chemistry—Problems, exercises, etc. 2. Chemical equations. 3. Chemical reactions. 1. Title. QD42.O75 2009 540—dc22 2008040392
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Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
This book is dedicated to the loving memory of Gabriel, Clement, and Margaret.
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Preface
There is a widespread dislike or fear of chemistry among high school and college students. Unfortunately, many science, engineering, and medical programs have chemistry as a prerequisite, thereby making it unavoidable. The subject matter usually covered in general chemistry is not difficult enough to justify the number of students who continue to avoid or fail the course each year. Among the various reasons given for hating the subject, the fear of problem solving ranks the highest. For some students, this correlates with inadequate training in the fundamentals of mathematics. To successfully solve problems, one needs knowledge of the concepts or principles on which chemistry is based as well as a good preparation in basic mathematics. Furthermore, many students lack an appreciation of the excitement of chemistry and are unwilling to exercise the patience and invest the time needed to master chemical principles. Consequently, many are unable to identify the knowledge needed or to extract the relevant information needed to solve problems. They resort to memorization of definitions, equations, and formulas, which is not adequate to allow them to pass their tests with flying