Chemistry Workbook For Dummies with Online Practice

Chris Hren, Peter J. Mikulecky

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781119357469
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Chemistry
• Index: Chemistry

Take the confusion out of chemistry with hundreds of practice problems

Chemistry Workbook For Dummies is your ultimate companion for introductory chemistry at the high school or college level. Packed with hundreds of practice problems, this workbook gives you the practice you need to internalize the essential concepts that form the foundations of chemistry. From matter and molecules to moles and measurements, these problems cover the full spectrum of topics you'll see in class—and each section includes key concept review and full explanations for every problem to quickly get you on the right track. This new third edition includes access to an online test bank, where you'll find bonus chapter quizzes to help you test your understanding and pinpoint areas in need of review. Whether you're preparing for an exam or seeking a start-to-finish study aid, this workbook is your ticket to acing basic chemistry.

Chemistry problems can look intimidating; it's a whole new language, with different rules, new symbols, and complex concepts. The good news is that practice makes perfect, and this book provides plenty of it—with easy-to-understand coaching every step of the way.

• Delve deep into the parts of the periodic table
• Get comfortable with units, scientific notation, and chemical equations
• Work with states, phases, energy, and charges
• Master nomenclature, acids, bases, titrations, redox reactions, and more

Understanding introductory chemistry is critical for your success in all science classes to follow; keeping up with the material now makes life much easier down the education road. Chemistry Workbook For Dummies gives you the practice you need to succeed!

Part 1

Getting Cozy with Numbers, Atoms, and Elements

IN THIS PART …

Discover how to deal with, organize, and use all the numbers that play a huge role in chemistry. In particular, find out about exponential and scientific notation as well as precision and accuracy.

Convert many types of units that exist across the scientific world. From millimeters to kilometers and back again, you find conversions here.

Determine the arrangement and structure of subatomic particles in atoms. Protons, neutrons, and electrons play a central role in everything chemistry, and you find their most basic properties in this part.

Get the scoop on the arrangement of the periodic table and the properties it conveys for each group of elements.

Chapter 1

Noting Numbers Scientifically

IN THIS CHAPTER

Crunching numbers in scientific and exponential notation

Telling the difference between accuracy and precision

Doing math with significant figures

Like any other kind of scientist, a chemist tests hypotheses by doing experiments. Better tests require more reliable measurements, and better measurements are those that have more accuracy and precision. This explains why chemists get so giggly and twitchy about high-tech instruments: Those instruments take better measurements!

How do chemists report their precious measurements? What’s the difference between accuracy and precision? And how do chemists do math with measurements? These questions may not keep you awake at night, but knowing the answers to them will keep you from making rookie mistakes in chemistry.

Using Exponential and Scientific Notation to Report Measurements

Because chemistry concerns itself with ridiculously tiny things like atoms and molecules, chemists often find themselves dealing with extraordinarily small or extraordinarily large numbers. Numbers describing the distance between two atoms joined by a bond, for example, run in the ten-billionths of a meter. Numbers describing how many water molecules populate a drop of water run into the trillions of trillions.

To make working with such extreme numbers easier, chemists turn to scientific notation, which is a special kind of exponential notation. Exponential notation simply means writing a number in a way that includes exponents. In scientific notation, every number is written as the product of two numbers, a coefficient and a power of 10. In plain old exponential notation, a coefficient can be any value of a number multiplied by a power with a base of 10 (such as 10⁴). But scientists ...