Customer Reviews

Chemistry: The Molecular Science, Volume I, Chapters 1-12 (with CengageNOW 2-Semester Printed Access Card)

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I have taught college and high school students using this book. I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it does introduce some topics with very good detail. For instance, you can get a good procedure for working out Lewis Structures which is lacking in many other text books. However, I found some of the explanations to be convoluted. I also found the strategy for solving some problems convoluted. For instance, the use of reduction potentials in electrochemistry to test whether two reactions would be spontaneous is too convoluted. It is easier to immediately reverse the sign of the potential for the oxidation and add the two potentials; if positive, you know it is spontaneous. I find explanations for many topics to be convoluted and too literary. There are easier ways to say and explain many topics. Some of the exercises do not apply the theory adequately. You can buy SAT chemistry and AP chemistry books and try to solve the problems and you will find that you can't solve many problems fast enough with the strategies offered in this book. You have no time. The strategy is too complicated. I studied Chemistry in 1968 at NYU and find this book a better reference since it has more detail than what I used. I also studied another book in the 1980s to teach my brother College Chemistry (Brown Lemay) and the explanations were clearer with better English expressions. There are some explanations missing from this book, like why do we need hybridization? There is no room to list all instances that need improvement. So the best advice is to use this book and buy a few others and do lots of exercises. Unfortunately textbooks today cost too much.

The product was shipped really fast, and was received really soon after I ordered it. The book was in really good condition, just as they said it would be. I would definitely order from this person again!