Chemistry Workbook For Dummies [Paperback]

Peter J. Mikulecky PhD (Author), Katherine Brutlag (Author), Michelle Rose Gilman (Author), Brian Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 11, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0470251522 | ISBN-13: 978-0470251522 | Edition: 1

From liquids and solids to acids and bases - work chemistry equations and use formulas with ease

Got a grasp on the chemistry terms and concepts you need to know, but get lost halfway through a problem or, worse yet, not know where to begin? Have no fear - this hands-on guide helps you solve many types of chemistry problems in a focused, step-by-step manner. With problem-solving shortcuts and lots of practice exercises, you'll build your chemistry skills and improve your performance both in and out of the science lab. You'll see how to work with numbers, atoms, and elements; make and remake compounds; understand changes in terms of energy; make sense of organic chemistry; and more!

100s of Problems!

• Know where to begin and how to solve the most common chemistry problems
• Step-by-step answer sets clearly identify where you went wrong (or right) with a problem
• Understand the key exceptions to chemistry rules
• Use chemistry in practical applications with confidence

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

From liquids and solids to acids and bases — work chemistry equations and use formulas with ease

Got a grasp on the chemistry terms and concepts you need to know, but get lost halfway through a problem or, worse yet, not know where to begin? Have no fear — this hands-on guide helps you solve many types of chemistry problems in a focused, step-by-step manner. With problem-solving shortcuts and lots of practice exercises, you'll build your chemistry skills and improve your performance both in and out of the science lab. You'll see how to work with numbers, atoms, and elements; make and remake compounds; understand changes in terms of energy; make sense of organic chemistry; and more!

100s of Problems!

• Know where to begin and how to solve the most common chemistry problems

• Step-by-step answer sets clearly identify where you went wrong (or right) with a problem

• Understand the key exceptions to chemistry rules

• Use chemistry in practical applications with confidence

About the Author

Peter Mikulecky grew up in Milwaukee, an area of Wisconsin unique for its high humanto-cow ratio. After a breezy four-year tour in the Army, Peter earned a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire and a PhD in biological chemistry from Indiana University. With science seething in his DNA, he sought to infect others with a sense of molecular wonderment. Having taught, tutored, and mentored in classroom and laboratory environments, Peter was happy to find a home at Fusion Learning Center and Fusion Academy. There, he enjoys convincing students that biology and chemistry are, in fact, fascinating journeys, not entirely designed to inflict pain on hapless teenagers. His military training occasionally aids him in this effort.

Katherine (Kate) Brutlag has been a full-fledged science dork since she picked up her first book on dinosaurs as a child. A native of Minnesota, Kate enjoys typical regional activities such as snow sports and cheese eating. Kate left Minnesota as a teen to study at Middlebury College in Vermont and graduated with a double major in physics and Japanese. Seeking to unite these two highly unrelated passions, she spent a year in Kyoto, Japan, on a Fulbright scholarship researching Japanese constellation lore. Kate was quickly drawn back to the pure sciences, however, and she discovered her love for education through her work at Fusion Academy, where she currently teaches upper-level sciences and Japanese.

Michelle Rose Gilman is most proud to be known as Noah’s mom. A graduate of the University of South Florida, Michelle found her niche early, and at 19, she was working with emotionally disturbed and learning-disabled students in hospital settings. At 21, she made the trek to California, where she found her passion for helping teenagers become more successful in school and life. What started as a small tutoring business in the garage of her California home quickly expanded and grew to the point where traffic control was necessary on her residential street.
Today, Michelle is the founder and CEO of Fusion Learning Center and Fusion Academy, a private school and tutoring/test prep facility in Solana Beach, California, serving more than 2,000 students per year. She is the author of ACT For Dummies, Pre-Calculus For Dummies, AP Biology For Dummies, AP Chemistry For Dummies, GRE For Dummies, and other books on self-esteem, writing, and motivational topics. Michelle has overseen dozens of programs over the last 20 years, focusing on helping kids become healthy adults. She currently specializes in motivating the unmotivated adolescent, comforting their shell-shocked parents, and assisting her staff of 35 teachers.
Michelle lives by the following motto: There are people content with longing; I am not one of them.

Brian Peterson remembers a love for science going back to his own AP Biology class. At the University of San Diego, Brian majored in biology and minored in chemistry, with a pre-med emphasis. Before embarking to medical school, Brian took a young adult–professional detour and found himself at Fusion Learning Center and Fusion Academy, where he quickly discovered a love of teaching. Years later, he finds himself the science department head at Fusion and oversees a staff of 11 science teachers. Brian, also known as “Beeps” by his favorite students, encourages the love of science in his students by offering unique and innovative science curricula.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Wiley Publishing; 1 edition (August 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470251522
• ISBN-13: 978-0470251522
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Chemistry > General & Reference

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Workbook Even if You are Not a Dummy, September 23, 2008

By 

Terrance R. Banach "Terry the book addict" (Sherman CT USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chemistry Workbook For Dummies (Paperback)

The best way to learn a subject, especially a subject with the reputation of difficulty that chemistry has, is to be engaged while learning. The quartet of authors (Mikulecky, Brutlag, Gilman, and Peterson)of this workbook have organized the material to keep the student actively involved while studying rather than reading a myriad of chemistry facts. I found this a super stand alone book for tutoring students having difficulties with chemistry.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Error... Error.... Error, February 25, 2010

By 

Thomas L. Engel - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chemistry Workbook For Dummies (Paperback)

This Could be a good book IF the editor (or author) had taken a few minutes to proof read it for errors. There are content errors in the text (e.g "celsius temperature equals a Kelvin temperature plus 273 degrees" NOT... Kelvin equals Celsius plus 273. And the book is riddles with errors like this. A signficant number the the ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS are wrong... just flat out wrong. It looks to me like there is a lot of transpostion of information... c for K, etc.

Maybe that was the author's intent. Make so many errors that, as we are working through the book we have to double and triple check against other sources because we don't trust the answers in the book... either that or the author really is a Dummie.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, except for the typos and errors, January 9, 2010

By 

Kris Schroeder (Melbourne, Victoria, AU) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chemistry Workbook For Dummies (Paperback)

This book is great and fun, but there seem to be A LOT of mistakes when it comes to the Questions and Answers in each chapter.

In Chapter Three alone there are four glaring errors which make you first question your own sanity (ie. "I'm CERTAIN 2000 degrees Celsius equals 2273 Kelvin!") and then question what you're being taught in the book (ie. "2000 degrees Celsius IS 2273 Kelvin! Why are they telling me it's 1727K?!?!").

It makes me wonder what the proofreader was drinking when going through the text...