Chemistry: The Central Science, Ninth Edition (Hardcover)

by Theodore L. Brown (Author), Jr. H. Eugene LeMay (Author), Bruce Edward Bursten (Author), Julia R. Burdge (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The acknowledged leader and standard in general chemistry, this book maintains its effective and proven features—clarity of writing, scientific integrity, currency, strong exercises, visual emphasis and consistency in presentation. It offers readers an integrated educational solution to the challenges of the learning with an expanded media program that works in concert with the book, helping them to approach problem solving, visualization, and applications with greater success. Chapter topics cover: Matter and Measurement; Atoms, Molecules, and Ions; Stoichiometry: Calculations with Chemical Formulas and Equations; Aqueous Reactions and Solution Stoichiometry; Thermochemistry; Electronic Structure of Atoms; Periodic Properties of the Elements; Basic Concepts of Chemical Bonding; Molecular Geometry and Bonding Theories; Gases; Intermolecular Forces, Liquids, and Solids; Modern Materials; Properties of Solutions; Chemical Kinetics; Chemical Equilibrium; Acid-Base Equilibria; Additional Aspects of Equilibria; Chemistry of the Environment; Chemical Thermodynamics; Electrochemistry; Nuclear Chemistry; Chemistry of the Nonmetals; Metals and Metallurgy; Chemistry of Coordination Compounds; and The Chemistry of Life: Organic and Biological Chemistry. For individuals interested in the study of general chemistry.

From the Back Cover
The acknowledged leader and standard in general chemistry, this book maintains its effective and proven features—clarity of writing, scientific integrity, currency, strong exercises, visual emphasis and consistency in presentation. It offers readers an integrated educational solution to the challenges of the learning with an expanded media program that works in concert with the book, helping them to approach problem solving, visualization, and applications with greater success. Chapter topics cover: Matter and Measurement; Atoms, Molecules, and Ions; Stoichiometry: Calculations with Chemical Formulas and Equations; Aqueous Reactions and Solution Stoichiometry; Thermochemistry; Electronic Structure of Atoms; Periodic Properties of the Elements; Basic Concepts of Chemical Bonding; Molecular Geometry and Bonding Theories; Gases; Intermolecular Forces, Liquids, and Solids; Modern Materials; Properties of Solutions; Chemical Kinetics; Chemical Equilibrium; Acid-Base Equilibria; Additional Aspects of Equilibria; Chemistry of the Environment; Chemical Thermodynamics; Electrochemistry; Nuclear Chemistry; Chemistry of the Nonmetals; Metals and Metallurgy; Chemistry of Coordination Compounds; and The Chemistry of Life: Organic and Biological Chemistry. For individuals interested in the study of general chemistry.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1152 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 9th edition (May 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130669970
• ISBN-13: 978-0130669971
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #46,526 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Text, But Can be Improved, March 13, 2005

By	Shann Yu "Go Rice Owls!!!" (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am currently in the second semester of a two-semester general chemistry course. Overall, I have found this text to be very helpful as a supplement to lectures.

I say this is a solid text primarily because of the glut of problems for you to practice on, and the nice flow of information through the chapters. The text is written with clarity in mind, and with clarity it does convey its topics. With well-placed worked sample problems and excellent charts and diagrams, this is a great book to have in hand if you're taking a college-level chemistry course.

However, this book has its limitations in that there are several topics that are covered at the college level that are not really expounded on by the book. For example, the text gives a half-page introduction on semiconductors and how electron excitation works in semiconductors ; we did one full lecture on it. Furthermore, some of the problems that hit you in the form of the professor's custom-made, self-written problem sets occasionally involve problem solving methods that are not even covered in the book. I experienced a fair share of this when I saw application questions that involved a lot more variables than any of the book's questions involved.

This brings me to talk about my last perceived limitation of the textbook: its lack of good application / integrative exercises. I like the book's armada of additional exercises at the end of the chapter, but I think a better textbook should include more application problems - sort of like 'problem-based learning', if that's a better way to put it. A good example would be the types of questions you can expect to see on a final exam - questions that implicitly expect you to apply all sorts of concepts obtained from the whole chapter, and possibly even concepts from previous chapters - to solve a real world problem.

To conclude, the pros of this book include its clarity in explaining concepts, the decent flow from topic to topic, and its solid arsenal of practice problems and worked sample problems. The cons include its lack of application problems (problem-based learning), need for more in-depth discussions of some topics, and need for more problem solving strategies. Overall a great text, but a better text can bring my B up to an A in this class.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a readable Chemistry text..., October 31, 2005

By	Benjamin Britton "~BB" (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I used this book for Chemistry II (second semester General College Chemistry). Compared to my first semester text, this is the best text ever.

College chemistry is designed to be difficult, the books shouldn't be. My 1st textbook talked and discussed as if we were Master's student's majoring in chemistry... not freshman.

This text speaks generally in ENGLISH and not in Chemistry jargon like so many textbooks do.

You won't get all the unneccessary information that many other texts have, and the author's seem like they actually want you to learn chemistry... not a common idea in chemistry texts or by professors.

Of course, as with any college level text, a basic high school chemistry course is recommended before taking or reading this text...

Enjoy!!!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not at all for beginners, January 31, 2006

By	Justin Davis "AJ" (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews

I am currently taking an AP chemistry class, and we use this book. The class is meant to be extremely difficult, accelarated, and in-depth. We cover 22 out of the 25 chapters; we do not do modern materials, chemistry of the environment, or coordination compounds.
I feel like this book tries to cover too much for a first year college course. For example, I think they go overboard with the organic and biochemistry, the metallurgy, and the molecular orbitals at the end of chapter 9.
However, I think chapters like the one on electronic structure should take more time on the electrol configuration on transition metals and exceptions to Hund's rule and less time on the line spectra, the Bohr model, and the wave behavior of matter. The quantum mechanics, which I consider to be a very important part of electronic structure, is summarized in a table and barely explained.
The best part of the book is that there are a ton of problems for practice.
It is NOT a good book to use if you are trying to teach yourself college chemistry. You absolutely must have a teacher in conjunction with this book.