Cheap General Chemistry (Book) (Kenneth W. Whitten, Raymond E. Davis, Peck M. Larry, M. Larry Peck) Price

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Customer Reviews of General Chemistry

traditional
This is a traditional freshman chemistry text widely used especially in the southern states. Its explanations of chemical concepts are generally clear. The writing style might be too formal for many today's college students. The book contains plenty of worked-out examples to illustrate porblem-solving skills and ample end-of-chapter exercises. Problem-solving tips and margin notes on common mistakes, though ignored by many students, are generally very helpful.

Chapter 8 on molecular geometry is much more detailed than most other textbooks of similar level. A good flow chart is provided at the beginning of the chapter. However, some example problems are needed to show students how to identify geometry and shape of a specific molecule. Thermodynamics is introduced in a single chapter in the second half of the book. The sections on entropy and Gibb's free energy is somewhat too brief. A better introdction of energy and heat is needed in chapter one.

Generally speaking, the text contains a great amount of information, maybe too much for students who are poorly prepared for college level chemistry. The authors should also strive to show students how different topics covered in the text are related to each other.

Another good traditional general chemistry text is the one by Brown, LeMay, and Bursten. The one by Oxtoby, Freeman, and Block is a very accurate text. An exciting new text by Moore, Stanitski, and Jurs is clearly written and has many new features that promote students's active learning. In my opinion, it might be a better text for the new generation of college students.

Some cheap resources for struggling students include: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chemistry, Survival Guide for General Chemistry, and Chemistry for Dummies.

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Best Chem text on the market!!!
This is the best general chemistry text on the market. I used Ebbing's text at first, that text is misleading. Lot information is out of date, but in this book everything's very clear.
It's problem solving tips in each section is very helpful. It helped me alot avoiding common errors and clarified many misconceptions.
It REALLY is the best chem text on the market as one of reviewer said. At least much better than two other books i used; one by Ebbing, one by Adkins. Don't buy those books. They're waste of money and probably ruin your clear mastery of chemistry.
This book is nice. With the CD-rom it will be even better.

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Mistakes
This is a very complex textbook with TONS of mistakes within. One example that I remember is on page 85, question #66. It says its composition by mass is 49.4% C, 7.64% H, 17.7% N, 15.3% O, and 10.1% S. When working out this equation it will not come out right, it should be 47.2% C, 6.55% H, 13.0% N, 25.9% O and 7.43% C. I hope some of this helps!