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Everything you need to crush chemistry with confidence
Chemistry All-in-One For Dummies arms you with all the no-nonsense, how-to content you’ll need to pass your chemistry class with flying colors. You’ll find tons of practical examples and practice problems, and you’ll get access to an online quiz for every chapter. Reinforce the concepts you learn in the classroom and beef up your understanding of all the chemistry topics covered in the standard curriculum. Prepping for the AP Chemistry exam? Dummies has your back, with plenty of review before test day. With clear definitions, concise explanations, and plenty of helpful information on everything from matter and molecules to moles and measurements, Chemistry All-in-One For Dummies is a one-stop resource for chem students of all valences.
Chemistry All-In-One For Dummies is perfect for students who need help with coursework or want to cram extra hard to ace that chem test.
Christopher R. Hren has taught high school chemistry, honors chemistry, and AP Chemistry for more than 15 years.
John T. Moore, EdD, has taught chemistry at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, for more than 40 years.
Peter J. Mikulecky, PhD, teaches science and math at Fusion Learning Center and Fusion Academy, and is a technical writer.
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 2
Beyond the Book 3
Where to Go from Here 3
Unit 1: Getting Started with Chemistry 5
Chapter 1: Looking at Numbers Scientifically 7
Using Exponential and Scientific Notation to Report Measurements 7
Multiplying and Dividing in Scientific Notation 9
Using Scientific Notation to Add and Subtract 11
Distinguishing between Accuracy and Precision 13
Identifying Significant Figures 16
Doing Arithmetic with Significant Figures 18
Addition and subtraction 18
Multiplication and division 18
Rounding off numbers 19
Qualitative and Quantitative Observations 21
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 23
Whaddya Know? Chapter 1 Quiz 26
Answers to Chapter 1 Quiz 27
Chapter 2: Using and Converting Units 29
Familiarizing Yourself with Base Units and Metric System Prefixes 30
Units of length 30
Units of mass 31
Units of volume 31
Units of temperature 32
Units of pressure 32
Units of energy 32
SI base units 32
Looking at Density 33
Getting to the bottom of density basics 34
Measuring density 34
Using Conversion Factors 36
Working with the Factor Label Method 39
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 44
Whaddya Know? Chapter 2 Quiz 46
Answers to Chapter 2 Quiz 47
Chapter 3: The Basic Properties of Matter 49
Describing the States of Matter 49
Solids 50
Liquids 50
Gases 51
Classifying Pure Substances and Mixtures 51
Keeping it simple with pure substances 52
Throwing mixtures into the mix 52
Nice Properties You’ve Got There 54
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 55
Whaddya Know? Chapter 3 Quiz 56
Answers to Chapter 3 Quiz 57
Chapter 4: Breaking Down Atoms into Their Subatomic Particles 59
The Atom: Protons, Electrons, and Neutrons 60
Breaking an atom into its parts 60
Narrowing the focus to the nucleus 61
A Brief History of the Atom 62
J J Thomson: Cooking up the “plum pudding” model 63
Ernest Rutherford: Shooting at gold 63
Niels Bohr: Comparing the atom to the solar system 64
Deciphering Chemical Symbols: Atomic and Mass Numbers 64
Keeping an Eye on Ions 69
Accounting for Isotopes Using Atomic Masses 70
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 72
Whaddya Know? Chapter 4 Quiz 74
Answers to Chapter 4 Quiz 75
Unit 2: The Periodic Table 77
Chapter 5: Surveying the Periodic Table of the Elements 79
Organizing the Periodic Table 79
Examining the organization of the periodic table 81
Meeting the metals, nonmetals, and metalloids 83
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 87
Whaddya Know? Chapter 5 Quiz 88
Answers to Chapter 5 Quiz 89
Chapter 6: The Electron 91
Putting Electrons in Their Places: Electron Configurations 91
Quantifying Quantum Numbers 96
The principal quantum number n 96
The angular momentum quantum number l 97
The magnetic quantum number ml 97
The spin quantum number ms 98
Put all the numbers together and whaddya get? (A pretty table) 99
Valence Electrons 100
Measuring the Amount of Energy (or Light) an Excited Electron Emits 102
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 106
Whaddya Know? Chapter 6 Quiz 108
Answers to Chapter 6 Quiz 109
Chapter 7: Periodic Trends 111
Nuclear Charge and Atomic Radius 111
Comprehending effective nuclear charge 112
Atomic radius 112
Tracing tendencies of ionic radii 113
Eyeing Trends in Ionization Energies 114
Noting an increase in sequential energy 115
Taking stability into consideration 116
Considering a few exceptions to the rule 117
Attracting Electrons: Electronegativities 118
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 121
Whaddya Know? Chapter 7 Quiz 122
Answers to Chapter 7 Quiz 123
Chapter 8: Doing Chemistry with Atomic Nuclei 125
Decaying Nuclei in Different Ways 126
Alpha decay 126
Beta decay 127
Gamma decay 127
Measuring Rates of Decay: Half-Lives 129
Making and Breaking Nuclei: Fusion and Fission 133
Nuclear fission 133
Nuclear Fusion 134
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 137
Whaddya Know? Chapter 8 Quiz 139
Answers to Chapter 8 Quiz 140
Unit 3: Making and Breaking Bonds 143
Chapter 9: Building Bonds 145
Forming Ions 146
Pairing Charges with Ionic Bonds 149
Forming Sodium Chloride 150
Meeting the components 150
Understanding the reaction 151
Sodium’s role 151
Chlorine’s role 152
Ending up with a bond 152
Ionic Salts 153
Sharing Electrons with Covalent Bonds 155
Considering a hydrogen example 155
Comparing covalent bonds with other bonds 156
Understanding multiple bonds 157
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 159
Whaddya Know? Chapter 9 Quiz 161
Answers to Chapter 9 Quiz 162
Chapter 10: The Shape of Molecules 165
Drawing the Structural Formulas of Molecules 165
Writing the electron dot formula for water 166
Writing the Lewis formula for water 167
Writing the Lewis formula for C2H4O 167
Occupying and Overlapping Molecular Orbitals 171
Polarity: Sharing Electrons Unevenly 175
Polarity and electronegativity 176
Polar covalent bonding 177
Predicting polarity 179
Shaping Molecules: VSEPR Theory and Hybridization 181
Wondering About Water and Intermolecular Forces 186
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 189
Whaddya Know? Chapter 10 Quiz 192
Answers to Chapter 10 Quiz 193
Chapter 11: Naming Compounds and Writing Formulas 197
Labeling Ionic Compounds and Writing Their Formulas 197
Determining formulas of ionic compounds 198
Applying the crisscross rule 199
Writing the names of ionic compounds 199
Getting a Grip on Ionic Compounds with Polyatomic Ions 202
Naming Covalent Compounds and Writing Their Formulas 204
Addressing Acids 206
Mixing the Rules for Naming and Formula Writing 208
Beyond the Basics: Naming Organic Carbon Chains 210
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 213
Whaddya Know? Chapter 11 Quiz 218
Answers to Chapter 11 Quiz 219
Unit 4: Working with Reactions 223
Chapter 12: Understanding the Many Uses of the Mole 225
The Mole Conversion Factor: Avogadro’s Number 226
Doing Mass and Volume Mole Conversions 227
Determining Percent Composition 231
Calculating Empirical Formulas 233
Using Empirical Formulas to Find Molecular Formulas 235
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 238
Whaddya Know? Chapter 12 Quiz 242
Answers to Chapter 12 Quiz 243
Chapter 13: Getting a Grip on Chemical Equations 249
Translating Chemistry into Equations and Symbols 249
Understanding How Reactions Occur 251
One-step collision example 252
Considering an exothermic example 253
Looking at an endothermic example 253
Balancing Chemical Equations 255
Getting the lowdown on balancing equations 256
Walking through the steps of balancing equations 257
Recognizing Reactions and Predicting Products 259
Combination (synthesis) 260
Decomposition 261
Single displacement (single replacement) 261
Double displacement (double replacement) 262
Combustion 264
Canceling Spectator Ions: Net Ionic Equations 265
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 268
Whaddya Know? Chapter 13 Quiz 271
Answers to Chapter 13 Quiz 273
Chapter 14: Putting Stoichiometry to Work 277
Using Mole-Mole Conversions from Balanced Equations 278
Putting Moles at the Center: Conversions Involving Particles, Volumes, and Masses 280
Calculating Limiting Reactants 283
Counting Your Chickens after They’ve Hatched: Percent Yield Calculations 286
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 289
Whaddya Know? Chapter 14 Quiz 295
Answers to Chapter 14 Quiz 297
Unit 5: Examining Changes in Energy 301
Chapter 15: Understanding States of Matter in Terms of Energy 303
Changing States of Matter 304
Melting point 304
Boiling point 304
Freezing point 305
Sublimate this! 305
Figuring Out Phase Diagrams 306
Taking a Look at Energy and Temperature 309
Moving right along: Kinetic energy 309
Sitting pretty: Potential energy 310
Measuring Energy 310
Taking a look at temperature 311
Feeling the heat 312
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 313
Whaddya Know? Chapter 15 Quiz 314
Answers to Chapter 15 Quiz 316
Chapter 16: Warming Up to Thermochemistry 319
Understanding the Basics of Thermodynamics 320
Heat 320
Energy 320
Units of energy 321
Working with Specific Heat Capacity and Calorimetry 323
Specific heat capacity 324
Calorimetry 325
Absorbing and Releasing Heat: Endothermic and Exothermic Reactions 330
Summing Heats with Hess’s Law 332
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 335
Whaddya Know? Chapter 16 Quiz 338
Answers to Chapter 16 Quiz 340
Chapter 17: Obeying Gas Laws 345
Working with the Kinetic Molecular Theory 345
Measuring and Converting Pressure 348
Boyle’s Law: Playing with Pressure and Volume 351
Charles’s Law and Absolute Zero: Looking at Volume and Temperature 354
Gay-Lussac’s Law: Examining Pressure and Temperature 357
Combining Pressure, Temperature, and Volume into One Law 359
Dealing with Amounts: Avogadro’s Law and the Ideal Gas Law 361
Mixing It Up with Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures 362
Diffusing and Effusing with Graham’s Law 364
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 365
Whaddya Know? Chapter 17 Quiz 370
Answers to Chapter 17 Quiz 372
Unit 6: Studying Solutions 377
Chapter 18: Dissolving into Solutions 379
Seeing Different Forces at Work in Solubility 379
Understanding solubility 380
Looking at forces in solutions 381
Classifying solutions by concentration 381
Concentrating on Molarity and Percent Solutions 383
Molarity 384
Percent composition of solutions 384
Changing Concentrations by Making Dilutions 388
Altering Solubility with Temperature 390
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 393
Whaddya Know? Chapter 18 Quiz 397
Answers to Chapter 18 Quiz 398
Chapter 19: Playing Hot and Cold: Colligative Properties 401
Portioning Particles: Molality and Mole Fractions 402
Too Hot to Handle: Elevating and Calculating Boiling Points 404
How Low Can You Go? Depressing and Calculating Freezing Points 407
Determining Molecular Masses with Boiling and Freezing Points 409
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 411
Whaddya Know? Chapter 19 Quiz 414
Answers to Chapter 19 Quiz 415
Chapter 20: Working with Acids and Bases 419
Getting to Know Acids and Bases 419
Acids and Bases at the Atomic Level 420
The Arrhenius theory: Must have water 421
The Brønsted-Lowry acid-base theory: Giving and accepting 422
Lewis relies on electron pairs 423
Measuring Acidity and Basicity: p H, p OH, and KW 424
Dissociating with Strong and Weak Acids 428
Ionizing completely: Strong acids 429
Falling to pieces: Strong bases 430
Ionizing partway: Weak acids 430
Finding equilibrium with water: Weak bases 432
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 434
Whaddya Know? Chapter 20 Quiz 438
Answers to Chapter 20 Quiz 440
Chapter 21: Achieving Neutrality with Titrations and Buffers 445
Using Indicators and Titration to Figure Out Molarity 446
Taking a quick dip with litmus paper 447
Titrating with phenolphthalein 447
Maintaining Your pH with Buffers 451
Measuring Salt Solubility with Ksp 454
Practice Questions Answers and Explanations 455
Whaddya Know? Chapter 21 Quiz 457
Answers to Chapter 21 Quiz 458
Glossary 461
Index 471
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