The Art of Explanation: General Chemistry

By N.T. Coleman, PhD

In this book, The Art of Explanation: General Chemistry, the author shares with you the key concepts of general chemistry with problems sets that allow you to not only work out problems but rather define and discuss the principles of chemistry. When you master understanding the definition, a light bulb in your head will turn on and thus you will know "it" and will be able to explain "it"! You will have mastered the art of explanation!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Aug 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9781483470023

Book preview

THE ART OF EXPLANATION

GENERAL CHEMISTRY

N.T. Coleman, Ph.D

Copyright © 2017 N.T. Coleman, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-7003-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-7002-3 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 05/19/2017

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1     Understanding Matter: Atoms, Molecules And The Science Of Chemistry

Chapter 2     Understanding Atoms And Elements

Chapter 3     Molecules, Compounds, And Chemical Equations

Chapter 4     Chemical Quantities And Aqueous Reactions

Chapter 5     Gases

Chapter 6     Thermochemistry

Chapter 7     The Quantum-Mechanical Model Of The Atom

Chapter 8     Periodic Trends Of Elements

Chapter 9     Lewis Theory

Chapter 10   Chemical Bonding

Chapter 11   Solutions

Chapter 12   Chemical Kinetics

Chapter 13   Chemical Equilibrium

Chapter 14   Acids And Bases

Chapter 15   Electrochemistry

Chapter 16   Radioactivity And Nuclear Chemistry

Bibliography

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Preface

President Abraham Lincoln once said, Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. To say it another way Give me one hour to explain any scientific principle and I will spend four sharpening my knowledge of precise definitions.

The art of explanation, teaching or lecturing starts with knowing precise definitions and knowing how to use the jargon in your field. Faulty definitions are the root cause of several issues that manifest themselves as noteworthy problems in science. In other words, a lot of researchers fail to accomplish what they want to achieve because they fail to properly define what they want to achieve. Most scientific research is operated by people—individuals who are subjective and prone to interpretation and assumption when complete information is lacking or not defined properly. The definition of definition is the action or the power of describing, explaining, or making definite clear. At least that’s one-way Merriam-Webster describes the word. But why is a definition so important? Because