Chemistry: Atoms First
The book was very comprehensive. The index and glossary were a great asset and reliable.
The textbook was very accurate. I saw minimal inaccuracies. Most issues were grammatical, which were limited. There were a lot of environmentally related examples, which I love because I use these in class, but not all professors may feel the same.
Examples and images used will work for years to come. Many of the images (both pictures and molecules) are standard that you would see in most any textbook. However, what I like about the online text is that there are external links to many videos, PhET simulations, etc that allow the book to reach a more technologically geared student population. I also like the usage of current examples such as biofuels related to enthalpy, climate change, etc. These may have to be slightly modified over the next decade, but they will still be relevant.
It would be helpful to include more information related to current batteries (fuel cells, batteries in electronic devices, etc).
The book was very clear. Chemistry is a very difficult subject to understand no matter how it is written. I think the multitude of written examples, practice problems, with solutions, and external links will help the students solidify required theories and mathematical equations.
The textbook was very consistent. Every section followed the same outline, which made it very easy to navigate through each chapter. The inserts of pictures and facts related to the topics of the section was very engaging (ex. Gekkos related to intermolecular forces, etc). The extra information included was varied between different disciplines allowing students of most majors to relate to topics (ex. DNA related to biologists and health profession fields, biofuels related to green chemistry and engineering, etc). Hopefully this will help to engage students that otherwise might not normally be interested in the chemistry discipline.
It would be very easy to integrate this online textbook to my current general chemistry courses I teach. Each chapter is also broken down into sections like a traditional textbook.
It would be nice if the solutions were given to all of the problems instead of the first series in each set. Otherwise, the flow of the textbook was logical and consistent.
I did not experience any issues related to distorted images or images that would not appear. Also, all of the external links I clicked on worked with no problem. I did have some issues when I would try to advance to the next section. Occasionally, I would have to go back to the previous page and then click the “next” button to advance to the next section. I had an issue with Figure 1 taking a really long time to load in section 16.4. Not sure if it was from my end related to the internet or an issue within the textbook.
There were minimal grammatical issues. Overall good job on the editing.
Yes. All examples are relatable to a multitude of races and varying disciplines/professions.
The links on certain topics such as SI units and conversions, math review, significant figures, etc will be a great additional resource for students that are struggling with the topic. The PhET simulations were also a very helpful resource for visualizing concepts. It would be very easy to integrate some of these into the lecture linking the online textbook more into the course, hopefully encouraging students to utilize the textbook.
Need to add an expanded table of just polyatomic ions. Many professors use this table to guide students of what polyatomic ions they need to have memorized. I also loved the Eric Brockovich example because I already use this in lecture.
Chapter 6 – There was no summary in the introduction section of chapter 6.
Chapter 7 – I love that the concept of gravimetric analysis is added to the lecture book because we use this as one of three techniques in lab to verify an alum compound synthesized.
Chapter 8 – Great example of the use of diffusion with UF6 gas to enrich uranium.
Chapter 9 – The integration of enthalpy related to combustion reactions and emerging biofuels was excellent.
Chapter 11 – The heating and cooling curve section could be expanded. This is a topic my students often struggle with, and I generally have to work at least two different types of problems to increase their understanding. The expanded section on X-ray crystallography was a great addition to the lattice structure in crystalline solids section. Explanation of the distillation process related to oil was excellent, so students can really understand the process and energy required to refine oil. Also, the section on colloids was excellent because not all current chemistry books include this information.
Chapter 12 – I felt chapter 12 could be slightly expanded to include more information surround entropy, enthalpy, and Gibbs free energy.
Chapter 14 – I like how the information related to acids/bases is in one chapter: weak/strong acids and bases, buffers, and titrations. Many textbooks break this information into multiple chapters so students struggle more to see the connections.
Chapter 16 – The corrosion section was an excellent edition so the students can relate electrochemistry to something they have seen their whole lives.
Chapter 17 – The graph in Figure 5 of section 17.5 will help the students understand the development of the two-point equation.
Chapter 18 – Chapter 18 is generally out of the scope of a general chemistry textbook. However, it does have some great examples of the applications of preparing chemicals or elements, so it would be a nice addition of time allows and/or the professor has a more advanced class.
Chapter 20 – The biological examples related to radioactivity were an excellent addition.
Chapter 21 – Exactly like an organic chemistry chapter in a traditional textbook.