The goal of this textbook is not to make you an expert. True expertise in any field is a years-long endeavor. Here I will survey some of the basic topics of chemistry. This survey should give you enough knowledge to appreciate the impact of chemistry in everyday life and, if necessary, prepare you for additional instruction in chemistry. Throughout each chapter, I present two features that reinforce the theme of the textbook—that chemistry is all around you. The first is a feature titled, appropriately, “Chemistry Is Everywhere.” Chemistry Is Everywhere” focuses on the personal hygiene products that you may use every morning: toothpaste, soap, and shampoo, among others. These products are chemicals, aren’t they? Ever wonder about the chemical reactions that they undergo to give you clean and healthy teeth or shiny hair? I will explore some of these chemical reactions in future chapters. But this feature makes it clear that chemistry is, indeed, everywhere. The other feature focuses on chemistry that you likely indulge in every day: eating and drinking. In the “Food and Drink App,” I discuss how the chemistry of the chapter applies to things that you eat and drink every day. Carbonated beverages depend on the behavior of gases, foods contain acids and bases, and we actually eat certain rocks. (Can you guess which rocks without looking ahead?) Cooking, eating, drinking, and metabolism—we are involved with all these chemical processes all the time. These two features allow us to see the things we interact with every day in a new light—as chemistry.

By setting up two different reactions in both open and closed systems, students gather evidence that mass is conserved in reactions, but sometimes it might not look like it is if the reaction is carried out in an open system.

Are all atoms of an element the same? How can you tell one isotope from another? Use the sim to learn about isotopes and how abundance relates to the average atomic mass of an element.

Are all atoms of an element the same? How can you tell one isotope from another? Use the sim to learn about isotopes and how abundance relates to the average atomic mass of an element.

Using paper, shaving cream, and food coloring students marble paper. Using principles of intermolecular forces, students identify which materials are most attracted to other materials and justify their answers with observations from the activity.

Milk is made up of water, fat, and proteins. Each of these molecules have charges and are held together by intramolecular forces. When the dish soap is added to the plate it quickly disperses across the surface as it is attracted to the water molecules and the food coloring is pulled along. This could be used as an anchoring phenomenon on matter, materials, or intramolecular forces.

What determines the concentration of a solution? Learn about the relationships between moles, liters, and molarity by adjusting the amount of solute and solution volume. Change solutes to compare different chemical compounds in water.

When is a molecule polar? Change the electronegativity of atoms in a molecule to see how it affects polarity. See how the molecule behaves in an electric field. Change the bond angle to see how shape affects polarity. Need to have JAVA installed to view the Real Molecules pportion of the simulation.

Explore molecule shapes by building molecules in 3D! How does molecule shape change with different numbers of bonds and electron pairs? Find out by adding single, double or triple bonds and lone pairs to the central atom. Then, compare the model to real molecules!

Explore molecule shapes by building molecules in 3D! Find out how a molecule's shape changes as you add atoms to a molecule.

This is an art project where oil paints and water is used. Students will have already explored the densities of oil and water.

A free, open-access organic chemistry textbook (volumes I and II) in which the main focus is on relevance to biology and medicine. This is a PDF version of a wiki project called Chemwiki at the University of California, Davis. There are also supplementary materials, such as PowerPoint slides and a solutions manual available for this textbook at the Chemwiki website.

Students design and carry out a procedure to find the percentage of sugar in bubble gum, which then easily translates to percent composition for chemical analysis.

This lesson is designed to teach high school students about the trends found in the four main families (groups) on the periodic table: Alkali Metals, Alkaline Earth Metals, Halogens and Noble Gases.  Students will work in groups of three to complete a family sketch for their assigned chemical family.  They will go over the family members and trends/characteristics found within each family.  They will create a "day in the life" description of their family along with sketching a family portrait.   

Lead students to understand general reactivity patterns of elements on the periodic table through experiment design, data collection, and data analysis. Resource links to a Google Doc.

How do strong and weak acids differ? Use lab tools on your computer to find out! Dip the paper or the probe into solution to measure the pH, or put in the electrodes to measure the conductivity. Then see how concentration and strength affect pH. Can a weak acid solution have the same pH as a strong acid solution?

How do you know if a chemical equation is balanced? What can you change to balance an equation? Play a game to test your ideas!

ÒThe thicker the glass, the darker the brew, the less the light that passes through.Ó Make colorful concentrated and dilute solutions and explore how much light they absorb and transmit using a virtual spectrophotometer!

Starting from atoms, see how many molecules you can build. Collect your molecules and view them in 3D!

Watch your solution change color as you mix chemicals with water. Then check molarity with the concentration meter. What are all the ways you can change the concentration of your solution? Switch solutes to compare different chemicals and find out how concentrated you can go before you hit saturation!