ISBN0131493302

While there is a great deal of convergence about the concepts taught in a one year general chemistry course, the way those principles are taught, to what depth, and the kind of vocabulary used in teaching them varies from text to text. This allows the authors to focus their teaching in ways appropriate to different kinds of students.

This text is geared towards a one year course in general chemistry for students going on to careers in engineering, biology, and other technical fields. The vocabulary of the text is adapted to build up comfort with the technical terms of chemistry and familiarity in working with formulae rather than being content with intuitions about chemistry. It also has a nice addition of the actual people whose names are given to various laws and concepts in chemistry. When the name is presented there is also a picture and a sentence or two about who they were. I enjoyed this a great deal because it brings the text to life a bit more.

Pedagogically there are several nice helps that show the experience the authors have in teaching real life students and the kinds of misconceptions they tend to have. In the margins there are notes called "Keep in Mind" that help students avoid those common traps that come to easily to beginners in any field. There are well chosen diagrams, drawings, and pictures that aid in teaching rather than being content with decoration. The text also has notes entitled "Are You Wondering" that help students deal with questions that are probably arising in their mind as they are working through these concepts for the first time.

The problems in the back are grouped according to the concepts taught in the chapter and the problems numbered in red have the answers provided in the back of the book. They also provide an Integrative Example that shows the concepts in a more real life problem. After these come a series of integrative problems and advanced exercises. These are followed with feature problems and self-assessment exercises. When learning these concepts it is essential to do lots of work with them in order to be sure you understand them and to develop comfort with working with them. It will make learning later in the book easier and allow you to take more from the course after it is completed.

This is an excellent text for students who have had at least a bit of chemistry before tackling this course. And for technical students it will be more rewarding than other more basic texts even though they both cover similar ground. The more technical approach taken here will be more enriching to them.

My daughter needed this book for college. It arrived in decent condition and was very affordable.

This was a great deal! I purchased this book cheaper than anybody in my college chemistry class. It was in good condition and was delivered right away.

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. DO NOT GET THE SOLUTIONS MANUAL. I REPEAT, DO NOT.

The textbook is grueling and never gets to the point. Too wordy. You'll hate it. It'll lengthen every single unnecessary explanation but barely skim over important topics and details (NEVER WILL IT EXPLAIN ANYTHING IMPORTANT).

The solutions manual has so many typos. Don't they proofread? If I'm going to pay any sort of money for my education, and if this ridiculous book is also going to overcharge me for it, then at least be less ignorant and more professional. Just proofread. I don't want to spend valuable time on correcting my work with wrong answers (FROM THE ANSWER BOOK). That's too much frustration that I don't have time for.


This book is horrible.

The text assumes that the reader has a background of at least one year of high school chemistry. It would be best for students to have two years of high school chemistry before approaching the more complex concepts introduced in the textbook. However, there are some nice details about the scientists involved in the scientific discoveries introduced. Notes to students and instructors are useful and the example problems are excellent. The self-assessment exercises are an excellent tool for the student to evaluate their progress. The exercises at the end of each chapter dramatically increase in difficulty as one works through each section. Some of the most difficult problems require skills not introduced in the text. Compounding this issue is the fact that many problems worked out in the solutions manual employ shortcuts that confuse even very bright students, along with some typos.

The Petrucci 9th Edition has undergone a significant number of changes from the 8th Edition. The 9th Edition suffers, to some extent, from some cumulative effects from numerous revisions. For instance there was a section added of Organic Chemistry early in the text, but it was too ambitious with too little background given to benefit the average student. In light of the recent revisions, it would be useful to reorganize the order of the chapters to facilitate learning. For instance, much of the information concerning the Periodic Table would be more useful earlier in the textbook.

The text is designed for a one year Freshman Chemistry course, but an instructor should understand that all of the material will not fit easily into two semesters. The instructor then has the option to focus on areas of their personal interest in greater detail than typically available in the Freshman text and reduce some of the detail in other sections. Exposure to some of the more advanced material in the textbook should be interesting to motivated students. Overall, the Petrucci 9th Ed. is a good Freshman textbook for students with a strong science background.