Introduction - 1,001 Chemistry Practice Problems For Dummies (2014)

1,001 Chemistry Practice Problems For Dummies (2014)

Introduction

Whether you’re taking your first chemistry course, you’re taking your last chemistry course, or you just need a little practice before taking a test that contains chemistry questions (like a nursing, pre-med, or teacher certification test), doing problems is a fine way to prepare.

The 1,001 practice questions in this book cover topics that you might encounter in a high school chemistry course, an introductory college chemistry course, the first semester of a general chemistry course for science majors, or a general science test for entry into a pre-professional program. The types of questions here are similar to the ones you may see on homework assignments, quizzes, practice tests, or actual tests.

You can start at Question 1 or Question 121 or skip around. You may find that your instructor (or textbook) covers topics in a different order from this book. That’s okay; just go to the table of contents, find the topic you need, and start there.

Completing 1,001 chemistry practice questions is no small undertaking, but the time you spend practicing valuable science, math, and chemistry skills can improve your scores and help you “know what you know.”

What You’ll Find

The 1,001 chemistry practice questions in this book are divided among 15 chapters, each one representing a few major subject areas in chemistry. Within each chapter, questions are grouped by topic and arranged from easy to hard, allowing you to answer beginner questions as well as multi-step and more difficult questions. Some questions are accompanied by an image or diagram that you need in order to answer the question correctly.

After you answer the questions for one chapter or subcategory — or even after you answer just one question — you can flip to the last chapter of the book and check your answers. There, you find thorough answer explanations for each problem, often covering processes, formulas, and definitions. In many cases, studying an answer explanation can help you better understand a difficult subject, so spend as much time as you need reviewing the explanations.

Beyond the Book

This book gives you plenty of chemistry questions to work on. But maybe you want to track your progress as you tackle the questions, or maybe you’re having trouble with different types of questions and wish they were all presented in one place. You’re in luck. Your book purchase comes with a free one-year subscription to all 1,001 practice questions online. You get on-the-go access any way you want it — from your computer, smartphone, or tablet. Track your progress and view personalized reports that show what you need to study the most. Study what, where, when, and how you want.

What you’ll find online

The online practice that comes free with this book offers the same 1,001 questions and answers that are available here. The beauty of the online problems is that you can customize your online practice to focus on the topic areas that give you the most trouble. So if you need help naming binary compounds or solving combined gas law problems, just select those question types online and start practicing. Or if you’re short on time but want to get a mixed bag of a limited number of problems, you can specify the number of problems you want to practice. Whether you practice a few hundred problems in one sitting or a couple dozen, and whether you focus on a few types of problems or practice every type, the online program keeps track of the questions you get right and wrong so you can monitor your progress and spend time studying exactly what you need.

You can access this online tool using an access code, as described in the next section. Keep in mind that you can create only one login with your access code. After the access code is used, it’s no longer valid and is nontransferable, so you can’t share your access code with other users after you establish your login credentials.

This product also comes with an online Cheat Sheet that helps you increase your odds of performing well in chemistry. Check out the free Cheat Sheet at www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/1001Chemistry. (No access code required. You can access this info before you even register.)

How to register

To gain access to the online version of all 1,001 practice questions in this book, all you have to do is register. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Find your PIN access code.

Print book users: If you purchased a hard copy of this book, turn to the back of this book to find your access code.

E-book users: If you purchased this book as an e-book, you can get your access code by registering your e-book at dummies.com/go/getaccess. Go to this website, find your book and click it, and answer the security question to verify your purchase. Then you'll receive an e-mail with your access code.

2. Go to learn.dummies.com and click Already have an Access Code?

3. Enter your access code and click Next.

4. Follow the instructions to create an account and establish your personal login ­information.

That’s all there is to it! You can come back to the online program again and again — simply log in with the username and password you chose during your initial login. No need to use the access code a second time.

tip.epsIf you have trouble with the access code or can't find it, please contact Wiley Product Technical Support at 877-762-2974 or http://support.wiley.com.

Your registration is good for one year from the day you activate your access code.

Where to Go for Additional Help

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when trying to study a subject as integrated as chemistry. But don’t despair. This book is designed to break everything into less complex categories so you can concentrate on one topic at a time. Practicing in smaller areas within each topic helps you identify your strong points and your weak points.

After you use this book and identify the areas you feel need extra effort, you can start studying on your own and then come back here to answer the questions again to measure your improvement. For example, if your knowledge of molarity is a little hazy (or nonexistent), try reviewing the molar calculations in Chapter 10. Check your answers and jot down notes or questions you may have. Then research, say, how solution concentration is expressed using molarity or which biology applications might use molarity. You can look for resources at your local library or online, or you can ask a friend, coworker, or professor to coach you if he or she seems to spend a lot of time in the lab. You can also check out the For Dummies series for books about many of the topics covered in chemistry. Head to www.dummies.com to see the many books and articles that can help you in your studies.

1,001 Chemistry Practice Questions For Dummies gives you just that — 1,001 practice questions and answers in order for you to practice your chemistry skills. If you need more in-depth study and direction for your chemistry courses, you may want to try out the following For Dummies products:

check Chemistry Essentials For Dummies: This book is a quick-reference resource that outlines key topics found in a first-year high school chemistry course or a first-semester college chemistry course.

check Chemistry For Dummies: This book provides content parallel to the 1,001 chemistry practice problems found in this book.

check Chemistry II For Dummies: This book provides content similar to what you may encounter in a second-year high school chemistry course or a second-semester college chemistry course.

check AP Chemistry For Dummies: This book prepares the Advanced Placement chemistry student to take the College Board’s AP Chemistry exam. It also includes tools for organizing and planning your study time.

check Chemistry Workbook For Dummies: This book includes basic instruction, chemistry problems worked step-by-step, shortcuts, and more practice problems.

Several For Dummies chemistry titles are also available for download to your electronic device(s).