A MINI-COURSE IN CHEMISTRY

It is much easier to learn chemistry if one already knows some chemistry That is, in order to go into any detail on any chemical topic, it is extremely helpful to have some very rudimentary knowledge of chemistry as a whole. For example, a crucial part of chemistry is an understanding of the nature of chemical compounds, the chemical formulas used to describe them, and die chemical bonds that hold them together these are topics addressed in Chapter 4 of this book. However, to understand these concepts, it is very helpful to know some things about the chemical reactions by which chemical compounds are formed, as addressed in Chapter 5. To work around this problem. Chapter 1 provides a highly condensed, simplified, but meaningful overview of chemistry to give the reader the essential concepts and terms required to understand more advanced chemical materiaL 

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One of the ways in which Environmental Chemistry Fundamentals presents chemistry in a reader-friendly manner is through a somewhat unique organizational structure. In the first few pages of Chapter 1, the reader is presented with a mini-course in chemistry that consists of the most basic concepts and terms needed to really begin to understand chemistry. To study chemistry, it is necessary to know a few essential things— what an atom is, what is meant by elements, chemical formulas, chemical bonds, molecular mass. With these terms defined in very basic... 

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