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Introductory Chemistry (X11)
    (formerly called Refresher Chemistry)

Quick links to selected Intro Chem (X11) materials...    (More information about all these items and more links are below.)

Visitors (students from other courses, those studying on their own, and those who are just curious): The items most likely to be of interest are those in the section of this same color, just below. But then, look around. Questions and comments/suggestions (about the web materials or about course content) welcome. It is fine to ask about questions that have come up in the course you are taking. Contact information

To contact the instructor, see contact information at bottom of this page.

The following part of this page lists the same links as in the colored sections above, but gives more information.

Pages most likely to be of interest to students during the course, and to students of similar courses looking for ideas or help...

Handouts. Most class handouts (as PDFs).

Practice quizzes (some with answer keys).

Tests. Sample tests, with answer keys, and other test-related information, including use of a note page on tests.

Chemistry practice problems. This page links to a variety of practice problems at various places on the web site. They include the "quizzes" and "tests", shown immediately above. They also include a range of self-help worksheets for selected introductory chemistry topics. Some were written for this course, some for other courses. For many, the general approach is that basic knowledge of the topic is assumed (that is, these are intended for review and practice), the main issues are presented briefly, and there are lots of practice problems. Topics for such worksheets include: Dimensional analysis (Ch 3); Density (Ch 3); Exploring the chemistry of the earth's crust (Ch 5, mostly); Formulas of ionic compounds (Ch 6); Naming chemicals (Ch 6); Mass-mole interconversions (Ch 7); Solutions: Molarity (Ch 16); Solutions: Percentage (Ch 16); Solutions: Dilutions (Ch 16); pH, water (Ch 18); Strong acids (Ch 18); Weak acids (Ch 18); Buffers (Ch 18).

Internet resources. Includes all links mentioned in class handouts, plus some others that may be of interest.

Metric prefixes, from quetta to quecto. Examples are shown, to help you relate to the size of the units that include these prefixes.

Using your scientific calculator. A form to help you discover key features of your calculator, and to submit that information for inclusion here. Information for a small sampling of calculators is now available.

Glossary. This glossary was started for the Organic/Biochem course, to supplement the textbook. However, over time, it seems useful to add terms for other courses or other web site topics that come up. Suggested additions (and comments) encouraged.

Significant figures - a beginner's guide. A major purpose of the page is to help the beginning student sort out the most important -- higher priority -- parts of the sig fig story.

Writing, drawing and viewing chemical formulas. An overview of programs that help you write, draw or view chemicals. It refers to the following, among others:

ChemFormula. ChemFormula is a Word macro to assist you in formatting chemical expressions.

The programs listed in this group are for drawing molecular structures. The drawings can be converted to 3D, and viewed either within a module of this program or within RasMol (below). The drawings are also easily imported into Word. The links are to guides that I have written.
* ChemSketch - An Introductory Guide.
* ISIS/Draw - An Introductory Guide.

RasMol - An Introductory Guide. Help getting started with the RasMol computer program for viewing molecular structures on your computer. Especially useful with Ch 3-4 (basic organic structures), 6 (chirality) and 15 (proteins), but also generally useful. Also see items above, for drawing structures that can be viewed with RasMol.

Syllabus (partial), showing    overview, prerequisites, customizing the course,    textbook information,    list of topics.

Supplemental information. Miscellaneous additional information about the course, especially for prospective students with questions. This might be thought of an a supplement to the syllabus.

Tips for success. This was written in a different context, but the idea is the same. Those who are new to college-level classes, or who have not taken one in a long time, might find this page useful. Read it for the general tone.

Journal. A long-term (semester-long) project for chem awareness. The page may be of interest to teachers, who can adapt it as appropriate.

Molecular models. Information about obtaining or improvising molecular models. Models are not required for Introductory Chemistry, but can be of some use with the chapters on molecular shape.

Files available for download. Current files include a periodic table handout; ChemFormula, a macro that helps you when using Microsoft Word for writing chemical expressions; and a kit for making your own buckyballs (Fig 6.2e and p 416). It also links to the page of Chemistry practice problems. (Files for current handouts are not on this page; they are on the Handouts page.)

Evening chem courses. Information about chemistry courses, especially Organic Chemistry, available in the evening in the San Francisco Bay area.

Library matters. Information on using the library system, including electronic resources, and information on searching for articles, using databases such as PubMed (Medline). Includes sources of online journals, some of which are free. Parts of the page focus on UC Berkeley, but much of the information here will be generally useful to people not at UC. For example, PubMed is freely available to the public. Further, some may adapt the given information to their library system, and to other databases. Major topic areas here include: UC Berkeley library; electronic journals; journal articles; PubMed searches; citation searches. This page is also listed on the Site Home Page (under General resources), on course pages, and on the list of pages of Internet resources.

Unusual microbes. A brief discussion of some of the oddities of the microbial world, organisms that capture our imagination by being different.

Musings is an informal newsletter mainly highlighting recent science. It is intended as both fun and instructive. Items are posted a few times each week. See the Introduction on the Musings page for more information.

Further reading:

Chapter handouts for    Chemistry (Intro, General) (this course)    Chemistry (Organic, biochemistry)    Molecular biology

Materials posted under Biotechnology in the News. BITN

A page focusing on articles with a medical emphasis; this page relates most directly to the Lipids and Metabolism sections of the Organic/Biochem course, but is becoming more general. Medical topics

A page of older articles, which used to be in chapter handouts -- still of some interest, but older than I prefer for current handouts. Old articles

A page describing how to find classic papers. Classic papers. This page lists sources of "classic papers", in both chemistry and molecular biology. Some are sources on the Internet, some are notes about printed collections. Reading some of the classic papers in a field can be a fun way to explore history -- and to discover the different style of scientific papers long ago.

Books: Suggestions for general science reading. Includes chemistry, but also a wide range of science.

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Last update: September 8, 2024