Review Your Chemistry Textbook

Test Preparation AP Sciences
1

<p>** What do you use as your primary textbook for AP Chemistry? **</p>

<p>"Chemistry" - Raymond Chang (10th Edition)</p>

<p>We call this book Chang, partly because he's awesome for writing an entire chemistry textbook, and partly because AP Chemistry is probably the hardest class offered at our school (as there isn't a pre-ap chemistry of any sort). Chang is a very fluctuating textbook with flowery prose in one chapter and solid information that those without a chemistry background can read and understand. The diagrams and example problems are fantastic, and each section is loaded with problems at the end of each chapter, but I find myself having to reread it a few times, take thorough notes during lectures, and go in outside of class to ask clarifying questions - so for those of you who want to self-study chemistry or the like, I would not recommend it, but with a good teacher and proper motivation, Chang is a nice partner to have in the journey of AP Chemistry.</p>

<p>On a side note, Chang just released the Eleventh Edition of his Chemistry textbook and it has a 100% rating on Amazon. I might ask our teacher to check it out.</p>

<p>Now it's your turn to share.</p>

2

<p>I used Brown and Lemay (Chemistry: The Central Science). Sometimes overkill for the AP exam, but a great supplement to the course when you read it.</p>

3

<p>We are using Zumdahl’s 7th edition. For regular chem last year, we used World of Chemistry by Zumdahl also.</p>

4

<p>Last year we used Zumdahl 6th edition. It was readable, but there was nothing special about it. The information was adequate, but there is the occasional junk, like the information about uses of chemicals in the industry and stuff. Also, the last few chapters were useless.</p>

5

<p>What is the best textbook for this class?</p>

6

<p>My AP chemistry class (I took it last year) uses Chemistry: The Central Science. The explanations are good, examples are good, and all the topics on the AP exam are covered in the book. This book got me a 5.</p>

7

<p>My school uses The Central Science. Like others said, very dense with information, but also very good.</p>

8

<p>What about Petrucci’s general Chemistry? It is the most extensive of all.
From my experience, I’ll arrange the chem books in order of decreasing quality.

  • Petrucci’s General Chemistry
  • Brown’s Chemistry Central Science
  • Chang’s Chemistry/Whitten’s Chemistry (both rank same)
  • Zumdahl’s Chemistry </p>