Housecroft and Sharpe: Inorganic Chemistry, 3ed

Submitted by Lori Watson / Earlham College on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 20:01
Description

Housecroft and Sharpe (Inorganic Chemistry, 3ed): This is a comprehensive inorganic textbook designed primarily for students at the Junior/Senior level. P-Chem would not be needed as a prerequisite for this text, but would be helpful. It includes both theoretical and descriptive material along with special topics, enough for a two semester course though it is easily adaptable to a one-semester "advanced inorganic" course by choosing only some topics. It is written in a clear and generally readable style and the full-color graphic contribute to student understanding.

What happens when chemical compounds are added to water?

Submitted by Barbara Reisner / James Madison University on Sat, 11/17/2007 - 18:38
Description

It’s very surprising how little students remember from general chemistry.  This assignment helps students make connections between the macroscopic properties of solutions and what happens at the molecular level.  This activity serves as a bridge between sections on acid-base chemistry and coordination chemistry.

Students are solicited for their models of the behavior of different chemical compounds in water in class and asked to put these models on the board.  We then look at the properties of these solutions (color, acid-base) and refine these models in class.