Practical Skills in Chemistry, 3rd edition

Published by Pearson (September 14, 2017) © 2018
  • John Dean
  • Alan M Jones
  • David A Holmes
  • Rob Reed
  • Jonathan Weyers
  • Allan Jones

Title overview

Practical Skills in Chemistry 3rd edition is a highly unique textbook that combines a wealth of practical knowledge and skills with the more technical aspects of chemistry.  It provides a general guidance for use in and out of practical sessions, covering a range of techniques from the basic to the more advanced.  It also provides a solid grounding in wider transferable skills such as teamwork, using information technology, communicating information and study skills.

Hallmark Features

  • New content layout to aid readability
  • 'One-stop' guide to the key practical skills needed in chemistry.
  • Information presented in a clear and user-friendly manner, tailored directly for the mastery of basic laboratory skills.
  • Numerous margin tips and hints, 'how to' boxes, checklists, worked examples and study exercises.
  • Guidance on numerical aspects, including statistics.
  • Chapters grouped into key topics.
  • Fully updated guide to health and safety, project work, Raman spectroscopy, internet resources and enhancing your cv.
  • New chapters on molecular formulae and X-ray diffraction.
  • Generic guidance regarding Microsoft office software, rather than version-specific details.

New to this Edition

Now in its third edition, Practical Skills in Chemistry 3e has been enhanced and updated throughout to provide a complete and easy-to-read guide to the developing skills required from the first day of studies through to graduation. This Edition provides:

  • New content layout to aid readability
  • Fully updated guide to health and safety, project work, Raman spectroscopy, internet resources and enhancing your CV.
  • New chapters on molecular formulae and X-ray diffraction.
  • Generic guidance regarding Microsoft office software, rather than version-specific details.

Key features

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Table of contents

Study and examination skills

  1. 1. The importance of transferable skills
  2. 2. Managing your time
  3. 3. Working with others
  4. 4. Taking notes from lectures and texts
  5. 5. Learning and revising
  6. 6. Curriculum options, assessments and exams
  7. 7. Preparing your curriculum vitae

Information technology and library resources

  1. 8. Finding and citing published information
  2. 9. Evaluating information
  3. 10. Using online resources
  4. 11. Internet resources for chemistry
  5. 12. Using spreadsheets
  6. 13. Word processors, databases and other packages

Communicating information

  1. 14. Organising a poster display
  2. 15. Giving a spoken presentation
  3. 16. General aspects of scientific writing
  4. 17. Writing essays
  5. 18. Reporting practical and project work
  6. 19. Writing literature surveys and reviews

Fundamental laboratory techniques

  1. 20. Your approach to practical work
  2. 21. Health and safety
  3. 22. Working with liquids
  4. 23. Basic laboratory procedures I
  5. 24. Basic laboratory procedures II
  6. 25. Principles of solution chemistry
  7. 26. pH and buffer solutions

The investigative approach

  1. 27. Making and recording measurements
  2. 28. SI units and their use
  3. 29. Scientific method and design of experiments
  4. 30. Project work

Laboratory techniques

  1. 31. Melting points
  2. 32. Recrystallisation
  3. 33. Solvent extraction
  4. 34. Distillation
  5. 35. Reflux
  6. 36. Evaporation
  7. 37. Inert atmosphere methods
  8. 38. Combinatorial chemistry

Classical techniques

  1. 39. Qualitative techniques for inorganic analysis
  2. 40. Gravimetry
  3. 41. Procedures in volumetric analysis
  4. 42. Acid–base titrations
  5. 43. Complexometric titrations
  6. 44. Redox titrations
  7. 45. Precipitation titrations

Instrumental techniques

  1. 46. Fundamental principles of quantitative chemical analysis
  2. 47. Calibration and quantitative analysis
  3. 48. Basic spectroscopy
  4. 49. Atomic spectroscopy
  5. 50. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy
  6. 51. Chromatography – basic principles
  7. 52. Gas and liquid chromatography
  8. 53. Electrophoresis
  9. 54. Electroanalytical techniques
  10. 55. Radioactive isotopes and their uses
  11. 56. Infrared spectroscopy
  12. 57. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
  13. 58. Mass spectrometry
  14. 59. Thermal analysis

Analysis and presentation of data

  1. 60. Using graphs
  2. 61. Presenting data in tables
  3. 62. Hints for solving numerical problems
  4. 63. Descriptive statistics
  5. 64. Choosing and using statistical tests
  6. 65. Drawing chemical structures
  7. 66. Chemometrics
  8. 67. Computational chemistry

Author bios

John R Dean is Professor in Analytical and Environmental Sciences at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle

Alan M Jones was Head of Chemical Sciences at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle,

David Holmes is Associate Dean of the Keith B. Taylor Global Scholars Programme, St George’s University School of Medicine (Grenada), based at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle

Rob Reed is Adjunct Professor (Education & Science) at Central Queensland University, Australia

Jonathan Weyers is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Dundee

Allan Jones is Chancellor’s Award Fellow in Ecology, Environmental Science and Zoology at the University of Dundee.

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