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Chemistry LibreTexts

For the Student

  • Page ID
    374163
    • Anonymous
    • LibreTexts
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    In addition to being free, there are a few other reasons why this textbook might be preferable to a commercial textbook. The content covered in this book is the same as what would be covered in a commercial textbook, but the presentation is different in ways which could be beneficial to students who are familiar with the Internet. As you complete the information in one section or subsection, you can click on a link to move forward to the next page or to go back if you think you need further understanding. This will be helpful to navigating the text, but it is also important to understand the overall organization of it as detailed in the following paragraphs.

    In general, the chapter headings will give you an indication of how each chapter is organized around sections and sometimes subsections. If a section has subsections, there will be some additional information there as well related to this organization. The book is organized in this way so that you have an understanding going into each section where to break before continuing on to the next material. In general, the material within a single section will be related and should be mastered before moving on to the next section. Sometimes the next section requires that you know the information in the preceding section.

    Because there is no limit on the length of an online textbook, redundant information was included so that you have as much information as you need. In some cases there will be redundant information in adjacent sections. Generally when this happens, there is a series of subsections that go into more detail followed by a section with more condensed information. Your professor might prefer you reading one of the sections to the other, depending upon how much time is devoted to this information in your class.

    Throughout the textbook you will find several hyperlinks to either other parts of this book or to other books. If the link is to another part of this book, it is either a reminder of when relevant material had been covered earlier in the course or a precursor to material which will be covered later. The most common case where a link goes to a separate textbook is within the homework sets. Homework sets have often been curated from other textbooks than much of the chapter content. These links should be treated as additional information which could be helpful in solving some of the homework problems if you find that this text does not help you with those problems. At the same time, there may be homework questions which are beyond the scope of this text, so please check with your professor on whether or not those particular questions are important for you to master.

    Often times these hyperlinks will link back to previous content which is necessary to understand for the new material being presented. Sometimes this material is presented in a different order than many commercial textbooks, by breaking up some of the more difficult concepts across several chapters. You can think of this method of learning kind of like climbing a mountain: for the really steep parts we try to use switchbacks. If it’s more convenient for you to learn all of this knowledge at once instead of getting an initial taste and then coming back to it later, there will be hyperlinks helping you to find that information when it is presented in this way.

    Finally, you should know that there are points within this textbook at which you will be expected to come up with some ideas before moving forward. It is in your best interest to do this, as often the ideas you come up with are things that you will understand better than the ideas which somebody else comes up with.

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