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Introduction to Chemistry & the Environment

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    About This Book

    Chemistry is the science that helps us understand the world at every scale—from the atoms that make up matter to the complex environmental systems that sustain life. Whether we are examining the quality of our drinking water, understanding how medications work, investigating pollutants in soil, or explaining why ice floats, chemistry provides the language and tools to make sense of the natural world.

    This textbook was developed as an Open Educational Resource (OER) to provide students with an engaging, affordable, and accessible introduction to chemistry. Throughout the book, foundational chemical principles are introduced using examples drawn from environmental science, biology, medicine, forensic science, and everyday life. Rather than presenting chemistry as a collection of isolated facts and equations, each chapter emphasizes how chemical concepts connect to real-world systems and contemporary challenges.

    The text begins with the fundamental skills required for success in chemistry, including measurement, scientific notation, dimensional analysis, and the organization of the periodic table. Students then explore atomic structure, chemical bonding, molecular geometry, polarity, and intermolecular forces—building a conceptual framework for understanding why substances behave the way they do.

    With this foundation established, the book examines chemical reactions, stoichiometry, solutions, and aqueous chemistry. Particular emphasis is placed on water as the universal solvent and on the role of chemistry in environmental systems. Students investigate topics such as water quality, contaminants, nutrient cycling, acid-base chemistry, and the chemical processes that influence ecosystems and human health. Throughout the text, examples highlight current environmental issues, including persistent pollutants such as PFAS, demonstrating how molecular structure influences chemical behavior in the environment.

    Each chapter includes worked examples, practice problems, illustrations, and real-world applications designed to strengthen conceptual understanding while developing quantitative problem-solving skills. Visual models are used extensively to help students connect symbolic chemical equations with the molecular-level interactions they represent.

    By the end of this book, students will be able to:

    • Apply measurement techniques and dimensional analysis to solve chemical problems.
    • Explain atomic structure and periodic trends.
    • Predict ionic and covalent bonding patterns.
    • Determine molecular geometry, polarity, and intermolecular forces.
    • Describe how molecular structure influences physical and chemical properties.
    • Classify and balance chemical reactions.
    • Perform stoichiometric calculations using balanced chemical equations.
    • Calculate solution concentrations and dilution relationships.
    • Explain acid-base chemistry and interpret pH in aqueous systems.
    • Connect chemical principles to environmental processes, biological systems, and human health.

    Above all, this book aims to help students recognize that chemistry is not simply a subject learned in the classroom—it is a way of understanding the world. Every drop of water, every breath of air, every living organism, and every material we encounter is governed by chemical principles. By learning to think like a chemist, students gain powerful tools for exploring, protecting, and improving the environment around them.

    This page titled Introduction to Chemistry & the Environment is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Hadeel Abozenadah, Adam Bishop, Scott Bitner, Kaysha Lehman and Patricia Flatt.