General Chemistry Online! - an interactive guide and Web resource for students and teachers of introductory college chemistry, maintained by Fred Senese of Frostberg State University (MD). A well-organized wealth of material, including collections of notes and guides for introductory General Chemistry, skills checklists and online self-grading examinations, and a Q&A column.
An Introduction to Chemistry - an online version of a text by Mark Bishop of Monterey Peninsula College (CA). It is intended primarily for students in beginning chemistry courses. ($20 "donate-ware", and well worth it!)
Virtual Chembook - this nicely-done site by Charles Ophardt of Elmhurst College covers a wide swath of general, organic, and environmental chemistry. The text material is interesting and well written without attempting to be encyclopedic.
General Chemistry Virtual Textbook - a collection of comprehensive, in-depth treatments of various topics, intended to supplement or replace conventional textbook treatments. It is aimed mainly at the first-year college level, but advanced high school students will find much of it useful. (Steve Lower, Simon Fraser University)
Chemistry Web Resources - this site maintained by Ron Rinehart of Monterey Peninsula College contains a wealth of material oriented toward chemical education, all well organized in a visually-attractive way.
MIT Open CourseWare Chemistry site contains lecture notes and in some cases video lectures for a large number of undergraduate and graduate courses.
Introductory University chemistry - these are the excellent sets of notes for now-retired Prof. Jim Plambeck's two-semester course at the University of Alberta.
The Chem Team - a high school chemistry course
Chemistry Screencasts is a collection of mini-lectures on various chemistry topics with pictures and sound by Mark Ott of Jackson (MI) Community College. They can be downloaded to your hard drive and played in iTunes, or seen/heard directly online. You have a choice of first-semester and second-semester topics.
CHEMystery: an interactive guide to chemistry. A collection of topics related to high school chemistry. This site was developed by a group of students for a 1997 event and is probably not being maintained.
The ChemCollective student page has links to practice problems and tutorials on various topics.
Chemistry AP Exam Practice - this site was built by a Chemistry teacher to help his students prepare for the AP exam, and is worth looking at!
College physics for students of biology and chemistry - This hypertextbook by Ken Koehler is nicely organized and is the ideal place to go when your Chemistry textbook lets you down.
How to pass chemistry - sound advice that is widely ignored.
High School Resources on the Web - this collection of links at Bob Jacob's Wilton HS site should be equally valuable for college-level General Chemistry.
This week in the history of Chemistry gives you a quick view of where it all came from.
Discovery and naming of the chemical elements - this site by David Trapp organizes the elements according to whether their names are derived from celestial objects, places, minerals, etc.
Discovery of the elements - {Elementistory} provides very brief summaries; the Los Alamos periodic table offers more comprehensive information.
"Story Problems" - some practical advice for those addicted to "plug-and-chug".
Chemistry Problems - worked examples - This About.com site has a fair selection.
Doc Brown's Chemistry Clinic- general review/revision site for UK GCSE, AS and A2 chemistry and USA/Canada grades 9-12. Revision notes, multiple choice tests, structured questions, graphics and extensive links to useful and interesting CHEMISTRY sites. One site speciallity is the structure and naming of organic compounds.
ChemistryCoach is a high school course support page of enclyclopedic proportions. Authored by Bob Jacobs of Wilton High School, this well-organized site contains hundreds of links that will be of interest to students at both the high school and first-year college levels.
ChemTutor covers a variety of topics - aimed mainly at HS and AP Chemistry.
General Chemistry Virtual Textbook - A reliable set of lecture notes covering a complete college-level course by Michael Blaber of Florida State U. Look in the left-hand frame to see what topics are available.
Merlin's Principles of Alchemy is a chemistry hypertextbook in the form of a large set of HTML files that users download and then view with their Web browsers off-line. It is organized in an interesting way, and is intended to support users having a wide range of backgrounds and capabilities, including home-schoolers and adult learners. There is a nominal charge for downloading the material.
Science Help Online Chemistry Lessons - a nice set of lessons and reference materials by Greg Curran of Fordham Preparatory School.
Quantum theory and the atom - a well-organized and understandable set of Web pages covering quantum mechanics and its applications, including such practical ones as cat scans and microwave ovens. Well worth a look!
Virginia Tech's HyperMedia site has some nice General Chemistry tutorial pages.
The basics
What is Chemistry all about? An introduction to chemical science. This tutorial attempts to present the major concepts that define modern chemistry, without, of course, getting into the gory details! The unit concludes with an illustrated summary of the main currents of modern chemistry. (S. Lower, Simon Fraser U.)
Preliminaries: stuff you should know before delving too far into Chemistry - tutorials covering the following topics: classification and properties of matter, density and buoyancy, energy, heat and temperature, units and dimensions, measurement error, significant figures and rounding off (these last three topics are identical with the first three in the lesson described immediately below.) (S. Lower, Simon Fraser U.)
Matter and measure: all about units, uncertainty, significant figures,and how to deal with experimental error. Thorough coverage of the basic ideas relating to units and dimensions, the SI system, accuracy, precision, and uncertainty in measurements, significant figures and rounding off, treatment of random and systematic error, standard deviation. (S. Lower, Simon Fraser U.)
ChemBalancer and Element Quiz - four games you can play online.
Balancing Chemical Equations - 1270 reactions, organized into easy, intermediate, and "challenging".
Introduction to basic atomics, mole concept, calculations based on formulas and equations, and nomenclature - (S.K. Lower, SFU) these five lessons offer in-depth treatment of these topics at an introductory level.
Acids and bases
All about acids and bases - this set of seven lessons covers everything you need to know about the fundamental concepts (Arrhenius, Brønsted-Lowry, and Lewis) of acids and bases. Other lessons cover an elementary treatment of pH and titration, how to recognize acidic and basic substances from their structures, and a gallery of commonly-encountered acids and bases. Aside from the material on pH, there is no math in this lesson set; acid-base equilibrium calculations are not covered here.
Acid-base without algebra A simple graphical method of solving pH problems that gives as good answers as algebraic solutions and provides a global view of what species are significant at any pH. Especially useful for polyprotic systems which would otherwise require solution of many simultaneous equations.
ChemBuddy pH Calculation tutorials - an extensive set of online tutorials covering most aspects of acid-base calculations.
The fall of the proton: Will this acid react with that base? How to understand acid-base reactions (This simple view of modern acid-base theory dates from 1954, but still hasn't made it into the standard textbooks.
Acid-base review (UNC-Chapel Hill) offers a compact treatment of the fundamentals of acid-base calculations.
Acid-base titration simulator - this easy-to-use page allows you to explore a large variety of acid-base systems, including polyprotic ones. There is also the choice of using "first-year" or mass-charge balance methods.
Atomic theory
Atoms and the periodic table - a six-chapter first-year level treatment of basic quantum theory, atomic spectra, electron configurations, chemical periodicity and the organization of the periodic table. Part of S.K. Lower's General Chemistry Virtual Textbook.
Basic atomics: atoms, elements, and isotopes - an introductory treatment for beginning students, suitable for the very early part of a general chemistry course. (SK Lower, Simon Fraser University)
Introduction to the electronic structure of atoms and molecules - a well-organized series of pages which extend into chemical bonding. (Alfred Bader, McMaster U)
Primer on Quantum Theory of the Atom - A set of in-frequently asked questions in the form of a quantum catechism.
Atomic orbital visualization - see the The Orbitron: a gallery of orbitals -- and also the references on our visualization page.
What is a wave function? What is an orbital? An Introduction to Quantum Mechanics - a set of 16 modules with text, diagrams, and [optional] spoken descriptions from Ohio State University.
Chemical Bonding
All about chemical bonding (Steve Lower, SFU) - this 10-part site provides in-depth coverage of everything you need to know about molecular structure and bonding at the General Chemistry level. Includes separate sections on polar covalence, VESPR, hybrid orbitals, molecular orbitals, coordination complexes and metals.
Chemical bonding - the really basic stuff! (S. Lower, Simon Fraser U.)
Models of chemical bonding - Do chemical bonds really exist? Nobody has ever "seen" one, so the best we can do is construct models. Here is a brief summary of those you should know about.
Covalent, ionic, or what? Coming to terms with covalent, ionic, and metallic bonding, and with mixtures thereof. Guaranteed to give you more insight to this than your textbook does!
The electron-tunneling model of chemical bonding How can those electron-dot diagrams showing shared electrons happily sitting between the nuclei be consistent with the principle that opposite charges attract? The model described here is the simplest one that really explains bonding, but you are unlikely to find it in any textbook!
VSEPR theory - This summary with easy access to many images is a hypertext version of the chapter on this subject from a textbook by Mark Winnter (U Sheffield).
VSEPR for General Chemistry - This Purdue University site features a useful set of practice problems and requires the downloadable CHIME plug-in.
Electrochemistry
All about Electrochemistry - An in-depth, comprehensive treatment (Steve Lower)
Electrochemistry: Voltaic & Electrolytic Cells (Ralph Logan)
{Electrochemistry class notes} (1997-2004) by J. Baird of Brown Univ.
Gases
Properties of gases: matter at its simplest - a six-part "virtual textbook" treatment of the gaseous state of matter by Steve Lower. Includes numerous examples of application of kinetic molecular theory and a section on real gases.
Intermolecular forces
Kinetics
Chemical Kinetics site by Ron Poshusta of Washington State U provides a nicely organized introduction.
Chung chieh's Chemical Kinetics tutorial at U of Waterloo (Canada) includes test questions with answers.
Kinetics Explorer - an introduction to the study of chemical kinetics based on the exploration of dynamic phenomena. Includes some good simulations. (St. Olaf College)
Chemical kinetics simulation page from {UC-Irvine}
> Principles of Chemical Dynamics tutorial (WPI) is college-level with problem examples
Moles, formulas and reaction calculations
Chemical reaction stoichiometry site provides tutorials for both beginners and advanced students on how to generate a proper set of chemical equations to represent the stoichiometry of a reacting system of any degree of complexity.
The mole concept, calculations based on formulas and equations - these three chapters of the Chem1 Virtual Textbook provide in-depth treatment at an elementary level.
{Molar Masses}: Atomic, molecular and formula masses or "weights" - a nice tutorial, with built-in quiz, for beginning students. (David Dice)
Balancing Chemical Equations - this ChemTeam site provides numerous links and drills.
Oxidation-Reduction
The fall of the electron. How to predict the direction of oxidation-reduction reactions. Discussion of the activity series of the elements and of oxidation-reduction in metabolism. (S.K. Lower, SFU)
Redox reactions (UNC-Chapel Hill) Good summary of how to balance redox reactions; also covers cell potentials and Faraday's laws.
Play the Chirality Game - a nice introduction to mirror-image chemistry by the Nobel Institute.
Nuclear Chemistry
{Nuclear chemistry tutorial} by Steve Marsden
The Particle Adventure: the fundamentals of matter and force. This Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory site allows you to explore the world of fundamental particles and forces and then to investigate the experimental evidence and techniques.
Periodic Tables
For periodic table T-shirts, neckties, etc., see here
{ChemistryCoach's Periodic Table links} - a huge but well-organized list of every possible kind of periodic table you can think of, as well as games, software, etc. (≤ 10/2006)
ChemiCool Periodic Table (MIT)
Chinese periodic tables - Yes, there are such things! Here's an impressive one, and see this Wikipedia article which has some examples.
Comic book periodic table - if both comics and chemistry are important in your life, you'll love this!
It's Elemental - this is not so much a periodic table as a series of links to excellent and interesting articles focussing on the history and uses of each element, written by authors having special expertise or interest in the element. Written in a style more journalistic than scientific, this set of articles appeared in a special 80th anniversary edition of Chemical & Engineering News.
iPod periodic table - well, it's not really the whole table, but just a handy element database to store along with your music.
Periodic Table of Poetry "Chemistry and poetry together as never before."
Periodic Table of Haiku - for those who find elements lyrical.
> WebElements (Sheffield, UK) The elements in this online periodic table are linked to an extensive variety of chemical and physical data as well as background, crystallographic, nuclear, electronic, biological and geological information. You can ever hear how the Brits prounounce the name of the element!
Significant figures
Significant figures and rounding off: How to avoid telling lies with numbers. Provides an understandable, in-depth explanation with many examples. Provides an understandable, in-depth explanation with many examples. (S.K. Lower, Chem1 Virtual Textbook)
See also Brad Thompson's "{Good enough for Chemistry}: a tragedy in three scenes".
Solids and materials
Exploring the Nanoworld - This wonderful site is maintained by the NSF-financed Interdisciplinary Education Group at U Wisc-Madison. It uses examples of nanotechnology and advanced materials to explore science and engineering concepts mainly at the college level, but there are also sections for K-12. There are links to movies, lab experiments, kits (including Lego nanobricks) and instructional materials.
BuckyBalls (Buckminsterfullerenes, those soccer-ball-like carbon structures)
- The {Fullerene Science Module} (Bleeke and Frey, Washington U) provides a nice introduction;
- The Stoneybrook Buckyball server has an extensive directory of links to other fullerene sites.
Polymers. The outstanding site > Macrogalleria covers the structures and properties of polymers in an uncommonly engaging way. Highly recommended.
Thermodynamics
Chemical Energetics: all about enthalpy, thermochemistry and the First Law of thermodynamics - An extensive, in-depth but largely non-mathematical substitute for the usual (and rather thin) textbook treatment. S.K. Lower, Simon Fraser University
Thermodynamics of equilibrium: all about entropy, free energy, the Second Law of thermodynamics, and why reactions take place— sometimes. S.K. Lower, Simon Fraser University.
{The Page of EntRopY} - a very understandable exposition of this difficult topic by Dave Slaven of Saginaw Valley State U.
The Second Law: The biggest, most powerful, most general idea in all of science. A lively, non-mathematical exposition of the way that entropy and activation energy battle it out in the world as we know it. By Frank Lambert of Occidental College. An alternative version, directed to non-science students and adults, is also available. See also Lambert's non-technical description of how activation energies modify the application of the Second Law. See also Shakespeare and Thermodynamics: Dam the Second Law, and this "What is entropy?" conversation.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics, Evolution, and Probability. Explains how the development and evolution of life is consistent with the principle that the entropy of the world never decreases.
Kelvin is Lord!! All praise Lord Kelvin! A spoof cult site for the thermodynamically inclined.
Units and conversion factors
Units, measures and conversions dictionary - provides a summary of most of the units of measurement to be found in use around the world today (and a few of historical interest), together with the appropriate conversion factors needed to change them into a 'standard' unit of the SI.
Units and dimensions for chemistry - includes charts showing the ranges of the scales such as length, mass, temperature, etc. that are important in chemistry.
Just ask Antoine - If your instructor doesn't have the answer, try here! Conducted by Fred Senese of Frostberg State University (MD) as part of "Project Antoine".
The Chemistry Cluster is a Yahoo group where you can ask (or answer!) questions.
Chemical Forums for students of Chemistry - a place where you can post questions and answers. There are separate forums for high school chemistry, college general chemistry, organic, analytical, physical nuclear and inorganic chemistry, and chemical biology, as well as others of more general interest. Registration is required, but it is free.
ChemiCool forums is another site on which you can post questions and answers relting to General Chemisry and biochemistry as well as organic, theoretical and computational chemistry.
Chemistry homework help - this compilation of sites, some free, some pay-per-answer, is the last resort for the desperate or the lazy.
The A through E approach to Problem Solving in Chemistry by David Woodcock of Okanagan University College in British Columbia, Canada. A series of handounts in Web page format describing how to approach General Chemistry problems.
The Alchemy Web Site - A very comprehensive source.
What is chemistry good for? (A nice rejoinder to those who accuse chemistry of polluting the world.)
Elemental discoveries A weekly 'zine featuring chemistry topics and reviews.
Measure Converter - conversion factors between SI and cgs units of all kinds, organized both by category and name of unit.
Mineral Gallery - A good minerology site with information and excellent photos of a large number of minerals organized both by name and by classification.
What is pseudoscience? All about pseudoscience, bad science, and pathological science. How to tell the difference from science. If you are interested in science, you ought to know something about the nonsense that is being flogged in the name of science. (S.K. Lower, Simon Fraser University)
Water to wine: The molecular basis of indicator color changes. A very well-done site with interesting graphics and lots of cross-links. Very readable and interesting, set at the "Scientific American" level and suitable for high school and introductory college courses.
General Chemistry Jeopardy games - a collection from U. Pittsburgh
Chemistry Trivia Quizzes - this site provides access to a variety of quizzes from different sources.
Humor
Chemistry Cartoons - from the collection of Mr. Seiler, an Illinois high school teacher.
Chemistry Joke-a-rama - guaranteed by the American Chemical Society to make you laugh.
Nearing Zero: an archive of largely satisfactory science cartoons from "Nick"
Science Jokes (including over 200 on Chemistry)
Molecules with silly or unusual (or suggestive) names - an amusing and informative site by Paul May of Bristol U (UK) that will likely have special appeal to teen males of all ages.
10 Ways To Get Thrown Out Of Chemistry Lab - (some a bit on the sick side)
Science humor WebRing - some of it is pretty corny.
Science, evolution, and creation: Ali G vs Kent Hovind (YouTube video)
{What students say - what professors hear} - this bit of wisdom was found on the Marshall U. (WV) site.
The story of Schroedinger's cat (an epic poem)
The Table of Condiments that Periodically Go Bad — taking the periodic table a bit too far!
"Ban DHMO" (dihydrogen monoxide) page. It can kill you! All about this nefarious chemical in our environment.
Nightmare acid-base lesson - one of Mark Wutka's WeirdWorks stories
"Never mix alkali metals with water" - "not your usual boring science video" from Braniac Science Abuse (Movie; 3 min 16 sec)
Sciences Jeopardy! Games - this U Pittsburgh site covers general, organic, analytical and biochemistry.
Chemistry-related apparel and accessories
Show the world that chemistry matters to you! Here are a few U.S. suppliers of periodic table T-shirts and other great conversation-starters.
ComputerGear's technology T-shirt page has an amusing selection of science- and chemistry-related T-shirts, a PT-necktie, and other stuff.
Lymax offers a variety of science-based T-shirts including DNA, Women in Science, and Black Hole (my favorite!)
SCIENCETeeCHER has a good selection of PT neckties (cheaper) and scarves.
Science On T-Shirts has a wide selection of Chemistry-related slogans, some pretty corny.
Made-with-molecules This scientist-turned artist with a fascination for molecules offers molecule-themed silver jewelry, keychains, baby gifts, holiday cards— and, for the guys, testosterone boxer shorts.
Chemistry of Cleaning - a nice overview of the nature of "dirt" and the agents used to get rid of it.
Science of Cooking - A well-designed site from the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco. Links to topics from bread to pickles help enhance understanding ot the science behind food and cooking.
What's in a modern laundry detergent? Surfactants, builders, flllers, brightening agents to attract consumer dollars.
More Food Chemistry sites: Chemistry of Chili Peppers - Chemistry of Tea - Dairy Chemistry and Physics - Chemistry and toxicity of Salt - Fire and spice: the molecular basis of flavor - Table of condiments that periodically go bad -
Freezing point depression FAQ - from "Ask Antoine"
Decomposition: what happens to the body after death - This site describes the natural chemical and biological processes that will eventually happen to all of us.
{The Happy Drinking Bird} - all about the various subspecies of "dippy birds", their history, and how they work. (≤ 7/2007)
How to boil an egg - all about eggs and the science of hard-boiling them by Charles Williams (U Exeter, UK)
Structure of ice cream - all about the chemistry and physics of your favorite treat from the Dairy Science Faculty of the Unversity of Guelph (Ontario, Canada)
Stain removal guide - here is something to make your parents regard you as a Chemistry expert!
Skunk Chemistry - what's the big stink about? This rather technical article tells the story of how we have come to know.
Why Did My Skin Turn Green? How to keep jewelry from discoloring your skin.
Why does eating asparagus make your pee stink? - Impress your friends with your understanding of their embarassing secrets! For information on other disgusting bodily fluids and odors, check out the Grossology site.
Why are things colored?
Why is water blue? It's all about O-H bond stretching!
The Causes of Color section has pages on Why is water blue? and What causes the blue color that sometimes appears in snow and ice?
The molecular basis of indicator color change (from the General Chemistry Online site)
Why do leaves become brightly colored in the autumn? Who says that science can't help us appreciate the beauties of nature?
Why is the sky blue? An introduction to Rayleigh scattering.
Intelli Balancer - this downloadable, Windows-only program will balance almost any chemical equation for you.
The Atomic Mac is a shareware periodic table-oriented database including isotopic and nuclear data) on the elements. Also includes a molecular weight calculator.
Atom-in-a-box is a Macintosh shareware application that displays atomic orbitals in real-time.
3D Chemical Elements Screensaver is also an interactive Periodic Table and 3D Atom Modelling program. $20 and for Windows only.
Chem1 Concept Builder for General Chemistry - now Free!
This set of lessons that provide guided, interactive instruction in General Chemistry at the college and advanced high school levels.These materials are suitable for home study or as a supplement to a formal course. All lessons start at a very elementary level, and many of them go somewhat beyond the content of the standard first-year course, making them useful to students enrolled in analytical chemistry, biochemistry, and environmental chemistry courses. Windows 3.1 throuhgh XP.
ChemBuddy pH Calculator calculates the pH of any mixture of strong/weak/polyprotic acids and bases, with or without ionic strength or ativity corrections, and can draw titration curves. It also contains an extensive database of acid/base data.
Chemistry structure-drawing software
ChemSketch is a free Windows-only application from ACD that offers 3D optimization, viewing and rotation, cut and paste into other applications, and tautomer prediction. Bob Bruner's ChemSketch - An Introductory Guide shows how to use it.
ChemDraw "is the industry standard software used by scientists worldwide to draw accurate, chemically-aware structures for use in database queries, preparation of publication-quality graphics, and entry for modeling and other programs that require an electronic description of molecules and reactions." Versions are available for both Windows and Mac-OS, and a deep discount is available to students.
EasyChem is a free multi-platform GPL program that draws publication-quality structures.
ISIS/Draw is a free drawing 2- and 3-D structures quickly and easily. Greg Pearce has prepared an Inroductory Guide that will get you started!
Sources of free molecular modeling software are listed at the MathMol site -
Free software from the Journal of Chemical Education's JCE Software series is now available. The catch: it is pre-Windows (DOS), but some of it is quite good.
Trinity software offers student discounts on all its products which include a number of titles in General Chemistry.
Molecular weight calculators
MoleCalc (for Macintosh only) is a pop-up molecular weight calculator that is one of the best we have seen. It uses a periodic table layout to select the elements and a numeric pad for subscripts. This is a demo which can be registered inexpensively via the Internet
(Download MoleCalc demo now; 180 K)Free Molecular weight calculators by Matthew Monroe (Windows only)
An on-line molecular weight calculator done in JavaScript
Stark Design's Atomic Microscope package allows you to model large collections of molecules as they collide and bounce off one another.
CurTiPot acid-base software - All-in-one freeware for pH and acid-base equilibrium calculations and for simulation and analysis of Potentiometric Titration Curves.
Model ChemLab is a real-time 2-D simulation of a chemistry lab in which the user interacts with animated lab equipment in a large number of experiment modules (see list.) An inexpensive version is available for about $25. Macintosh and Windows; Free demo available by download.
MoluCAD is a full-featured molecular modeling and visualization tool designed for personal computing platforms. It was developed with NSF support and is available to students at a very low price. Both Macintosh and Windows versions can be downloaded. The latest version incorporates many advanced features only found in expensive workstation-based modeling packages. Novice users are able to quickly generate models, view them form any perspective, create reaction animations, and save all data to disk.
For Chem junkies only! The Chemical Thesaurus is a huge (200 Mb) collection of information about chemical reactions, phase changes and radiochemistry organized into a relational database. It is free for personal use and available in both Windows and Macintosh versions.
WebChemDrill - this Web-delivered software is free for students and contains over 4000 exercises related to general chemistry.
