Chemistry: Concepts and Problems : A Self-Teaching Guide 2nd Edition

When the clep administrator at my institution informed me that no one he had ever given the chemistry clep to had passed, I decided to take the preparation very seriously. I began researching how other people had passed the test and ordered several materials. After 8+ years of no chemistry, my chemistry knowledge was not very good, so I had to prepare more than someone who just finished a high school chem or college intro chem course. If you are starting from scratch or just want to make sure you pass this test, then this is what I would recommend. Begin with the Wiley, "Chemistry Concepts and Problems: A Self Teaching Guide." This book is written in a continuous question and answer format that reviews and tests your knowledge to build a strong foundation of chemistry knowledge and problem solving. Then simultaneously study REA's "CLEP Chimistry," by Peel (I strongly recommend getting the book and CD with two practice tests included) with the Chemistry CLEP Professor software. You will find the REA book to be very summarized. I bought that first and felt like I needed more help. I found the CLEP Professor and gave it a try. My comprehension and retention immediately began skyrocketing, in addition to my practice test scores! The CLEP Professor follows the exact format and order of information of the book, but fills in a lot of the gaps. You may opt to purchase a general chemistry textbook to look up additional information on specific questions, but I would not recommend studying it alone to pass. There is too much information not focused for the CLEP exam that will make you forget what you need to know. You can also research anything you need to know more about online making the textbook unnecessary. I would recommend at least one month to go through these three materials. You should plan to spend about two weeks on the Wiley Self Study and two weeks on the CLEP professor and REA book together. That will give you 6 practice tests to work on. I recommend taking one practice test while you are studying the last two materials every other day. This will show you what you are learning and what you need to learn. Spend one month and about a total of $150 and you can save two semesters of time and about $2000. You should pass easily if you follow the three steps of this program: 1-Wiley Self-Teaching Guide, 2-CLEP Professor and REA CLEP Chemistry, 3-Take practice tests and look up material you are unfamiliar with. I hope you do well.

I’m in college chemistry 2 and needed a refresher after 2 semesters off. I appreciate how redundant and simple the language is, though others may find it annoying. I need repetition & layman terms to retain information quickly and it is rich in that. It’s definitely easier to follow than my entire Gen Chem 1 college course. This should not be your only study material however it is pretty pivotal for my understanding currently. I love how we get straight to the point, practice the problems & each problem builds on the last. I just have to cover the answers with a loose blank sheet of paper as I go to not spoil the work. Overall great book- I recommend for high school and college students!

This book is fabulous. I purchased it so that I could more easily homeschool my eighth grader as I prepare him to take AP Chem next year. I have an excellent background in chemistry myself, so I was surprised to find myself looking at some topics in a fresh and helpful way. This book is easy to follow, with clear and understandable step-by-step problems making up each chapter. My 13 year old was coming up with the answers before I even finished asking the questions, it was that clear.There are two reasons that I am only giving 4 stars:1) I would have liked to see many more problems in order to reinforce the concepts that were so carefully laid out. I had to borrow a text book so that I could add more problems for my son.2) I am aware of the possibility that my pre-existing understanding of the material might have allowed me to teach it more thoroughly and easily than your average homeschooler. It might not go into enough depth as a curriculum if you are looking for the whole enchilada. You might need to borrow another text to supplement it.Overall...wonderful investment, inexpensive, great "frame" for introductory chemistry. I think this would be AMAZING as a "cheat" book for a high schooler or college student who is struggling.

I am helping my son through high school chemistry and (desperately) needed a review. "Chemistry Concepts and Problems", is the review I was looking for. It starts out with the very basics, understanding the atomic structures and the periodic table. It progressed from there into chemical bonding, chemical equations, and how to work with "moles". Understanding moles again was easy with this guide. Learning about gases, liquids, solids, acid-bases reactions, and chemical equilibrium round out the book.Please realize this is very basic chemistry. It is equivalent to a beginning high school chemistry class - emphasis on "beginning". Even so. this is a wonderful review of the foundations that higher forms of chemistry are based on. One needs to understand the basics before building a foundation.Learing chemistry is easy with the format used in this book. The book poses questions about each subject and then gives the answers and explains why the answer is what it is. The explanations are quite simple and easy to understand. I knew some chemistry going into this book, and the book refreshed my memory and reconnected the neurons in my brain to once again have a basic handle on chemistry.I recommend this book to anyone who needs a high school equivalency in chemistry. Excellent book, excellent study guide, excellent framework for learning, and quite interesting.konedog