Practical Skills in Chemistry

If you are studying chemistry, or a chemistry-related course, then this book will be an indispensable companion throughout your entire degree programme. This ‘one-stop’ text will guide you through the wide range of practical, analytical and data-handling skills that you will need during your studies. It will also give you a solid grounding in wider transferable skills such as teamwork, using information technology, communicating information and study skills.

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 your first day through to graduation, further strengthening its reputation as the practical resource for students of chemistry and related discipline areas.

This edition provides:

• 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.

Practical Skills in Chemistry, 3rd edition, is an indispensable book for undergraduate students in chemistry and related discipline areas and a useful primer for post-graduate students. It is also a valuable resource for teachers in secondary schools.

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

Practical skills form the cornerstone of chemistry. However, the diversity of skills required in the laboratory means that a student’s experience may be limited. While some techniques do require specific skills, many of them are transferable generic skills that are required throughout the subject area. Limited time constraints of the modern curriculum often preclude or minimise laboratory time.

Practical Skills in Chemistry 3rd edition provides a general guidance for use in and out of practical sessions, covering a range of techniques from the basic to the more advanced. This ‘one-stop’ text will guide you through the wide range of practical, analytical and data handling skills that you will need during your studies. It will also give you a solid grounding in wider transferable skills such as teamwork, using information technology, communicating information and study skills.

This edition has been enhanced and updated throughout to provide a complete and easy-to-read guide to the developing skills required from your first day through to graduation, further strengthening its reputation as the practical resource for students of chemistry and related discipline areas.