Best Chemistry Textbook (1 Viewer)

[Dragie]

Hey - what in your opinion has been the most helpful Chem book you have ever used, are using or will use? I have Spotlight and I think it's one of the best ones - I've heard Conquering Chem is pretty good but I haven't used it yet. What about you guys?

 

[Wooz]

My teacher has told me 4th edition conq chem is very good, but chemistry contexts is more comprehensive but goes into too much detail on somethings.

By the way past yr 12's who got 90+ in chem, did u guys use any uni books?

 

[pLuvia]

No point using uni books since its usually not in the syllabus. I have Conquering Chemistry 4th Edition and Chemistry Contexts 2

 

[aek]

Conquering Chem & Chem Contexts go into too much depth and bore the shit out of me, thus, i usually go for textbooks like Macquarie and Excel. However, you might miss out on the understanding which you might have gained from studying those other textbooks.

 

[bizadfar]

I have the Excel one.

 

[Dreamerish*~]

I relied completely on Conquering (third edition back then) and a very small amount of Contexts. Conquering was good because it has a colourful layout and lots of diagrams (even more of these in the fourth edition) so you don't get bored reading text.

 

[Riviet]

Contexts and Conquering are my favourites, Conquering is clear and concise, but lacks the detail, but Contexts is very comprehensive and very often goes into excessive detail. That's why I use both, since they both have their advantages and weaknesses.

 

[jamesy_1988]

I used both the Conquering and Contexts texts books, though i used the contexts more than the conquering, mainly cos i thought that i went into a little more depth in some areas.

Jamesy

 

[vanush]

spotlight is the worst book ever. the answers are stupid. i just use it for questions i guess.


+ plus the book is HUGE

 

[sando]

Have Conquering Chemistry and Excel

will use excel to study for 1/2 yearlies because not enough time to summarise conq. but i will be sure to summarise both by HSC exams

 

[s2indie]

I use Conquering Chemistry (third ed)
and Excel for backup.

 

[stargaze]

As a lot of ppl have said - Conquering Chemistry as your primary text and maybe some additional stuff with Chemistry Contexts. The prob I found with Chemistry Contexts is that it does tend to go off syllabus a lot, so u just gotta filter out what you read.

I didn't exactly kill chemistry in the hsc (i did okay). But I would recommend the Surfing series. These are basically short comprehension type questions derived straight from the syllabus. I found it a huge help for initial revision once u cover stuff in class. The covers of the Surfing series (a silhouette of a guy surfing + a really gaudy technicolor background) may look cheap and dodgy, but its actually a decent thing to have.

 

[omar273]

Chemistry Contexts is the most thorough, it was my primary text.
You should complement it with the excellent Macquarie and Surfing Revision guides.