Laboratory Experiments for Chemistry: The Central Science

by Theodore L. Brown, H. Eugene LeMay Jr., Bruce E. Bursten

This manual contains 43 finely tuned, self-contained experiments chosen to introduce basic lab techniques and to illustrate core chemical principles. The Eleventh Edition has been revised to correlate more tightly with Brown/LeMay/Bursten’s The Central Science, 11/e and now features a guide on how to keep a lab report notebook. Safety and waste management are covered in greater detail, and many pre-lab and post-lab questions have been updated. The labs can also be customized through Catalyst, Pearson's custom database program.


Basic Laboratory Techniques; Identification of Substances by Physical Properties; Separation of the Components of a Mixture; Chemical Reactions; Chemical Formulas; Chemical Reactions of Copper and Percent Yield; Chemicals in Everyday What Are They and How Do We Know? Gravimetric Analysis of a Chloride Salt; Gravimetric Determination of Phosphorus in Plant Food; Paper Separation of Cations and Dyes; Molecular Geometries of Covalent Lewis Structures and the VSEPR model; Atomic Spectra and Atomic Structure; Behavior of Molar Mass of a Vapor; Determination of The Gas-Law Constant; Activity Series; Electrolysis, the Faraday, and Avogadro’s Number; Electrochemical Cells and Thermodynamics; The Chemistry of Basic and Acidic Oxides and the Periodic Table; Colligative Freezing-Point Depression and Molar Mass; Titration of Acids and Bases; Reactions in Aqueous Metathesis Reactions and Net Ionic Equations; Colorimetric Determination of an Equilibrium Constant in Aqueous Solution; Chemical LeChâtelier’s Principle; Hydrolysis of Salts and pH of Buffer Solutions; Determination of the Dissociation Constant of a Weak Acid; Titration Curves of Polyprotic Acids; Determination of the Solubility-Product Constant for a Sparingly Soluble Salt; Heat of Neutralization; Rates of Chemical Reactions A Clock Reaction; Rates of Chemical Reactions Rate and Order of Decomposition; Introduction to Qualitative Analysis; Abbreviated Qualitative-Analysis Scheme.


A hands-on workbook/CD useful for anyone studying general chemistry.

624 pages, Spiral-bound

First published May 8, 2008

About the author

Brown, Theodore L. (Theodore Lawrence), 1928- (per Library of Congress)