Organic Chemistry is a very difficult class in and of itself. So it is huge that you have a textbook that will be easy to understand, and that will challenge you at the same time. I took Organic Chemistry this past year, and this textbook was one of the most useful books I’ve had for just about any class I’ve taken.
From my own use, Organic Chemistry By Janice Gorzynski Smith (3rd, Third Edition)
is hands down the book to use if you are taking Organic Chemistry 1 or 2.
My Favorite Features
- Janice Gorzynski Smith uses very understandable language.
- Has Tons of practice problems.
- Thorough Explanations
- Uses Images To Help Show Concepts Effectively
“Easy” To Understand
I’m not going to come right out and say that the material is easy to understand since this is one of the toughest courses you’ll take, but I will say that the material was much easier to grasp than simply listening to a professor speak for an hour or two. I highly recommend slowly going through the material because this textbook leads you thoroughly into each concept and builds upon itself.
Practice Problems Galore!
This was hands down the best feature of this textbook because it offered practice problems throughout each chapter. There were also practice problems at the end of each chapter as well. Trust me when I say that you will learn the material easier by going through the problems. You will need to get the supplemental Solutions Manual
It’s Very Thorough
This textbook is very thorough where it needs to be without having extremely off-topic examples. It’s great when textbooks want to give real-world examples for the material you’re learning, but I’ve found in Science courses this can be very distracting and confusing. This textbook does a nice job of mixing the two together.
Image Use Helps Show Concepts
Another thing that really helped out in this textbook was the picture use. Sometimes it can be hard to understand a concept such as orbital shapes without actually seeing a picture of it. This textbook did a stellar job of finding the perfect images to use to help build upon and explain concepts.
How Much Can You Expect To Pay?
Unfortunately college textbooks are pretty expensive, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a good deal. You can pay upwards of $176 for just this textbook and then another $95+ for the Study/Guide Solutions Manual. That’s $271, but you shouldn’t pay more than $250 for the combo. Amazon
My Recommendation
This is a very tough course so I can’t recommend highly enough getting the textbook and the solutions manual with it. Seriously, you may be able to get a letter grade higher by doing the practice problems while going through the textbook because it helps drive the information into your brain. Best of luck to you taking this course!
Where To Buy?
You can get the main textbook, the study guide/solutions manual, and the ConnectPlus Access Card at Amazon