General Chemistry, Reactions First

The introduction explains the purpose of general chemistry as the study of matter, its properties, transformations, and the energy changes associated with chemical processes. The book introduces chemistry as a science that connects observations of the physical world with explanations based on atoms, molecules, and chemical principles.

The author presents a “reactions first” approach, emphasizing chemical reactions as the central organizing idea of chemistry. Instead of learning isolated concepts first, students are encouraged to understand how substances interact, how reactions occur, and how che