What the...!?

[Chumbawamba]

I find it completely both strange and ridiculous that my chemistry text from an aborted class I took at the local community college a couple years ago, Chemistry (7th Edition) by Zumdahl and Zumdahl, has absolutely zero mention of the reactivity series, or even activity series.

I checked the table of contents, the index, and I leafed through several chapters where a discussion of such should be (one would think) but it is nowhere to be found.

Why would an introductory chemistry text, especially one that is widely used throughout the country at various colleges and universities, not even mention what I would consider a very useful and important concept?

 

[jimdoc]

That is why the old books are so good to have access to on google books and internet archives.


Jim

 

[Oz]

I find it completely both strange and ridiculous that my chemistry text from an aborted class I took at the local community college a couple years ago, Chemistry (7th Edition) by Zumdahl and Zumdahl, has absolutely zero mention of the reactivity series, or even activity series.

I checked the table of contents, the index, and I leafed through several chapters where a discussion of such should be (one would think) but it is nowhere to be found.

Why would an introductory chemistry text, especially one that is widely used throughout the country at various colleges and universities, not even mention what I would consider a very useful and important concept?

This is a large part of why I chose to leave school at a young age. If you questioned anything, or asked a question that was not in “the book” you were met with blank stares by the teachers or told to just stick with the textbook. Independent thought or questions were not allowed.

That is why the old books are so good to have access to on google books and internet archives. Jim

Yes, once upon a day teachers actually taught. Oddly enough, I have learned more from google than any one teacher.

 

[Irons]

I find it completely both strange and ridiculous that my chemistry text from an aborted class I took at the local community college a couple years ago, Chemistry (7th Edition) by Zumdahl and Zumdahl, has absolutely zero mention of the reactivity series, or even activity series.

I checked the table of contents, the index, and I leafed through several chapters where a discussion of such should be (one would think) but it is nowhere to be found.

Why would an introductory chemistry text, especially one that is widely used throughout the country at various colleges and universities, not even mention what I would consider a very useful and important concept?

This is a large part of why I chose to leave school at a young age. If you questioned anything, or asked a question that was not in “the book” you were met with blank stares by the teachers or told to just stick with the textbook. Independent thought or questions were not allowed.

That is why the old books are so good to have access to on google books and internet archives. Jim

Yes, once upon a day teachers actually taught. Oddly enough, I have learned more from google than any one teacher.

Cacademia. :mrgreen:

 

[butcher]

What the??? Do you expect the teacher or the person writing books to know about the subject they are teaching? As Oz stated is so true today, how can they dumb down our children if they understood what they teach or if the student was allowed to think for himself? (I wonder if it is not on purpose for control of the masses.)
In school they do not care if you can solve a math problem and get the correct answer, it will be considered wrong if you do not get the answer the way they show you following their learned procedure.
They even called Einstein an ***** in school.
I graduated high school but could not read the diploma they handed me. All them years and they could not teach me to read, so what if they don’t understand the basics, just pass them to the next grade, why waste time with them?
Both of my daughters did not go to school growing up, they taught themselves, we just sparked interest and then got them books, they both got their GED, doing better than kids with eleven years of public education, they both went on to take college and had no problem making good grades, we need to go back to teaching our own children and forget having the government babysit and dumb down and brainwash our children, just my two penny’s.

 

[goldsilverpro]

Electrochemistry was very important, 100 years ago, when huge batteries were built and used by many people for the generation of DC current. I used to buy 7.5 gallon Pyrex battery jars for dissolving gold - imagine a 7.5 gal. battery. Batteries were built around the electromotive series. Much of these type things are of the past and aren't taught in General Chemistry.

 

[Chumbawamba]

Electrochemistry was very important, 100 years ago, when huge batteries were built and used by many people for the generation of DC current. I used to buy 7.5 gallon Pyrex battery jars for dissolving gold - imagine a 7.5 gal. battery. Batteries were built around the electromotive series. Much of these type things are of the past and aren't taught in General Chemistry.

Chris,

This is very insightful for me. I wonder what other good and useful knowledge I'm missing that isn't being published in modern texts?

 

[butcher]

GSP quote "Much of these type things are of the past and aren't taught in General Chemistry."

it will be our downfall, much of what man has known and used for thousands of years is not taught in our modern world, just imagine no more grocery stores, or cheap oil or electricity and so on, how many people can start a fire without a modern tool?

 

[DarkspARCS]

This is the very thing that has proven to me, with all that I've learned that not only changed what I learned in school but also was hidden from the masses by crafty men with dangerous agendas, that these men who have been orchestrating the downfall of mankind so as to ultimately entrap the entire species so that they can thus 'weed out' 'bad genes' through the use of genocide and condition them into better humans (as a species) are the most IGNORANT and THREATENING 'people' mankind is subjecting themselves to (evidently... no one seems to want to stop them).

My reasoning on that goes deep, and is solidly proven. However, this one shallow example says it all... how can anyone deem a human trait or behavior as 'genetic', when that trait or behavior doesn't know a difference (which an ACCURATE EDUCATION provides)?

...' a minds be sumfin' terble ta waste. howso, whens a waste be sumfin' terble t' minds?'

 

[Westerngs]

Chapter 17 of 7th edition Zumdahl textbook is about electrochemistry, starting with galvanic cells and moving to reduction potential.

I do not own the book, but the table of contents can be found online.

There used to be an old saying, "if the student fails to learn, it is because the teacher failed to teach", but in all honesty, I find that is no longer true. I think today students are not all that interested in learning. They can't even locate or read the table of contents and if they do find it they don't comprehend it.

There, I will get off my soapbox now.

 

[NoIdea]

...... If you questioned anything, or asked a question that was not in “the book” you were met with blank stares by the teachers or told to just stick with the textbook. Independent thought or questions were not allowed.

Reminds me when i attended university, many moons ago, i asked my first year geology professor about exceptions to "The Rule" in terms of our beliefs regarding evolution, he responded by telling me that their are warehouses full of artefacts that do not fit our current theory’s.

Hmmm, so what we read, and are told, may be very far from the truth.

I have first hand knowledge of science book writers needing to be perceived as knowledgeable by writing text that read more like political ramble than anything useful.

And yes, I love old chemistry text books; they have a sound foundation of the fundamentals in a more legible form than modern texts.

Deano

 

[butcher]

I have always been amazed at the older books, so much information in them, many things you can learn from them, much of this knowledge, and information is becoming lost in our modern times, I have also been fascinated by reading the things people used to write a long time ago, and how they wrote their penmanship and writings were so educated, and back then they were lucky to get much if any schooling like we can today.

I feel those people got an education, not schooling.

 

[Geo]

i am mostly self taught, but what was taught came from reading. i love to read. if im caught on the toilet for too long, ill be reading the back of the toilet paper package. in two years, i read every book in my elementary school library. i was fascinated with geology and volcanism. if im surfing the web with nothing in mind, i always find myself gravitating to some form of geo-physical-graphical-logical search.

 

[tenten]

I find it completely both strange and ridiculous that my chemistry text from an aborted class I took at the local community college a couple years ago, Chemistry (7th Edition) by Zumdahl and Zumdahl, has absolutely zero mention of the reactivity series, or even activity series.

I checked the table of contents, the index, and I leafed through several chapters where a discussion of such should be (one would think) but it is nowhere to be found.

Why would an introductory chemistry text, especially one that is widely used throughout the country at various colleges and universities, not even mention what I would consider a very useful and important concept?

Of the most important topics that I read in this forum
I felt that the poor academic achievement in chemistry is a deliberate

 

[Ryriena]

I am too mostly self tought but also some one, who went too school. I do think its away to control the masses and keep them from revoulting. Thier was a page on Huffgtion post today about a fourth grade Science Test that stated dinosuars walked with humans. EDITED. Whether pro or con, no religious or political comments are allowed on this forum.