Study Aid Review: The Chemistry 1 Tutor: Volume 4 - Oxidation and Reduction Reactions

 

This is the fourth volume in Jason's Chemistry 1 series, which is designed to cover the first semester of General Chemistry. If you are taking Introduction to Chemistry (or non-AP high school chemistry) what you get in the 4 volumes will cover pretty much the entire class. If you are taking the General Chemistry class (or AP chemistry in high school) you will get about 70-75 percent of what you will get in the first semester. The main topics that Jason omitted are the ideal gas laws and thermochemistry. Those are topics that may be covered in later releases.

This particular set of DVDs covers redox (oxidation, reduction) reactions. As is Jason's style in all of his DVDs, he only presumes you have the knowledge of the material that proceeds what you are working on. In this case, you need to be very familiar with net ionic equations and Stoichiometry. Aside from that he presumes you are an absolute beginner with redox reactions and walks you through step-by-step, explaining everything he is doing along the way to drill the material into your head. You end up doing so many examples that you have no choice but to learn how to balance the reactions.

The best part of the set in my opinion is how he explains the problems that require you to balance reactions taking place in a basic solution. His method is a workaround to the method that many books teach, which builds on the process of balancing reactions in an acidic solution by tacking on three additional steps at the end. Many books teach an alternate step in the middle of the process that then requires you to do a lot more work to get everything to balance. You will want to get an idea for what method your teacher wants you to use, but most of the time if you get the right answer, they will not care how you got to it, as long as you show your work.

I have used Jason's material as the foundation for my preparation to get me through all levels of calculus and the first year of physics. Even though you have to pay for the DVDs as opposed to finding the material for free online, I believe that the quality of the material and Jason's teaching style is that good. If you are a visual learner and do not need the interaction you would get with a regular tutor, and want something that will get you a jump on the material or clarify what you did not understand in the lecture, then these DVDs are the best investment you can make.