Hi, I'm going to Life Sciences this September... and I was looking at the CHEM 1A03 and 1AA textbook. I happen to have my brother's textbook which is by the same author... however, it's the 9th edition instead of the 10th. So I was confused regarding whether or not I should buy a new textbook... or is the old edition good enough? Also, are there a lot of differences in the two editions? All help will be greatly appreciated!

The older edition is fine. That class typically has the notes posted online as well so you should be fine. If you are really interested in comparing the two; you can find the pdf of the newer edition quite easily, just ask google.

FYI, if you need a Mastering Chemistry code (in my first year it was optional, but I highly recommend getting it), it comes with the new textbook but you can also buy it separately for ~$50 I think (price may have changed from previous years).

You're completely fine. Last year, the profs even included references to the 9th edition. For example, they would say that we're doing chapter 10 on page 500 (it's page 450 in the 9th edition). The textbook isn't really necessary for the course anyway, you can do fine just doing the question sets and studying the lecture slides.

The only thing is that last year, the textbook, solutions manual, and mastering chemistry (Which is worth 6% of your grade, and people easily get over 100% on it BUT optional), comes to only $110.

If Mastering Chemistry is $50 alone, I don't know if getting it alone is worth it, when you can get it with the solutions manual and textbook for $110.

One word of advice. Do the mastering chem for the practice not the extra 3%. The 3% bonus is just extra to the practice you get. The practice will make a far greater difference than the 3%.

Having just finished my first year in Life Science, I did not touch my chemistry textbook at all, so I would not recommend you to buy a new one. The old one would work just fine, the course is designed so that you get all the knowledge from the lecture notes. However, the masteringchemistry (even though it is optional) is very helpful. I would highly recommend you to get it as it has helped me personally understand alot of the concepts.

Thank you to all of you for the help! This may sound stupid... but what exactly is the mastering chemistry, since all of you are recommending it?

It is a website where you can do problems from the book but is interactive and will show you how to get the right answer if you get it wrong at first. Personally, it didn't help all that much but it is a preference thing.

Not sure if it against MacInsider rules but if you needed the pdf for chem and a few other courses here is a dropbox link:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qqbjhjuxd5svsgm/pJaXqu-UiY

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it

the 9th is missing abit (like a chapter or some topics per chapter for some) and you are expected to follow it.

If you buy from store it comes with mastering chem which is good practice. Buying a used book and mastering chem comes out to be the same anyways.

It's spelled "Dumbledore" by the way.

Thanks, but I'm quite aware . Lol, the username "Dumbeldore" was taken at the time, so this was the alternative.

An Imposter!