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 Contents
List of Animations xvi
Preface xvii
A Note to the Student xxii

Introduction 1
CHAPTER
T R
TE 1 1.1
1.2
The Study of Chemistry 2
The Scientific Method 2
1.3 Classifications of Matter 4
1.4 Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter 7
1.5 Measurement 8
1.6 Handling Numbers 13
1.7 Dimensional Analysis in Solving Problems 18

Key Equations 22
Summary of Facts and Concepts 22
Key Words 23
Questions and Problems 23

Atoms, Molecules, and Ions 29

CHAPTER
T R
TE 2 2.1
2.2
The Atomic Theory 30
The Structure of the Atom 31
2.3 Atomic Number, Mass Number, and Isotopes 36
2.4 The Periodic Table 38
2.5 Molecules and Ions 39
2.6 Chemical Formulas 41
2.7 Naming Compounds 45
2.8 Introduction to Organic Compounds 52

Summary of Facts and Concepts 54

Key Words 54
Questions and Problems 54

vii
viii Contents

Stoichiometry 60
CHAPTER
TER 3 3.1
3.2
Atomic Mass 61
Avogadro’s Number and the Molar Mass
of an Element 62
3.3 Molecular Mass 66
3.4 The Mass Spectrometer 68
3.5 Percent Composition of Compounds 70
3.6 Experimental Determination of Empirical Formulas 72
3.7 Chemical Reactions and Chemical Equations 75
3.8 Amounts of Reactants and Products 79
3.9 Limiting Reagents 83
3.10 Reaction Yield 86

Key Equations 88
Summary of Facts and Concepts 88
Key Words 88
Questions and Problems 88

Reactions in Aqueous
Solutions 97
CHAPTER
TE
ER 4 4.1 General Properties of Aqueous Solutions 98
4.2 Precipitation Reactions 100
4.3 Acid-Base Reactions 105
4.4 Oxidation-Reduction Reactions 110
4.5 Concentration of Solutions 119
4.6 Solution Stoichiometry 123

Key Equations 129

Summary of Facts and Concepts 129
Key Words 129
Questions and Problems 130

Gases 137
CHAPTER
TER 5 5.1
5.2
Substances That Exist as Gases 138
Pressure of a Gas 139
5.3 The Gas Laws 142
5.4 The Ideal Gas Equation 147
5.5 Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures 153
 Contents ix

5.6 The Kinetic Molecular Theory of Gases 158

5.7 Deviation from Ideal Behavior 165

Key Equations 167

Summary of Facts and Concepts 168
Key Words 169
Questions and Problems 169

Energy Relationships
in Chemical Reactions 178
CHAPTER
TER 6 6.1 The Nature of Energy and Types
of Energy 179
6.2 Energy Changes in Chemical Reactions 180
6.3 Introduction to Thermodynamics 181
6.4 Enthalpy of Chemical Reactions 187
6.5 Calorimetry 193
6.6 Standard Enthalpy of Formation
and Reaction 198

Key Equations 204

Summary of Facts and Concepts 204
Key Words 204
Questions and Problems 205

The Electronic Structure

of Atoms 213
CHAPTER
TER
R 7
7.1 From Classical Physics to Quantum Theory 214
7.2 The Photoelectric Effect 218
7.3 Bohr’s Theory of the Hydrogen Atom 220
7.4 The Dual Nature of the Electron 224
7.5 Quantum Mechanics 227
7.6 Quantum Numbers 228
7.7 Atomic Orbitals 230
7.8 Electron Configuration 234
7.9 The Building-Up Principle 241

Key Equations 244

Summary of Facts and Concepts 245
Key Words 245
Questions and Problems 246
x Contents

The Periodic Table 253

CHAPTER
TER 8 8.1
8.2
Development of the Periodic Table 254
Periodic Classification of the Elements 255
8.3 Periodic Variation in Physical Properties 258
8.4 Ionization Energy 264
8.5 Electron Affinity 268
8.6 Variation in Chemical Properties
of the Representative Elements 269

Key Equation 280

Summary of Facts and Concepts 280
Key Words 281
Questions and Problems 281

Chemical Bonding I:
The Covalent Bond 287
CHAPTER
TER 9
9.1 Lewis Dot Symbols 288
9.2 The Ionic Bond 289
9.3 Lattice Energy of Ionic Compounds 291
9.4 The Covalent Bond 293
9.5 Electronegativity 295
9.6 Writing Lewis Structures 299
9.7 Formal Charge and Lewis Structure 302
9.8 The Concept of Resonance 305
9.9 Exceptions to the Octet Rule 307
9.10 Bond Enthalpy 312

Key Equation 316

Summary of Facts and Concepts 316
Key Words 316
Questions and Problems 317

Chemical Bonding II: Molecular

Geometry and Hybridization
CHAPTER
T ER 10 of Atomic Orbitals 323
10.1 Molecular Geometry 324
10.2 Dipole Moments 334
10.3 Valence Bond Theory 337
 Contents xi

10.4 Hybridization of Atomic Orbitals 339

10.5 Hybridization in Molecules Containing Double
and Triple Bonds 348
10.6 Molecular Orbital Theory 351
Key Equations 359
Summary of Facts and Concepts 359
Key Words 360
Questions and Problems 360

Introduction to Organic
Chemistry 366
CHAPTER
TER
TE R 11
11.1 Classes of Organic Compounds 367
11.2 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons 367
11.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons 382
11.4 Chemistry of the Functional Groups 385
11.5 Chirality—The Handedness of Molecules 392

Summary of Facts and Concepts 396

Key Words 396
Questions and Problems 396

Intermolecular Forces and Liquids

and Solids 402
CHAPTER
TER
R 12
12.1 The Kinetic Molecular Theory of Liquids and Solids 403
12.2 Intermolecular Forces 404
12.3 Properties of Liquids 410
12.4 Crystal Structure 413
12.5 Bonding in Solids 419
12.6 Phase Changes 423
12.7 Phase Diagrams 430

Key Equations 431

Summary of Facts and Concepts 431
Key Words 432
Questions and Problems 432
xii Contents

Physical Properties of Solutions 439

CHAPTER
TER 13 13.1
13.2
Types of Solutions 440
A Molecular View of the Solution Process 440
13.3 Concentration Units 443
13.4 Effect of Temperature on Solubility 446
13.5 Effect of Pressure on the Solubility of Gases 448
13.6 Colligative Properties 450

Key Equations 461

Summary of Facts and Concepts 461
Key Words 462
Questions and Problems 462

Chemical Kinetics 469

CHAPTER
TER 14 14.1 The Rate of a Reaction 470
14.2 The Rate Laws 474
14.3 Relation Between Reactant Concentrations
and Time 478
14.4 Activation Energy and Temperature Dependence
of Rate Constants 487
14.5 Reaction Mechanisms 492
14.6 Catalysis 496
Key Equations 502
Summary of Facts and Concepts 502
Key Words 503
Questions and Problems 503

Chemical Equilibrium 513

CHAPTER
TER 15 15.1
15.2
The Concept of Equilibrium 514
Ways of Expressing Equilibrium Constants 517
15.3 What Does the Equilibrium Constant Tell Us? 524
15.4 Factors That Affect Chemical Equilibrium 529

Key Equations 536

Summary of Facts and Concepts 537
Key Words 537
Questions and Problems 537
 Contents xiii

Acids and Bases 547

CHAPTER
TER 16 16.1
16.2
Brønsted Acids and Bases 548
The Acid-Base Properties of Water 549
16.3 pH—A Measure of Acidity 551
16.4 Strength of Acids and Bases 554
16.5 Weak Acids and Acid Ionization Constants 558
16.6 Weak Bases and Base Ionization Constants 569
16.7 The Relationship Between Conjugate Acid-Base
Ionization Constants 572
16.8 Molecular Structure and the Strength of Acids 573
16.9 Acid-Base Properties of Salts 576
16.10 Acidic, Basic, and Amphoteric Oxides 581
16.11 Lewis Acids and Bases 583

Key Equations 585

Summary of Facts and Concepts 586
Key Words 586
Questions and Problems 586

Acid-Base Equilibria and

Solubility Equilibria 593
CHAPTER
T ER 17
17.1 Homogeneous Versus Heterogeneous
Solution Equilibria 594
17.2 Buffer Solutions 594
17.3 A Closer Look at Acid-Base Titrations 600
17.4 Acid-Base Indicators 606
17.5 Solubility Equilibria 609
17.6 The Common Ion Effect and Solubility 616
17.7 Complex Ion Equilibria and Solubility 617
17.8 Application of the Solubility Product Principle
to Qualitative Analysis 620

Key Equations 623

Summary of Facts and Concepts 623
Key Words 624
Questions and Problems 624
xiv Contents

Thermodynamics 631
CHAPTER
TER 18 18.1
18.2
The Three Laws of Thermodynamics 632
Spontaneous Processes 632
18.3 Entropy 633
18.4 The Second Law of Thermodynamics 638
18.5 Gibbs Free Energy 644
18.6 Free Energy and Chemical Equilibrium 650
18.7 Thermodynamics in Living Systems 654

Key Equations 656

Summary of Facts and Concepts 656
Key Words 656
Questions and Problems 656

Redox Reactions and

Electrochemistry 664
CHAPTER
TER 19
19.1 Redox Reactions 665
19.2 Galvanic Cells 668
19.3 Standard Reduction Potentials 670
19.4 Thermodynamics of Redox Reactions 676
19.5 The Effect of Concentration on Cell Emf 679
19.6 Batteries 683
19.7 Corrosion 687
19.8 Electrolysis 690
19.9 Electrometallurgy 695

Key Equations 696

Summary of Facts and Concepts 697
Key Words 697
Questions and Problems 697

The Chemistry of Coordination

Compounds 706
CHAPTER
TER
R 20
20.1 Properties of the Transition Metals 707
20.2 Coordination Compounds 710
20.3 Geometry of Coordination Compounds 715
20.4 Bonding in Coordination Compounds:
Crystal Field Theory 717
20.5 Reactions of Coordination Compounds 723
20.6 Coordination Compounds in Living Systems 724
 Contents xv

Key Equation 725

Summary of Facts and Concepts 725
Key Words 726
Questions and Problems 726

Nuclear Chemistry 730

CHAPTER
TER 21 21.1
21.2
The Nature of Nuclear Reactions 731
Nuclear Stability 733
21.3 Natural Radioactivity 738
21.4 Nuclear Transmutation 742
21.5 Nuclear Fission 744
21.6 Nuclear Fusion 749
21.7 Uses of Isotopes 752
21.8 Biological Effects of Radiation 754

Key Equations 756

Summary of Facts and Concepts 756
Key Words 756
Questions and Problems 756

Organic Polymers—Synthetic
and Natural 762
CHAPTER
TER
TE 22
22.1 Properties of Polymers 763
22.2 Synthetic Organic Polymers 763
22.3 Proteins 767
22.4 Nucleic Acids 775

Summary of Facts and Concepts 777

Key Words 778
Questions and Problems 778

Appendix 1 Units for the Gas Constant A-1

Appendix 2 Thermodynamic Data at 1 atm
and 25°C A-2
Appendix 3 Mathematical Operations A-7
Appendix 4 Derivation of the Names
of Elements A-9

Glossary G-1
Answers to Even-Numbered Problems AP-1
Credits C-1
Index I-1
List of Animations
The animations below are correlated to General Precipitation reactions (4.2)
Chemistry. Within the chapters are icons letting Preparing a solution by dilution (4.5)
the student and instructor know that an animation is avail- Radioactive decay (21.3)
able for a specific topic and where to find the animation for Resonance (9.8)
viewing on our Chang General Chemistry companion and Sigma and pi bonds (10.5)
Connect websites. Strong electrolytes, weak electrolytes,
and nonelectrolytes (4.1)
Chang Animations VSEPR (10.1)

Absorption of color (20.4)

Acid-base titrations (17.3)
McGraw-Hill Animations
Acid ionization (16.5) Atomic line spectra (7.3)
Activation energy (14.4) Charles’s law (5.3)
Alpha, beta, and gamma rays (2.2) Cubic unit cells and their origins (12.4)
Alpha-particle scattering (2.2) Dissociation of strong and weak acids (16.5)
Atomic and ionic radius (8.3) Dissolving table salt (4.1)
Base ionization (16.6) Electronegativity (9.3)
Buffer solutions (17.2) Equilibrium (15.1)
Catalysis (14.6) Exothermic and endothermic reactions (6.2)
Cathode ray tube (2.2) Formal charge calculations (9.5)
Chemical equilibrium (15.1) Formation of an ionic compound (9.3)
Chirality (11.5) Formation of the covalent bond in H2 (10.4)
Collecting a gas over water (5.5) Half-life (14.3)
Diffusion of gases (5.6) Influence of shape on polarity (10.2)
Dissolution of an ionic and a covalent compound (13.2) Law of conservation of mass (2.1)
Electron configurations (7.8) Molecular shape and orbital hybridization (10.4)
Emission spectra (7.3) Nuclear medicine (21.7)
Equilibrium vapor pressure (12.6) Operation of voltaic cell (19.2)
Galvanic cells (19.2) Oxidation-reduction reaction (4.4 & 19.1)
The gas laws (5.3) Phase diagrams and the states of matter (12.7)
Heat flow (6.2) Reaction rate and the nature of collisions (14.4)
Hybridization (10.4) Three states of matter (1.3)
Hydration (4.1) Using a buffer (17.2)
Ionic vs. covalent bonding (9.4) VSEPR theory and the shapes of molecules (10.1)
Le Châtelier’s principle (15.4)
Limiting reagent (3.9) Simulations
Making a solution (4.5)
Millikan oil drop (2.2) Stoichiometry (Chapter 3)
Nuclear fission (21.5) Ideal gas law (Chapter 5)
Neutralization reactions (4.3) Kinetics (Chapter 14)
Orientation of collision (14.4) Equilibrium (Chapter 15)
Osmosis (13.6) Titration (Chapter 17)
Oxidation-reduction reactions (4.4) Electrochemistry (Chapter 19)
Packing spheres (12.4) Nuclear fission (Chapter 21)
Polarity of molecules (10.2)

xvi
 Preface

T
he seventh edition of General Chemistry: The Es- Many new End-of-Chapter Problems have been
sential Concepts continues the tradition of present- added to this edition of General Chemistry, with an em-
ing the material that is essential to a one-year general phasis on interpreting graphs and solving problems based
chemistry course. It includes all the core topics that are nec- on visual information. End-of-chapter problems are orga-
essary for a solid foundation in general chemistry without nized in various ways. Each section under a topic heading
sacrificing depth, clarity, or rigor. The positive feedback begins with Review Questions followed by Problems.
from users over the years shows that there continues to be a The Additional Problems section provides more prob-
strong need for a concise but thorough text containing all of lems not organized by section.
the core concepts necessary for a solid foundation in general Many of the examples and end-of-chapter problems
chemistry. General Chemistry covers the essential topics in present extra tidbits of knowledge and enable the student to
the same depth and at the same level as much longer texts. solve a chemical problem that a chemist would solve. In
The reduction in length in this text is achieved in large part particular, numerous problems are based on descriptive and
by omitting chapters dedicated to descriptive chemistry and applied chemistry that would be found in boxed essays and
boxed essays describing specific applications of chemistry; the later chapters of a longer text; see Problems 1.72, 4.115,
however, many meaningful and relevant examples of de- 6.108, 8.108, 11.73, 13.105, and 19.127. These examples
scriptive and applied chemistry are included in the core and problems show students the real world of chemistry and
chapters in the form of end-of-chapter problems. applications to everyday life situations.
New is the creation and versatility of our Connect
Chemistry system. McGraw-Hill has initiated a rigorous
What’s New in This Edition? process to ensure high-quality electronic homework.
Kenneth Goldsby, Florida State University, has joined Through careful observation of real students and active
Raymond Chang as an author on the seventh edition of instructors, we have advanced online homework to an
General Chemistry. Ken’s background in inorganic chem- online learning and engagement environment. The goal
istry has added insight into content and problems, and his of Connect is to usher in a new era of meaningful online
extensive work with undergraduate students, both in the learning that balances the conceptual and quantitative
classroom and in the laboratory, reinforces Raymond’s problem solving aspect of this most vital discipline.
long tradition of understanding and respecting the student’s McGraw-Hill is offering students and instructors an
view of the material as well as that of the instructor’s. enhanced digital homework experience using Connect

xvii
 xviii Preface

Chemistry. Each problem within Connect Chemistry • Chapter 19—discussion of the increasingly impor-
carries the text problem-solving methodology and is tai- tant lithium-ion battery has been updated, including
lored with specific hints, as well as answer-specific feed- a new figure highlighting the role of graphene in
back for common incorrect answers. Each question has these systems.
been accuracy checked by two or more chemistry profes- • Chapter 21—up-to-date information on the nuclear
sors. Several rounds of editorial and chemical accuracy power plant accident in Fukushima, Japan, and its
checking, in addition to numerous instructor and student implications for the nuclear power industry.
tests of all problems, ensure the accuracy of all content.
In addition to the specific hints and feedback pro- Visualization
vided for all questions, many questions allow students a
d Page 100 01/05/12 6:18 PM user-f462 Graphs and Flow Charts are important in science. In
chemical drawing experience/208/MH01773/cha02753_disk1of1/0073402753/cha02753_pagefiles
that can be assessed di- General Chemistry, flow charts illustrate a conceptual
rectly within their online homework. Connect Chemistry thought process or an approach to solving a problem. A
utilizes ChemDraw, which is widely considered the “gold significant number of Problems and Review of Concepts,
standard” of scientific drawing programs and the corner- many new to this edition, include graphical data; for ex-
stone application for scientists who draw and annotate ample, see the Review of Concepts on page 215 and Prob-
molecules, reactions, and pathways. This collaboration of lems 4.118, 5.120, 13.113, 17.73, and 21.77.
Connect and ChemDraw features an easy-to-use, intui-
tive, and comprehensive course management and home- Study Aids
work system with professional-grade drawing capabilities.
New Review of Concepts have been added to many Setting the Stage
chapters. Review of Concepts are quick conceptual ex- Each chapter starts with the chapter outline and a list of
ercises spread throughout the chapters to enable the stu- the essential concepts in the chapter.
dent to gauge his or her understanding of the concept just Chapter Outline enables the student to see at a
presented. The answers to the Review of Concepts are glance the big picture and focus on the main ideas of
available in the Problem-Solving Workbook and on the the chapter.
companion website in Connect. Essential Concepts summarizes the main topics to be
presented in the chapter.
Review of Concepts Tools to Use for Studying
The diagrams show three compounds (a) AB2, (b) AC2, and (c) AD2 dissolved in
water. Which is the strongest electrolyte and which is the weakest? (For simplicity, Study aids are abundant in General Chemistry, enabling
water molecules are not shown.)
students to reinforce the comprehension of chemical con-
cepts and learn problem-solving skills.
Worked Examples, along with the accompanying Prac-
tice Exercise, is a very important tool for learning
and mastering chemistry. The problem-solving steps
(a) (b) (c) guide the student through the critical thinking neces-
sary for succeeding in chemistry. Using sketches
helps the student understand the inner workings of a
The entire text has been revised to improve clarity
problem. A margin note lists similar problems in the
and readability, hallmark characteristics of General
end-of-chapter problems section, enabling the stu-
Chemistry. New and substantial revisions to chapters
dent to apply new skill to other problems of the same
and sections include
type. Answers to the Practice Exercises are listed at
• Chapter 3—summary of solving stoichiometry prob- the end of the chapter problems.
lems based on the mole method. Review of Concepts enables the student to evaluate if
• Chapter 4—new Example 4.4 on writing molecular, they understand the concept presented in the section.
ionic, and net-ionic equations addressing common Answers to the Review of Concepts can be found in
misconceptions for diprotic and triprotic acids. the Problem-Solving Workbook and online in the ac-
• Chapter 9—Example 9.11 provides insight into companying Connect Chemistry companion website.
drawing Lewis structures for compounds containing Key equations are highlighted within the chapter, draw-
elements in the third period and beyond, and ad- ing the student’s eye to material that needs to be un-
dresses the controversies in drawing these structures. derstood and retained. The key equations are also
 Preface xix

presented in the chapter summary materials for easy widely considered the “gold standard” of scientific draw-
access in review and study. ing programs and the cornerstone application for scien-
Summary of Facts and Concepts provides a quick re- tists who draw and annotate molecules, reactions, and
view of concepts presented and discussed in detail pathways. This combination of Connect and ChemDraw
within the chapter. features an easy-to-use, intuitive and comprehensive course
management and homework system with professional-
Testing Your Knowledge grade drawing capabilities.
End-of-Chapter problems enable the student to practice End-of-chapter problems from this textbook are
critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The problems available in Connect Chemistry for instructors to build
are broken into various types: assignments that are automatically graded and tracked
through reports that export easily to Excel. Instructors
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test basic conceptual understanding, followed by lems; track individual student performance—by prob-
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xx Preface

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 Preface xxi

Instructor’s Solution Manual is written by Raymond Phillip Davis University of Tennessee at Martin
Chang and Ken Goldsby. The solutions to all of the Milton Johnson University of South Florida
end-of-chapter problems are given in the manual. This
Jason C. Jones Francis Marion University
manual is online in the text’s Connect Library tab.
Myung-Hoon Kim Georgia Perimeter College
Instructor's Manual Lyle V. McAfee The Citadel
The instructor’s manual provides a brief summary of the con- Candice McCloskey Georgia Perimeter College
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LeRoy Peterson, Jr. Francis Marion University
To the Student: James D. Satterlee Washington State University
Students can order supplemental study materials by con- Kristofoland Varazo Francis Marion University
tacting their campus bookstore, calling 1-800-262-4729,
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Fullerton; Mark Freilich, The University of Memphis;
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Animations are available on the Web through the us by the following members of McGraw-Hill’s College
General Chemistry, Seventh Edition, companion website Division: Tammy Ben, Marty Lange, Ryan Blankenship,
or through Connect. The animations are also formatted Jeff Huettman, and Kurt Strand. In particular, we would
for digital devices. like to mention Sandy Wille for supervising the produc-
Problem-Solving Workbook with Selected Solutions tion, David Hash for the book design, John Leland for
is a valuable resource containing material to help the stu- photo research, and Tami Hodge, the marketing manager,
dent practice problem-solving skills. It also contains the for her suggestions and encouragement. We also thank
detailed solutions and explanations for the even-numbered our executive brand manager, David Spurgeon, and man-
problems for each chapter. aging director, Thomas Timp, for their advice and assis-
tance. Finally, our special thanks go to Shirley
Acknowledgements Oberbroeckling, the developmental editor, for her care
and enthusiasm for the project, and supervision at every
We would like to thank the following reviewers and sym-
stage of the writing of this edition.
posium participants, whose comments were of great help
to us in preparing this revision:
Thomas Anderson Francis Marion University —Raymond Chang and Ken Goldsby
Bryan Breyfogle Missouri State University
A Note to the Student

G
eneral chemistry is commonly perceived to be • Definitions of the key words can be studied in context
more difficult than most other subjects. There is on the pages cited in the end-of-chapter list or in the
some justification for this perception. For one glossary at the back of the book.
thing, chemistry has a very specialized vocabulary. At • Connect Chemistry houses an extraordinary amount of
first, studying chemistry is like learning a new language. resources. Go to www.mhhe.com/chang and click on
Furthermore, some of the concepts are abstract. Never- the appropriate cover to explore animations, download
theless, with diligence you can complete this course suc- content to your Media Player, and do your homework
cessfully, and you might even enjoy it. Here are some electronically and more.
suggestions to help you form good study habits and mas-
• Careful study of the worked-out examples in the
ter the material in this text.
body of each chapter will improve your ability to
• Attend classes regularly and take careful notes. analyze problems and correctly carry out the calcu-
• If possible, always review the topics discussed in lations needed to solve them. Also take the time to
class the same day they are covered in class. Use this work through the practice exercise that follows
book to supplement your notes. each example to be sure you understand how to
solve the type of problem illustrated in the example.
• Think critically. Ask yourself if you really under-
The answers to the practice exercises appear at the
stand the meaning of a term or the use of an equation.
end of the chapter, following the homework prob-
A good way to test your understanding is to explain
lems. For additional practice, you can turn to simi-
a concept to a classmate or some other person.
lar homework problems referred to in the margin
• Do not hesitate to ask your instructor or your teaching next to the example.
assistant for help.
• The questions and problems at the end of the chapter
The seventh edition tools for General Chemistry are de- are organized by section.
signed to enable you to do well in your general chemistry • The back inside cover shows a list of important figures
course. The following guide explains how to take full and tables with page references. This index makes it
advantage of the text, technology, and other tools. convenient to quickly look up information when you
• Before delving into the chapter, read the chapter out- are solving problems or studying related subjects in
line and the chapter introduction to get a sense of the different chapters.
important topics. Use the outline to organize your If you follow these suggestions and stay up-to-date with
note taking in class. your assignments, you should find that chemistry is chal-
• At the end of each chapter you will find a summary lenging, but less difficult and much more interesting than
of facts and concepts, the key equations, and a list you expected.
of key words, all of which will help you review for
exams. —Raymond Chang and Ken Goldsby

xxii
CHAPTER 1

Introduction
Chapter Outline

1.1 The Study of Chemistry 2

How to Study Chemistry
1.2 The Scientific Method 2
1.3 Classifications of Matter 4
Substances and Mixtures • Elements and Compounds
1.4 Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter 7
1.5 Measurement 8
SI Units • Mass and Weight • Volume • Density •
Temperature Scales
1.6 Handling Numbers 13
Scientific Notation • Significant Figures • Accuracy and Precision
1.7 Dimensional Analysis in Solving Problems 18
A Note on Problem Solving

By applying electric fields to push DNA molecules through pores

created in graphene, scientists have developed a technique that
someday can be used for fast sequencing the four chemical
bases according to their unique electrical properties.

Essential Concepts

The Study of Chemistry Chemistry is the study of the properties them. The units used in chemistry are based on the international
of matter and the changes it undergoes. Elements and compounds system (SI) of units.
are substances that take part in chemical transformation. Handling Numbers Scientific notation is used to express large
Physical and Chemical Properties To characterize a substance, and small numbers, and each number in a measurement must
we need to know its physical properties, which can be observed indicate the meaningful digits, called significant figures.
without changing its identity, and chemical properties, which can Doing Chemical Calculations A simple and effective way to
be demonstrated only by chemical changes. perform chemical calculations is dimensional analysis. In this
Measurements and Units Chemistry is a quantitative science and procedure, an equation is set up in such a way that all the units
requires measurements. The measured quantities (for example, mass, cancel except the ones for the final answer.
volume, density, and temperature) usually have units associated with

1
2 Introduction

1.1 The Study of Chemistry

Whether or not this is your first course in chemistry, you undoubtedly have some
preconceived ideas about the nature of this science and about what chemists do. Most
likely, you think chemistry is practiced in a laboratory by someone in a white coat
who studies things in test tubes. This description is fine, up to a point. Chemistry is
largely an experimental science, and a great deal of knowledge comes from laboratory
research. In addition, however, today’s chemists may use a computer to study the
microscopic structure and chemical properties of substances or employ sophisticated
electronic equipment to analyze pollutants from auto emissions or toxic substances in
the soil. Many frontiers in biology and medicine are currently being explored at the
level of atoms and molecules—the structural units on which the study of chemistry
is based. Chemists participate in the development of new drugs and in agricultural
research. What’s more, they are seeking solutions to the problem of environmental
pollution along with replacements for energy sources. And most industries, whatever
their products, have a basis in chemistry. For example, chemists developed the poly-
mers (very large molecules) that manufacturers use to make a wide variety of goods,
including clothing, cooking utensils, artificial organs, and toys. Indeed, because of its
diverse applications, chemistry is often called the “central science.”

How to Study Chemistry

Compared with other subjects, chemistry is commonly perceived to be more difficult,
at least at the introductory level. There is some justification for this perception. For
one thing, chemistry has a very specialized vocabulary. At first, studying chemistry is
like learning a new language. Furthermore, some of the concepts are abstract. Never-
theless, with diligence you can complete this course successfully—and perhaps even
pleasurably. Listed here are some suggestions to help you form good study habits and
master the material:
• Attend classes regularly and take careful notes.
• If possible, always review the topics you learned in class the same day the topics
are covered in class. Use this book to supplement your notes.
• Think critically. Ask yourself if you really understand the meaning of a term or
the use of an equation. A good way to test your understanding is for you to
explain a concept to a classmate or some other person.
• Do not hesitate to ask your instructor or your teaching assistant for help.
You will find that chemistry is much more than numbers, formulas, and abstract
theories. It is a logical discipline brimming with interesting ideas and applications.

1.2 The Scientific Method

All sciences, including the social sciences, employ variations of what is called the
scientific method—a systematic approach to research. For example, a psychologist
who wants to know how noise affects people’s ability to learn chemistry and a chem-
ist interested in measuring the heat given off when hydrogen gas burns in air follow
roughly the same procedure in carrying out their investigations. The first step is care-
fully defining the problem. The next step includes performing experiments, making
careful observations, and recording information, or data, about the system—the part
Another random document with
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that her universe would always revolve about him, that there would
always be a mysterious potency in the mere sound of his voice, or
touch of his hand, where she was concerned.
But discuss her with Sylvia and Aunt Flora, and kindly and with big-
brotherly superiority offer her a “plan,” a plan to accept his name and
his protection, simply because she was so apparently incapable of
taking care of herself! Gabrielle suffocated at the thought. No, David
couldn’t be David and do that.
In the ten days that elapsed before his arrival at Wastewater she
alternated between such violent extremes of feeling, and lay awake
pondering, imagining, and analyzing the situation so constantly at
night that she was genuinely exhausted when the afternoon of his
coming came at last.
There were moments when she felt she could not see him, dared not
face him. There were times when she longed for his arrival, and to
assure herself with a first glance that all this nervous anticipation
was her own ridiculous imagining, and that no thought of it had ever
crossed his mind!
When he finally came Gay was in the garden. For spring had come
to Wastewater, and David’s fancy of finding her before a fire in the
sitting room had been outdated by two full weeks of sunshine. There
was fresh green grass sprouting about the old wall, there were daisy-
starred stretches of it under the massed blossoms of the fruit trees;
gracious shadows lay long and sweet everywhere over new green
leaves; the willows were jade fountains of foliage, the maples
uncurling moist little red and gold tendrils, and the lilacs were rustling
columns of clean new leafage and plumy blossom. The last of the
frost had melted from the newly turned sods; gulls were walking
about, pulling at worms, and spring sunset lay over the broad, gently
heaving surface of an opal sea.
David had taken his bags upstairs, greeted his aunt, who was
knitting in the sitting room, but without the fire, and had spent
perhaps ten restless and excited minutes in outward conversation
and in inner excitement. Where was Gay? When would the door
handle turn and the plainly gowned girl come in, with the smile
flashing into her star-sapphire eyes when she saw him, and the
beautiful hand she extended so quaintly, so demurely enhanced by
the transparent white cuff? David was so shaken by a strange
emotion at the thought that every moment was bringing their meeting
closer, so confused by the undercurrent of his thoughts—the
undercurrent that would dwell upon her greeting, and his introduction
of all he had to say to her—that he could hardly hear what his aunt
was saying. When he did finally escape to search for Gay, and when
Hedda told him that she was in the garden, he found himself
standing quite still in the side passage, with his heart thundering, and
his senses swimming, and an actual unwillingness upon him, after all
these waiting days and weeks, to make real the dream that he had
cherished so long.
There she was, about the western turn of the house, half walking
and half running, with the puppy sometimes keeping his feet and
sometimes swung dizzily in the air on the rope that Gabrielle was
carrying and the little dog biting in a frenzy of joy. There was warm
sweet light in the garden at five o’clock, the day had been balmy
enough to make cooler airs at its close almost a relief.
Pleasant domestic sounds in the barnyard were all about: clucks and
moos, John whistling, and the stamping of big horses’ feet on distant
floors. The scent of violets and syringa, of lilacs and new grass, of
damply turned, sun-warmed earth was like a delicious sharp and
heady ether in the air.
David joined the girl just as she and the dog were turning down a
rambling sort of back road that led toward the sea; Gabrielle turned,
and although indeed she smiled, he saw that she was an older and a
soberer Gabrielle than the little schoolgirl of the Christmas holidays.
They walked the quarter mile to the shore deep in a conversation he
had not anticipated; she talked of her mother, whose life was a
question only of days now, and made one allusion to the deeper
cause of pain to herself.
“My finding out about myself—about my mother’s never having been
married, David—has made a sort of change in everything to me,”
she said, unemotionally. “I seem to feel now that I must do
something—that it is more than ever my duty to do something to
make my own place in life and stand upon my own feet. That’s the
only way that I can ever be happy, and I will be happy so, believe
me!” she added, nervously intercepting an interruption from him.
“Doctor Ensicoe, from Crowchester, says that my mother will not
outlive the month. And then I mean to write to the nuns in Boston
and stay with them until I find something that I can do. I know Aunt
Flora will help me, for indeed she offered to most generously, and,
while I must—I will let her. She was very kind about it all,” Gabrielle
added, reaching safer waters now, and so speaking more quietly.
“We have never spoken of it except at that one time. I said to her
quite suddenly, one night when we were going up to my mother’s
room—I’d had it terribly on my mind, of course, ‘Aunt Flora, answer
me one question. There would be no use in my attempting to trace
Charpentier, my father, would there? There is no record of that
marriage, is there? That is the real reason for all the mystery and
secrecy, isn’t it?’ And she turned very pale,” went on Gay, “and
answered, ‘Yes.’ We never alluded to it again, although many times
since she has told me that Sylvia would always take care of me—
that I must not worry!” And catching a sudden look of determination
and interest in David’s face Gay went on hurriedly, “But indeed I
don’t worry, I shall get along splendidly and make you all proud of
me!”
A sensation of pity so sudden and acute as to dry his mouth and
press like a pain behind his eyes silenced David for a moment. Then
he said:
“But you are very young, Gay, and inexperienced, to face all the
ugliness and coldness of the world. Suppose,” David added,
conscious suddenly of the quickened beat of his heart, “there was
some other plan that eased, or helped to ease, all those worries of
yours——?”
“Oh, my God,” Gay prayed, in a very panic of fear. “Oh, David,” she
cried, in the deeps of her being, “spare me! Oh, God, don’t let him
mean that he is going to ask me to marry him. Oh, no—no—no!”
Aloud she said nothing. They were on the sweet, grassy cliffs above
the sea, now, and Gay was looking out across the level stretches of
the peaceful water, over which shone the last of the long day’s light.
She was so beautiful, as she stood there, that for a moment David
was content to look at her and tell himself that he had not
remembered how lovely she was. Loose delicate tendrils of her
tawny hair were blowing about her white temples; there was a
delicate creamy glow on her warm, colourless skin, her great eyes
seemed to give forth a starry shimmer of their own. In the fine hands,
encircled at the wrists, as David had anticipated they would be, by
transparent white cuffs, she held the restless puppy against the
young curve of her breast; in the old garden and the spring sunset
she looked like a slender, serious impersonation of Memory or
Poetry, or of some mythical young goddess, wandering under the
great trees.
But it was not only the physical beauty that he saw. He saw in her
too the dearly companionable girl of the past mid-winter, whose
husky, sweet laughter had rung out over the card table, whose eager
helpful interest had made bright so many a dark sleety morning in
the upstairs studio, when the oil stove slowly warmed the air and
scented it with hot metal and kerosene vapours. He saw her
buttoning on the big coat, tramping through snowy woods at his side,
with her hands deep in her pockets, and her bright face glowing like
a rose. And a first little chilling fear crept over his bright dream;
suppose—suppose she was not for him, after all?
“Gabrielle,” he said, suddenly, his face reddening and his voice
shaking a little, “will you let me tell you what I planned for you and for
me?”
She gave him an agonized half glance, nodded, and said some
indistinguishable word of assent as she turned away.
“I was wondering——” David began. And suddenly it seemed all to
go flat and dull. He felt himself to have no business to be putting it to
her this way, this half-laughing, half-sympathetic, wholly kind and
comfortable way. The smooth phrases of his imaginings vanished in
air, he was merely a rather stupid man of thirty-one, bungling the
most delicate thing in all the world. It was too late to stop. The girl’s
face was crimson, but she had turned toward him gravely and
expectantly, and was looking at him steadily and bravely.
“This was my idea,” David began again, miserably. “I—I felt—I knew
that you were most unhappy, and that you felt lonely and as if you
were wasting time here, and yet doubtful about making a start
elsewhere. And it occurred to me——” He tried his best at this point
to recapture the affectionate whimsically practical note that these
words had always had in anticipation, but do what he would they
sounded stupidly patronizing and heavy. “It occurred to me,” he said
again, “that you and I are somewhat in the same boat. We’re
Flemings, yet we don’t truly belong at Wastewater—that belongs to
Sylvia now! And wouldn’t it be a very delightful thing for you and me
to give them all a surprise and just take ourselves out of their way,
once and for all?”
She heard him so far. Then she stopped him with a sudden
backward movement of her head, and answered quietly, with a
downward glance at the puppy’s little snuggled form:
“Thank you, David. But you must see that I can’t—I can’t do that! But
thank you very much.”
David was honestly taken aback. Not that he had expected her to fall
into his arms—he did not know just what he had expected her to do.
But certainly not this! He had perhaps imagined her beautiful and
irradiating smile turned toward him, heard a rich cadence half of
reproach and half of pleasure in her voice as she said, something
like, “David Fleming! Are you asking me to marry you?”
This actuality was all confusing and different from the plan, and his
own feelings were disconcertingly different, too. The girl looked
unmistakably hurt and humiliated by what he had said, which was
astonishing enough. But even more astonishing was his own sudden
conviction that she had reason to seem so. What was he saying to
her, anyway? After all, her love affair was the most important thing in
all a girl’s life! It was not something to be flung at her unexpectedly,
between one’s arrival after weeks—after months of absence—and a
family dinner!
A half-analyzed consciousness of being wrong, combined with a
general confusion of mind and senses, was strong upon David as he
blundered on:
“I may be surprising you, Gay. You see, I’ve been thinking about all
this for a long time! You can certainly say, ‘This is so sudden,’ in the
good old-fashioned manner, if you want to,” added David, nervously,
hoping to win back his humorous, comprehending little companion of
January with his anxious and appealing laugh.
But Gay did not laugh.
“I do appreciate your taking my problems so much to heart, David,”
she said, turning to pace staidly back through the twilight greenness
and sweetness toward the house. “But I really blame myself a good
deal for being such a baby! I’ve been selfishly dwelling upon my
troubles, and acting as if no girl ever had them to face before, and of
course it has worried you and Aunt Flora and Sylvia. But that’s over
now, and I want you to know that I do appreciate your sympathy, and
your having thought out this way of escape for me, and having
planned it all with Sylvia.”
“As a matter of fact,” David interposed, eagerly, hoping that matters
might yet adjust themselves, “Sylvia’s letter to me, asking to be set
entirely free of any real or imaginary understanding between us,
crossed my letter to her saying that I—had other plans in mind.”
He looked at Gabrielle hopefully with the words; perhaps when she
knew how completely above-board and deliberated the step had
been she would begin to see it in his light. But Gay merely reddened
the more deeply, if that were possible, and said hastily and
uncomfortably:
“I see. And I do thank you! And I ask you—I beg you—for the little
time I am at Wastewater,” she added, feverishly, as the vertigo of
shame and confusion that had been almost nauseating her
threatened to engulf her in a humiliating burst of tears, “please never
to say anything like this to me again! Please——! There are reasons
——” Gay fought on desperately, feeling with terror that tears might
end in his arms, and that utter capitulation on his own kindly
humorous terms must follow such a break-down, “there are reasons
why it kills me to have you talk so! I beg you, David, to consider it all
settled—all over——”
“Why, of course I will!” David said, in a cold, quiet voice that braced
her like a plunge into icy waters. “I’m only sorry to distress you,” he
added, formally. “I had been thinking about it with a great deal of
pleasure, and I thought you might. I’m sorry. We’ll never speak of it
again.”
Then they were at the side door, and Gay escaped into the gloomy
dark hallway, and fled red-cheeked and panting to her room, where
she could cry, rage, shake herself, walk the floor, and analyse the
whole situation unobserved.
“Oh, you fool!” she said, scornfully, to her panting image in the
mirror. “You hysterical schoolgirl! Oh, how I hate him and his plans
for me!” she gritted, through shut teeth. “And I hate Sylvia worse! I
hate them all. He thought I would die of joy—he knows better now.
Oh, insulting! He wouldn’t have done that to Sylvia or one of the
Montallen girls! But it didn’t matter with me—Aunt Lily’s daughter,
with no father to stand up for me. And it isn’t my fault I haven’t a
father,” Gay said, pitifully, half aloud, leaning her elbows on the
bureau, and beginning to cry into her hands; “it isn’t my fault that I’m
all alone in the world!”
And again she flung herself on the bed, and her whole form was
racked and shaken by the violence of her weeping.
“He’ll see my red eyes at dinner and think it’s for him,” she broke off,
savagely, sitting up in the early dark and reaching for the scrambling
and mystified puppy, who was going upon a whimpering tour of
investigation among the pillows. Gay dried her eyes upon his downy
little back, lighted her lamp, and soused her eyes with cold water.
Half an hour later she went down to dinner, quite restored to calm
and ready to take a cheerful part in the conversation. But she would
not share the sitting room with her aunt and David after dinner.
She said, with that touch of new maturity and decision that David
found so touching and so amusing in little Gabrielle, that she would
go up and sit with her mother, thus releasing Margret for an hour or
two below stairs.
The room seemed to become blank, however, when she had gone
quietly away, and David was surprised to find that the thought of her
had become so habitual with him in the last few weeks that he was
thinking of her still, as steadily as if that strange hour in the garden
were the dream, and the Gay of his plan, the gracious Gay who had
so many, many times promised him, in his thoughts, to marry him,
were the reality.
He found himself restlessly making excuses to follow her upstairs.
Was Aunt Flora going up to see Aunt Lily to-night? Later, Flora said,
sombrely. Was it quite safe for Gabrielle up there alone with the
invalid? Oh, quite. Poor Lily had not the strength of a baby, now.
After an endless time they went upstairs, to find that Margret had just
come up, and Gay was ready to plead fatigue and slip away to bed.
Aunt Lily was a mere colourless slip of flesh and blood, quiet upon
smooth pillows now, with her gray hair brushed and pinned up neatly.
Gay was kneeling beside her in the orderly, lamp-lighted room when
David went in, with one of her beautiful hands clasping the yellowed
old lifeless fingers. She got to her feet with no sign of
embarrassment, and in another two minutes had disappeared for the
night.
David saw a light in her transom, half an hour later, when he went to
his room. She was probably quietly reading, he thought; discomfited,
preferring the society of books to his own, after what had transpired
this afternoon.
He felt disappointed and humiliated, he missed the thrilling dream
that had kept him company for so long, and for a day or two he
managed to persuade himself that it was because Gay had failed
him. She had proved very much less satisfying than his thoughts of
her; he had unconsciously been idealizing her all this time. He had
thought of her as gracious, merry, provocative, responsive, and she
had proved to be merely embarrassed and awkward.
“Well!” he said, going off to sleep, “That’s over—no harm done!” But
he could not dismiss it. Again he said, almost aloud; “That’s over. No
harm done!”
 CHAPTER XIII
He plunged, the next morning, into work, going off to Keyport
immediately after breakfast and returning late in the afternoon. The
day was exquisite beyond words, the sea satiny blue, and there was
real summer warmth in the sweet spring stillness of the air. David
saw Gabrielle in the garden when he came back, and took his
painting gear upstairs, determined not to make himself ridiculous in
her eyes again. But a power stronger than himself immediately took
him downstairs again. He walked, with an air of strolling, to the
hollies, where she had been. But she was gone.
David now felt irrationally and without analysis that he must see her,
and at once. He had nothing to say to her, and if he had, he might
have waited until dinner-time brought them together. But he felt like a
lost child, not seeing that figure in blue gingham—his eyes searched
for it hungrily, swept each new vista; he felt actually sick with
disappointment when moment after moment went by and there was
no sign of her down the lane, on the cliff road, or among the rocks.
He thought of nothing but the finding of her; Gabrielle in her blue
gingham seated by a pool, running along with Ben—just to find her
——
She came into the sitting room just before dinner, and David, who
was actually exhausted from the monotonous hammering of
thoughts about only her, dared not trust himself to look up as she
slipped into her chair. He was glancing over a new Atlantic; he
pretended that he had not heard Gay enter.
“It was young Doctor Ensicoe, the son,” said Gabrielle’s voice,
suddenly, quietly in the silence, to Aunt Flora. “I took him upstairs.
He says to watch, and let his father know if there seems to be any
pain or restlessness.”
If the words had been so many bombs they could scarcely have had
a more extraordinary effect upon David. He felt as if his heart had
given a great plunge, stopped short, raced on again madly; he felt as
if his mouth and throat were dry, a sort of weakness and vertigo that
were yet exquisitely pleasant seized him.
It was impossible for him to speak to this girl, or to look up, while this
state of affairs lasted. If she saw that he was nervous and unlike
himself, she must think what she would——! David could only try to
get a grip upon soul and body, and betray himself as little as
possible.
This moment was the end of all peace for him. For although he did
indeed presently hand his aunt the magazine with some brief
comment, and although dinner and the evening proceeded as usual,
he was beginning to suspect that his whole life had been changed
now, mysteriously changed—partly perhaps his own doing, through
that long-cherished dream of an imaginary scene with an imaginary
Gabrielle.
But no matter how it had come about. The blazing and inescapable
truth was that there was nothing else in the world for him but this
quiet, slender, serious, tawny-headed girl. He did not know what he
felt toward her, or whether the wild confusion of his senses might be
called anything so reasonable as feeling; she was simply in the
world, she was sitting in chairs, opening doors, speaking in that
incredibly thrilling voice, raising those extraordinary eyes—that was
enough.
David had never before been really in love. But he had thought he
loved Sylvia, and he did not put in that same category his feeling for
Gabrielle. This was nothing that could be classified or regulated;
regulate it, indeed, David thought, with an almost audible groan
when he came to this word in his thoughts; as well regulate raging
flames or rushing waters!
It devoured him with fever. He was unable to eat for excitement,
never happy one instant out of Gabrielle’s company, acutely
miserable when in it. He lay awake in the warm spring nights thinking
of what he had said to her during the past day, and as her looks and
words in reply—such quiet words, such rare looks!—came back
before his vision, he would feel his heart stop, and his breath would
fail him with sheer fear and terror and hope and agony of doubt.
He sat at breakfast, pushing about the toast that was so much chalk
and plaster to his palate, scalding himself with his coffee one
morning, forgetting it entirely the next. His eyes never left Gabrielle.
She would glance up, passing him perhaps the omelette that he
would not even see, much less taste, and at his awkward laugh,
muttered words, and hastily averted look she would perhaps colour
confusedly. If she directed a simple question to him, he found it
maddeningly difficult to answer.
“I beg pardon——?” He had to leave the sentence hanging rawly. He
could not say her name.
“I asked you: did Margret say anything about medicines?”
“I—I—you mean on Sunday——?”
“No,” Gay would say, astonished at his manner. “I mean this
morning, five minutes ago.”
“Oh, I see—I see! Did—who? What?”
“Never mind. I’ll ask her,” Gay would finish, deciding that David must
be absolutely absorbed in the picture he was painting. David would
watch her go from the room, gracious, sweet, beautiful in her cotton
gown. All the spring seemed only a setting for her loveliness, the
lilacs and the blue sky, the sunshine and the drifting snow of fruit
blossoms.
It was this wonderful, this incomparable woman, he would remind
himself scathingly, that he had affronted with his insultingly casual
offer of marriage a week ago. No wonder the girl had put a definite
distance between them since! But he knew he would ask her again,
simply because there was no other conceivable thing for him to do.
His dream of the little farmhouse in Keyport returned now, but it was
a dream infinitely enhanced, and haloed by all the colours of the
rainbow. David could hardly bear the poignant sweetness of the
thought of Gay as his wife; Gay perhaps chatting over a late
breakfast on the porch with him; Gay travelling with him, and looking
over a steamer rail as the blue mountains of Sicily or the green
shores of the Isle of Wight slowly formed themselves on the horizon.
Once, when he was quietly painting, the thought of Gay with a child
in her arms came to him suddenly, and David felt his eyes sting and
the palms of his hands suddenly moist.
She was leagues away from him now, never with him when she
could avoid it, never alone with him at all. She was apparently living
a life of her own, coming and going gently and pleasantly, answering,
listening, but no longer the Gabrielle he had known a few months
ago.
And ten days after his return she was still further removed by her
mother’s death. Lily died quite peacefully one sweet May evening,
after an afternoon when she had seemed more normal than for
years. She had had for some days the idea that Gabrielle was her
old nurse, Miss Rosecrans, and made all her few demands of the girl
under that name. But at the very end, when Gabrielle was kneeling
beside her, with sorrowful, tear-brimmed eyes fixed upon the
yellowed little sunken face, Lily opened her eyes, fixed them
affectionately upon Flora, and asked feebly:
“Is this big girl my baby, Flo?”
“This is Gabrielle, Lily,” Flora said, clearing her throat.
Lily smiled with ineffable satisfaction at Gabrielle, and said
contentedly:
“Gabrielle. Isn’t it a pretty name? Do you like it? Did Roger like it?”
“I am going to say some prayers, Mother,” Gabrielle said, smiling
with wet cheeks, and with the salt taste of her own tears in her
mouth. Lily opened her eyes briefly, for the last time.
“Ah, I wish you would!” she said, with a smile and a deep sigh. And
she never moved or spoke again.
Two days later she was buried in the little plot within Wastewater’s
wide walls; the doctor, Flora weeping on David’s arm, Gay standing
straight and alone, and the awestruck maids were all her little funeral
train. It was Flora who seemed to feel the loss most, and with
surprising force; she seemed broken and aged, and it was for
Gabrielle to comfort her.
“I never supposed it would be so,” Flora repeated, over and over.
“That I would be the last—that Will and Roger and Lily would all be
gone before me!”
She would not stay in bed; Flora did not belong to the generation
that can eat and read and idle comfortably under covers. She was up
at her usual hour upon every one of the sweet, warm fragrant
mornings, when dawn crept in across the sea and the wet garden
sent up a very bouquet of perfumes through the open upstairs
windows. But she was silent and sad, and when Sylvia’s long-
awaited happy Commencement came, Flora was really too ill to go,
although she refused to concede to herself the luxury even of one
hour upon a couch, or the satisfaction of a single visit from the
doctor. David went up alone to the Commencement, and brought
Sylvia back with him. It was on that last day of her college life, a day
of flowers and white gowns, crowds, music, laughter, and tears, that
Sylvia found time to say to him pleadingly:
“David dear, my letter didn’t hurt you terribly?”
“I’d had something of the same feeling myself, you know,” he
reminded her. “Our letters crossed. You remember I said just what
you did, that it must either be an engagement or nothing, and that I
knew you would prefer it to be nothing just at this time.”
“Oh, yes!” responded Sylvia, narrowing her eyes, and speaking a
little vaguely. And David saw that while her letter, a letter written in a
charmingly frank fashion, and asking please—please to be free from
any engagement to him for a little while, had made a romantic sort of
impression upon her mind, his had scarcely registered upon her
consciousness at all. In other words, Sylvia was her own whole world
just at the moment, and the only things that mattered were her own
moods, her own ideas, her own individual desires.
The highly distinguished and honourable conclusion of her school
days, her youth, her beauty, her sense of closely impending power
could not but be deliciously stimulating to a nature like Sylvia’s. She
and David stopped two nights in Boston, Sylvia with a schoolmate,
David at a hotel, met on the languid, warm spring mornings to
explore the quiet shops and to discuss various plans for Wastewater:
electric lighting for Wastewater, a furnace for Wastewater, a hot-
water system for Wastewater. There was a delightful new, red, slim
checkbook; there was an imposing balance at the bank. Sylvia
bought herself one or two charming frocks as a sort of promissory
note of the financial independence that was so soon to be, and she
did not forget a broad lacy black hat for dear little Gabrielle, who had
had such a sad year, and a lacy thin black afternoon gown to match
it.
Gabrielle, when they reached Wastewater, met them all in white, and
Sylvia gave her a warm kiss and murmured just the right phrase of
sympathy as they went upstairs to find her mother. The gardens
were exquisite in early June bloom; the whole house smelled of
roses and summer weather; birds were flashing in and out of the
cherry trees; John was on his knees beside the strawberry bed.
But Flora sat upstairs before the cold grate, with the windows shut,
and her first words to Sylvia were broken by tears. Sylvia comforted
her with a sort of loving impatience in her voice.
“Mamma, darling! Is this reasonable! Isn’t it after all a blessed
solution for poor little Aunt Lily?”
“But I never thought it would be so!” Flora faltered, blowing her nose,
sniffling, straightening her glasses with all the unlovely awkwardness
of hard-fought grief. And immediately she regained her composure,
almost with a sort of shame, and David could say truthfully to Sylvia
a little later, when the three young persons were wandering through
the garden, that Sylvia had done her mother good already.
Sylvia indeed did them all good; she was delighted with everything,
appreciative and pleasant with the maids, and sisterly in her manner
toward Gabrielle. David found her sensible and clever in the
business conferences they had on the dreamy summer mornings in
the little office downstairs, where perhaps the first mistress of
Wastewater had transacted her business also, more than a hundred
years before—the business of superintending stores and soap-
making, weaving and dyeing, bartering in cocks and geese and the
selling of lambs. Sylvia waived all unnecessary matters, was brightly
receptive, and in every way businesslike and yet confident in David’s
judgment. Later she would debate with John about fruit, with Trude
about preserving, with Daisy about tablecloths, all in her own
pleasantly unhesitating yet considerate manner. It was evident that
she would assume her responsibilities thoroughly, yet with no jarring
and disrupting of the accustomed course of things.
In one of the late evenings when Sylvia came into Gay’s room to
brush her hair and to gossip, Gay broached her plan of going to a
Boston convent as soon as the hot weather should be over, to look
about her and find some sort of work. Sylvia listened thoughtfully and
looked up with a kindly smile.
“You’d be happier so, Gabrielle?”
“I think so,” Gay answered.
“What is it?” Sylvia questioned, kindly. “Wastewater too lonely?”
Gabrielle did not answer immediately, except by a quick shake of her
head. Presently she said, a little thickly:
“No, I love Wastewater more than any other place in the world.”
“Well,” said Sylvia, musing, “if you must try your wings, by all means
try them! Be sure we’ll all be interested in making it a success, Gay.
Mamma and I may go abroad in the fall—it isn’t definite, of course,
but I think she would like it, if all my various anchors here can be
managed without me.”
Gabrielle had been burning, fearing, hating to ask it; she found
herself saying now, with a little unconquerable incoherence:
“Then you and David——?”
“David and I,” answered Sylvia, with a quick, mysterious smile, “are
quite the best friends in the world!”
Did she know? David, in asking her to free him, had told her how
much? Gay looked at her cousin through the mirror, and her face
blazed. But Sylvia, curling the end of her long braid thoughtfully
about her finger, was unsuspicious. Gay wondered if she could be
acting.
“I don’t mind telling you, dear,” said Sylvia, presently, “that I wrote
David in the spring, feeling that our understanding was an injustice to
us both, and asked him to be just my good friend—my best friend,”
Sylvia interrupted herself to say, with a little emotion, “for to me he is
the finest man in the world!—for a little while longer. And as he has
been my obedient knight ever since I was a little curly-headed
despot in short frocks, of course he obeyed me,” she ended, with a
little whimsical glance and smile. And now, having gotten to her feet,
and come over to the mirror, she laid one arm affectionately about
Gabrielle’s shoulder. “I love that bright thick hair of yours,” Sylvia
said.
Suddenly Gabrielle felt young, crude, hateful because she did not
adore Sylvia, contemptible because she suffered in seeing that this
other girl’s position and happy destiny it was to be always admired,
always superb. Why couldn’t she—why couldn’t she school herself to
think of Sylvia as rich and beautiful and adored, and married to
David, and mistress of Wastewater? Weren’t there other men, other
fortunes, other friends to be won? Gay laid Sylvia’s smooth hand
against her cheek, and said like a penitent child:
“You’re awfully good! I am grateful to you.”
“That’s right!” Sylvia said, laughing. And she went upon her serene
way, to brush her teeth and open her windows and jump into bed
with her book of essays, always adequate and always sweet.
Gabrielle determined, as she usually determined at night, to begin
again to-morrow, to force herself to meet Sylvia’s friendship and
affection, David’s friendship and affection, with what was only, after
all, a normal, natural response. Why must she tremble, suspect,
watch, turn red and turn white in this maddening and idiotic manner,
when these two older and infinitely superior persons only wanted her
to be pleasant, natural, friendly, as they were? The younger girl felt
as if she were living over a powder magazine; at David’s most casual
word her throat would thicken, and her words become either
incredibly foolish or stupidly heavy; and when he and Sylvia were
together and out of her hearing, her soul and mind were in a tumult
beside which actual bodily pain would have been a relief.
When they cheerfully asked her to join them on their way down for
an afternoon of idling or reading on the shore, Gay put herself—as
she furiously felt—in a ridiculous position by gruffly refusing. The
two, and Aunt Flora, spectacled and armed with a book, would look
at her in astonishment.
“Oh, if Aunt Flora’s going——” Gay might stammer, in her
embarrassment using the very phrase she meant not to use. And
Sylvia’s pretty mouth would twitch at the corners, and she would
exchange a demure look with David, as if to say—Gabrielle fancied
—“Isn’t she a deliciously gauche little creature? She is trying to clear
the tracks for our affair!”
If, on the other hand, Gabrielle came innocently from half an hour
among the sweet warmth and flying colour and the buzzing of bees
about the sweet-pea vines, to meet David and Sylvia in the path, she
might hear Sylvia say lightly and good-temperedly—and might lie
awake in the nights remembering it with a thumping heart and
cheeks hot with shame!—“Not now, David. We can discuss this
later!”
On a certain burning July day, several weeks after Sylvia’s
homecoming, all four Flemings had planned to drive into
Crowchester in the new car, for some shopping. Sylvia’s birthday
was but a week ahead, and she was to have a house party for the
event. To-day she had a neat list: gimp, enamel, candles, glue,
lemonade glasses, Japanese lanterns? (with a question mark) and
charcoal? (with another). For there were to be a beach picnic and a
garden fête next week.
Just before they started, however, Gay begged to be excused. She
was feeling the heat of the day, she said, and wanted to spend the
afternoon quietly down on the shore with her Italian grammar.
Instantly, without premeditation, David felt himself growing excited
again—here was his chance at last for a talk alone with her; a
chance that the last few weeks had not afforded him before. The
sudden hope of it put him almost into a betraying confusion of
excuses; but Sylvia, dismissing him amiably, fancied she knew the
cause—and an entirely different cause—of his defection.
For David was in no mood to dance attendance upon his pretty elder
cousin this particular afternoon. He had driven the new car down
from Boston the week before with real enjoyment; it was a beautiful
car, and David, who was not after all an experienced driver, was
rather proud of his safe handling of it. But since it had been at
Wastewater Sylvia had shown a strong preference for Walker’s
driving. Walker was a nice young fellow of perhaps nineteen, a
newcomer, who was to act as chauffeur and to help John with
errands, and perhaps in September, when the road was less used, to
teach Sylvia to drive.
For some obscure reason it angered David to have to sit idle beside
the pleasantly youthful and amiable Walker and hear Sylvia’s clear-
cut directions. He would rather, he thought ungraciously, he would
far rather walk.
And to-day, when Gabrielle was graciously excused by Sylvia, he
determined to stay at home, too. Of course this might mean that
Aunt Flora would also stay, David reflected, to walk up and down
above the sea, leaning upon his arm in her new feebleness and
sadness.
But for once Aunt Flora made no sign of abandoning the trip, and
although Sylvia looked at him steadily, she also offered no
objections. David could hardly believe that he was actually free, after
these crowded weeks, to walk after Gabrielle through the garden,
with no prospect of an immediate interruption.
His heart beat with a quite disproportionate emotion. If any one had
told David Fleming a few weeks ago that the chance to follow his
lonely little cousin down to the shore and to have a few minutes of
talk alone with her would have made his temples hammer and his
breath come quick with sheer emotion, he might have laughed.
But he was shaking to-day, and there was a drumming in his ears.
Since Sylvia’s return he had had no such opportunity for a talk.
Gabrielle was down in a favourite cranny of the great rocks; the blue
tides swelling at her feet. David saw her black hat first, flung down
on the strip of beach, then the slender white-shod feet, braced
against a boulder, and then the white figure, with the tawny head
bent over a book.
It was shady here, for this particular group of gray water-worn stones
faced east, and the cliff was at her back. But there was a soft
shimmer of light even in the shadow, and across the rocks above
and behind her head the reflected sunshine on the sea ran in little
unceasing ripples of brightness. She started as David came across
the strand, and put her hand to her heart with a quite simple gesture
of surprise.
“David, I thought you went with Sylvia!”
“Too hot,” he answered, briefly, flinging himself down at her feet and
falling into contemplation of a weed-fringed pool that was patiently
awaiting the tide. The water brimmed it, and grasses opened and
moved mysteriously, showing exquisite colours as they spread. The
ebb emptied it again, and the ribbons of grass lay lifeless against the
wet and twinkling mosaic of life that coated the rocks. A steamer
going by like a toy boat on the blue water ten miles away sent out a
mild little plume of sound.
“‘Mia sorella ha una casa,’” David stated, with a careless glance at
the book. “I had three Italian lessons once, and I know that!”
Gabrielle laughed, a little fluttered laugh, and extended to him a
white hand and a stout volume, held title out.
“‘Anna Karenina,’” David read aloud, with a reproachful look. “Oh,
you Gay deceiver!”
He had sometimes called her that in her babyhood, years ago, and
he fancied there was a little softening shine, like a flurry of wind on
gray water, in her eyes when she heard it now. But she gave no
other sign.
“Is it the first time you have read it?” David asked, conventionally,
wondering where his dear, confident companion of the January days
had gone, and whether this new dignity and aloofness in Gabrielle
were only a passing effect of sorrow, and of the displeasure his most