Connecting to Your World Shape-sorter toys fascinate young children. Typically, the children try placing a shape in different holes until they find the right one. They may try to place an incorrect shape in the same hole over and over again. An older child has enough experience to place the correct shape in each hole on the first try. The trial-and-error approach used by young children is one method of problem solving, but it is usually not the best one. In this section, you will learn effective ways to solve problems in chemistry.

Key Concepts

• What is a general approach to solving a problem?

• What are the three steps for solving numeric problems?

• What are the two steps for solving conceptual problems?

Reading Strategy

Identifying Main Idea Details Under the heading Solving Numeric Problems, there are three main ideas presented as subheads. As you read, list two details that support each main idea.

Guided Reading and Study Worksheet