April 1, 2018 (Vol. 38, No. 7)
Rating:
Strong Points: Useful reference tables, chemical reaction search function
Weak Points: Periodic Table, poor display on small screens
Platform:
iPad/iPhone/Android
Cost:
Free
Summary:
The Chemistry & Homework app may be most useful to students of chemistry, as it contains some useful reference tables. These include a table of compound solubility in water, a table of the molecular weights of organic substances, a list of elements ordered by their electronegativity, and a chemical reactivity series. Another useful function of the app is the reactions feature, which searches for chemical reactions based on user input. The search algorithm isn’t perfect, but it is actually useful for the search function to return both identical and related chemical reactions to those queried. The Periodic Table featured within the app is less successful, as selecting individual elements simply routes users to Wikipedia. In addition, the Periodic Table and some of the other app elements do not display particularly well on small screens.