Chemistry is a science of substances, their properties, and how and why materials combine or separate to form different substances. Atoms, molecules and compounds are the involved ones in the study of Chemistry. In other words, it is how atoms interact to form molecules and how molecules interact with each other. It also looks into the composition of substances and their properties. The outer electron orbits or shells primarily determine the chemical characteristics of a material and whether materials will chemically combine. Thus Chemistry is the study of the composition of matter and the changes that take place in that composition. If we place a bar of iron outside our window, the iron bar will soon begin to rust. If we pour vinegar on baking soda, the mixture fizzes. If we hold a sugar cube over a flame, the sugar begins to turn brown and give off steam. The goal of chemistry is to understand the composition of substances such as iron, vinegar, baking soda, and sugar and to understand what happens during the changes described here.

The term chemistry has grown out of an earlier field of study known as alchemy. Alchemy has been described as a kind of pre-chemistry, in which scholars studied the nature of matter but without the formal scientific approach that modern chemists use. The term alchemy is probably based on the Arabic name for Egypt, al-Kimia, or the “black country.” Ancient scholars learned a great deal about matter, usually by trial- and-error methods. For example, the Egyptians mastered many technical procedures such as making different types of metals, manufacturing colored glass, dying cloth, and extracting oils from plants. Alchemists of the Middle Ages discovered a number of elements and compounds and perfected other chemical techniques, such as distillation and crystallization. The modern subject of chemistry did not appear, however, until the eighteenth century. At that point, scholars began to recognize that research on the nature of matter had to be conducted according to certain specific rules. Among these rules was one stating that ideas in chemistry had to be subjected to experimental tests. Nowadays keeping in view the overall significance and versatility of chemistry, we can say that:

Chemistry is a science: There is only one sanctioned procedure for determining whether a statement about matter is really chemistry: the exhaustive, inefficient, but highly successful scientific method. Chemists often arrive at new results by nonscientific means (like luck or sheer creativity), but their work isn’t chemistry unless it can be reproduced and verified scientifically.

Chemistry is a systematic study: Chemists have devised several good methods for solving problems and making observations. For example, analytical chemists often use protocols (thoroughly tested recipes) for determining the concentrations of substances in a sample. Chemists use well-defined techniques like spectroscopy and chromatography to study new or unknown substances.

Chemistry is the study of the composition and properties of matter: Chemistry is the study of the composition and properties of matter as it answers questions like, “What kind of stuff is a sample made of? What does the sample look like on a molecular scale? How does the structure of the material determine its properties? How do the properties of the material change when we increase temperature, or pressure, or some other environmental variable?”

Chemistry is the study of the reactivity of substances: Chemistry is the study of the reactivity of substances as one material can be changed into another by a chemical reaction. A complex substance can by made from simpler ones. Chemical compounds can break down into simpler substances. For example, fuels burn, food cooks, leaves turn their colors in the fall, cells grow, medicines cure and it is both their chemistry and the chemistry which is concerned with the essential processes that make these changes happen. Today, the science of chemistry is often divided into four major areas: organic, inorganic, physical, and analytical chemistry. Each discipline investigates a different aspect of the properties and reactions of matter.

Organic chemistry: Organic chemistry is the study of carbon compounds. That definition sometimes puzzles beginning chemistry students because more than 100 chemical elements are known. How does it happen that one large field of chemistry is devoted to the study of only one of those elements and its compounds? The answer to that question is that carbon is a most unusual element. It is the only element whose atoms are able to combine with each other in apparently endless combinations. Many organic compounds consist of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of carbon atoms joined to each other in a continuous chain. Other organic compounds consist of carbon chains with other carbon chains branching off them. Still other organic compounds consist of carbon atoms arranged in rings, cages, spheres, or other geometric forms. The scope of organic chemistry can be appreciated by knowing that more than 90 percent of all compounds known to science (more than 10 million compounds) are organic compounds. Organic chemistry is of special interest because it deals with many of the compounds that we encounter in our everyday lives: natural and synthetic rubber, vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oils, cloth, plastics, paper, and most of the compounds that make up all living organisms, from simple one-cell bacteria to the most complex plants and animals.

Inorganic chemistry: Inorganic chemistry is the study of the chemistry of all the elements in the periodic table except for carbon. Like their cousins in the field of organic chemistry, inorganic chemists have provided the world with countless numbers of useful products, including fertilizers, alloys, ceramics, household cleaning products, building materials, water softening and purification systems, paints and stains, computer chips and other electronic components, and beauty products. The more than 100 elements included in the field of inorganic chemistry have a staggering variety of properties. Some are gases, others are solid, and a few are liquid. Some are so reactive that they have to be stored in special containers, while others are so inert (inactive) that they virtually never react with other elements. Some are so common they can be produced for only a few cents a pound, while others are so rare that they cost hundreds of dollars an ounce. Because of this wide variety of elements and properties, most inorganic chemists concentrate on a single element or family of elements or on certain types of reactions.

Physical chemistry: Physical chemistry is the branch of chemistry that investigates the physical properties of materials and relates these properties to the structure of the substance. Physical chemists study both organic and inorganic compounds and measure such variables as the temperature needed to liquefy a solid, the energy of the light absorbed by a substance, and the heat required to accomplish a chemical transformation. A computer is used to calculate the properties of a material and compare these assumptions to laboratory measurements. Physical chemistry is responsible for the theories and understanding of the physical phenomena utilized in organic and inorganic chemistry.

Analytical chemistry: Analytical chemistry is that field of chemistry concerned with the identification of materials and with the determination of the percentage composition of compounds and mixtures. These two lines of research are known, respectively, as qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. Two of the oldest techniques used in analytical chemistry are gravimetric and volumetric analysis. Gravimetric analysis refers to the process by which a substance is precipitated (changed to a solid) out of solution and then dried and weighed. Volumetric analysis involves the reaction between two liquids in order to determine the composition of one or both of the liquids.

In the last half of the twentieth century, a number of mechanical systems have been developed for use in analytical research. For example, spectroscopy is the process by which an unknown sample is excited (or energized) by heating or by some other process. The radiation given off by the hot sample can then be analyzed to determine what elements are present. Various forms of spectroscopy are available (X-ray, infrared, and ultraviolet, for example) depending on the form of radiation analyzed. Other analytical techniques now in use include optical and electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (MRI; used to produce a three-dimensional image), mass spectrometry (used to identify and find out the mass of particles contained in a mixture), and various forms of chromatography (used to identify the components of mixtures).

Other fields of chemistry: The division of chemistry into four major fields is in some ways misleading and inaccurate. In the first place, each of these four fields is so large that no chemist is an authority in any one field. An inorganic chemist might specialize in the chemistry of sulfur, the chemistry of nitrogen, the chemistry of the inert gases, or in even more specialized topics. Secondly, many fields have developed within one of the four major areas, and many other fields cross two or more of the major areas. For an example of specialization, the subject of biochemistry is considered a subspecialty of organic chemistry. It is concerned with organic compounds that occur within living systems. An example of a cross-discipline subject is bioinorganic chemistry. Bioinorganic chemistry is the science dealing with the role of inorganic elements and their compounds (such as iron, copper, and sulfur) in living organisms. At present, chemists explore the boundaries of chemistry and its connections with other sciences, such as biology, environmental science, geology, mathematics, and physics. A chemist today may even have a so-called nontraditional occupation. He or she may be a pharmaceutical salesperson, a technical writer, a science librarian, an investment broker, or a patent lawyer, since discoveries by a traditional chemist may expand and diversify into a variety of fields that encompass our whole society.

Chemists have two major goals. One is to find out the composition of matter in order to learn what elements are present in a given sample and in what percentage and arrangement. This type of research is known as analysis. A second goal is to invent new substances that replicate or are different from those found in nature. This form of research is known as synthesis. In many cases, analysis leads to synthesis. That is, chemists may find that some naturally occurring substance is a good painkiller. That discovery may suggest new avenues of research that will lead to a synthetic (human-made) product similar to the natural product, but with other desirable properties (and usually lower cost). Many of the substances that chemistry has produced for human use have been developed by this process of analysis and synthesis.

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Underdog asked:


I have to take an ap chemistry take home test. Does anyone know the answers or where to find them.

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geom46 asked:


Does anyone have any quick tips to do better on the AP chemistry exam tomorrow?

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Starblazer asked:


Somewhere I heard about this chemistry test where the students (advanced level) are locked in the chem lab for a few days to even a week, they’re given no food, and have nothing but the chemicals in the lab to survive? With a good enough understanding of chemistry, they should be able to mix different elements and compounds together to create organic compounds, proteins, fats, etc. Only water is unlimited, if even that. Has anyone heard about this before?

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Anne asked:


Please be specific on how many hours on a day and for how long. Also, if you’ve taken the test before, please tell me what score you got and how difficult it was to get it.

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Yesterday asked:


I have a biology test and the material is not in the notes my teacher makes us copy down, and there is not much about it in the book. I really need help, I am shooting to get a really high honor role this semester.
It’s not discussed, it’s kind of related to what we learn, but none of my class understands it.

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Parvati K asked:


I am a sophomore in high school, and I got a 690 on the SAT subject test for chemistry. Is this a good enough score to show to Columbia, Brown or NYU? Or should I take more subject tests?

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plthra asked:


So the AP test for biology is in a bit more than a week. What is the best way to study and what topics are most important? I took a practice test the other day and got a 2 so I’m kind of freaking out.

I just have so much trouble memorizing all the different terms and functions! I have the CliffsAP study book but just reading the information doesn’t help me because I’ll forget it the next day (I’m a visual learner).

Thanks!

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Everything Happens to Be Purple asked:


I did a flame test lab in chemistry a while back, and I have to connect it to real life. How do I do this? We simply noted down the colors of the flame with barium, strontium, calcium, lithium, sodium, potassium chloride.

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hawkeyes asked:


I failed chemistry (mostly because i dont turn in projects) and i have to take a credit by exam to graduate from high school, the test is coming up soon and i want to know, what are the more important things to study for for this test?should it be gas laws?stoicgeometry?or whatelse?

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dmc asked:


I am having a SAT Chemistry test this Saturday, what should I review on? What particular items should I study on? Thanks.

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JulyFire asked:


I have been doing badly on chemistry tests lately, what are some good ways to study for one? also, any good tips on taking chem tests?

my next test is monday.

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Jah asked:


I’m taking the AP Chemistry test soon.Like in 2 weeks. How can i pass it when i have been lacking off in the class?

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PrettyTough<3 asked:


I have a biology test tomorrow on evolution and I could use the textbook to study, but I find that just reading the material doesn’t help me remember all of it. So I’d like to know if anyone has any other study techniques. Thanks!

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Miss Amiee asked:


Hey guys I have a chemistry test tomorrow ! It is a test on electrons neutrons and protons.

i have just a few questions

what is the nucleus of the atom held together by?

Can you tell me more about isotopes?

What are the “Must Remembers” about atoms? what must i know before the test? the test will be all on atoms
oh and isotopes such as hydrogen 1 hydrogen 2 and hydrogen 3 are atoms of the same element that differ in what?

thanks a bunch

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Kanan asked:


I have the AP Chemistry test on the 12th and I would like to know if it’s even remotely possible for me to pass it with a 3. Anyone who has any insight, I would appreciate the answer.

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Nicole asked:


I’m doing some major cramming for my AP biology test, and I just saw the huge list of phylums under the kingdom mammalia. How familiar should I be with these for the test?

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Jaws asked:


I will have my MS in biology in a year and I may be considering teaching high school biology. I have never had any education courses. Is it possible for me to get a job as a teacher? I hear there is a shortage of science teachers? Is that true or is it a myth? All answers will be greatly appreciated.

SMANSA

Jin asked:


I’m in high school right now, and I was wondering whether a summer biology class at a college equal to an AP Bio class during the school year? Will it be weighted on my GPA?

SMANSA

Arpita asked:


I am in 11th class and have opted for Physics,chemistry,maths and biology. I want to have a carear in biology but other than medical. please help me out.

SMANSA

Lu S asked:


The human speices lifestyle is influened by biology i.e the study of living things in many ways. What impact has biology had to us?

SMANSA

UCSD undergrad student asked:


Hi, I’m a student currently in the pharmacological chemistry major. I’m taking upper division Organic chemistry classes right now but I have an extremely bad professor. I’m afraid that he’ll leave out important information. I am just wondering how important is ochem is to the profession itself, and pharm degree exams. I know there’s a lot more other chemistry such as physical chemistry and biochem in this major, but how important is ochem related to those.

SMANSA

Roy A asked:


Im taking up accounting course and we have biology subject included in our course. Why do we have to study biology when accounting is all about mostly numbers?

SMANSA

George asked:


If anybody knew that would be great.

Thanks.

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anumanohar68 asked:


what is global warming ? will it occur ? what is your opinion ?

SMANSA

cc asked:


I have applied for chemical engineering as my course in several universities. I am very interested in chemistry but I have heard that chemistry is very light in chemical engineering. Is that true? I mean, how light is “light”? Can someone give me a brief overview of the chemistry topics covered in the course?

SMANSA

Doc Occam asked:


To help science conform to Biblical standards?

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tvm9392 asked:


I’ve heard that I should double major in biology and education, major in biology and minor in education, vice versa, or major in Biology Teacher Education. What does all this mean? How many years of schooling would it take to do this? My biology teacher last year was amazing and really inspired me and I can’t see myself doing anything else. If there is any additional information you could tell me I would greatly appreciate it.

SMANSA

Alexandra asked:


What are the options if you pass the chemistry class but failed the chemistry regents?
What are the options if you pass the chemistry class but failed the NY regents?
I failed the chemistry regents and I heard from a senior that if you pass the class, you don’t have to take the regents. Is that true? What diploma would you get? Is it better for me to take the regents over again? Are there any other ways to gain back a advanced regents diploma since I failed the chemistry regents?
Only serious answers please.

SMANSA

Brookie T asked:


I am trying to teach my cockatiels to say some Spanish phrases and I would like to teach them to say bastante aves which means pretty bird . However, in order to teach them how to say it I need to know how to pronounce it. Does anyone out there know how?

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Jason asked:


I am starting to look around right now….

B.S. in biology with a concentration molecular biology
Vo-Tech training in electronics repair
Computer Programming I and II using Java (CS courses)
Calculus I through IV

My GPA will suck, though…around 2.6 because I failed out of my first try at college like twelve years ago and the transcript is always there.

I have 8 years experience fixing computers.

SMANSA

andeeaguila02 asked:


We need this for an Investigatory Project for Biology… Our group is hoping to find an experiment about plants or food, please, please help!!! If there’s none, any biology experiment will do as long as there is no need for hard to find and expensive materials. Thank You!

SMANSA

bH_Mommyx2 asked:


I am 25 and about to take my first biology laboratory course since high school! I have an undergraduate degree and did take some science classes but it has still been a while and I want to be fresh. Can anyone recommend a good online source of biology, anatomy and physiology review?

SMANSA

Star and Moon asked:


I know that MIT has a good engineer program, but do they have a good one for biology if not are there any other college with a good biology department for undergrads.

SMANSA

i_need_ammo asked:


This is supposed to be in my book, but I have no idea. I mean, Applied chemistry and pure chemistry… I had no idea that there were such things. ><

SMANSA

questioner asked:


EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS?

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?ORal-K asked:


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070501/sc_nm/globalwarming_ice_dc

NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOO. Its NOT global warming..its..imaginary..
I mean seriously, whatever the f**ck political party you belong to..we’re all stuck on this planet. Someone DO something…

SMANSA

bleehhhh asked:


I have an assignment due Wednesday where I have to find a good chemistry website and a bad chemistry website and explain why. Want to help me? [:

I also need an interesting picture related to chemistry.

Please help!

SMANSA

c_chavez17 asked:


I am going to graduate college with a Biology/Chemistry Bachelor’s degree and would like to get my Masters in Biology to improve my chances of getting into Dental School. What requirements are needed to get a Masters in Biology (admission requirements, avg costs, classes needed to take to get in). Do I have to take a test? How long does it take to get a masters? Any additional details that would be helpful.

SMANSA

habaceeba asked:


I am a college graduate (BA) with little science background. I am interested in expanding my knowlege of chemistry, physics, astronomy – all of the exact sciences. I think chemistry is the best place to start a solid foundation. (If I am mistaken, I’m open to suggestions) What are some concise, yet readable books that I should choose?

SMANSA

Sean asked:


I was wondering. I was given the choice to take chemistry or take physics next year. I would rather take physics, however should I take chemistry so that I could become a photographer when I grow up? How important is chemistry in photography? Would chemistry help my career?

SMANSA

Cacaoatl asked:


Remembering that the word hoax implies a deliberate falsehood — Where and when did the “global warming hoax” begin? Did the world’s climatologists, environmental scientists, environmental activists, liberal politicians, and other proponents of the man made global warming argument meet in some backroom somewhere and plan it all out?

Are these same scientists, politicians, and celebraties deliberatly surpressing research that counters man made global warming? Are the dozens of peer reviewed journals that publish global warming research in on this vast conspiracy?

How is the vast conspiracy maintained? Is such a hoax conspiracy likely?

Or is it more likely that dozens or hundreds of scientists with diverse backgrounds, working in various fields, came to similar conclusions?
News reports that man may be making the Earth warmer go back at least to the 1940s…

http://www.globalwarmingarchive.com/viewer.aspx?img=19705748&search=Callendar
The concept of global warming was introduced in the 1840s…

So if it is a hoax, as some have claimed, it is a far reaching hoax involving figures in
science, the media, and politics on every continent for 160 years. Does that seem plausible?

One of the famous scientific hoaxes in the world, the so-called Piltdown Man, was exposed 40 year after its conception. The Piltdown Man hoax only involved a few people and was undone through advancements in anthropology. Do you honestly believe that global warming is a hoax that has been carried on for 4 times as long as Piltdown Man and would have involved hundreds, perhaps thousands of people?

SMANSA

Dana1981, Master of Science asked:


It seems like half the questions in the global warming section these days are ‘if global warming is true why is it snowing today?’.

What percentage of global warming deniers do you think don’t know the difference between weather and climate, local and global, or past and present?

Considering this figure and the small minority of people who continue to deny anthropogenic global warming (AGW), what does this tell you about the AGW denial movement?

SMANSA

lqdbntr asked:


I’m doing a report for my chemistry class, and I’m having trouble finding out specifically how pharmacists used chemistry in their career.

SMANSA

1UP! asked:


Looking for the best air dry strongest bulk affordable least shrinking clay I can find that professionals use and hobbyists for detailed work of human faces and hands, bodys, animals, the like. So far Critter Clay seems to be the best, not sure if it’s also good for faces and busts, anyone have a suggestion?

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LA’s Lil Shorty asked:


I was looking through a college book for colleges that offer marine biology. I came to a college that offers both marine biology and aquatic biology. I always thought it was the same thing. Can you help me?

SMANSA

thepianist asked:


I was in my chemistry class today and some fellow classmates and I were talking about how we don’t need chemistry for a nursing major. But all the lectures about acids/bases buffers, solutions, dilutions and all that stuff is closely related to the fundamentals of nursing. Am I right?

SMANSA

ash asked:


hey guys im stuck on these 2 biology questions i need some help really bad so if you can please help me. 10points and best answer. thanks so much(if its not to much to ask please explain as simple as possible it gets confusing if there is to much information)

Explain why we are still piecing together a picture of how human evolution occurred, and how is it possible that our understanding of it might be flawed?

What are three advantages of using scientific names for organisms?

SMANSA

Mr.Popular asked:


what is the difference between organic chemistry, and normal chemistry?

and do i need to learn normal chemistry first in order to learn organic chemistry?

SMANSA

Leslie R asked:


I began college as a biology major. I took chemistry my first semester in college, it was extermly diffucult. Even the brightest kids in the class struggled through it. Average test scores scores for the class rarley left the low C range.
Recently I decided to go into nursing, of course chemistry is required for that major also. Im signed on to take it this spring. Wll it be any easier, or just different subject matter???

SMANSA

Marshall asked:


I understand that a broad and intricate knowledge of the basics are important, but I’m not at all sure what basics I should start with. My idea was to read through a general chemistry textbook, but it’s turning out to be somewhat overwhelming. I’m looking to pursue a career in organic chemistry (organic chemistry textbooks are too specific and don’t really allow for a broad understanding of the subject matter).

I’m already taking chemistry courses at a university; the aim of this question, to restate, is to help me figure out where I should be concentrating in my spare time.

SMANSA

0 asked:


We had a teeny weeny bit of chemistry but now that has gone, and I am missing romance and lust and feeling something in intimate times. How can you create chemistry again?

SMANSA

Fido asked:


Also, what chemistry occurs in the human body on a day to day basis, and what chemistry occurs in the car and computer on a day to day basis.

Thanks!

SMANSA

Viswamitra T asked:


how does the global warming is going to affect our planet? What can we do about it? Is it as real as people say it is?

SMANSA

Fox asked:


I’m planning on going to Slippery Rock University to major in Biology. I really enjoy working with animals and hope to further my education and become a veterinarian or animal behaviorist. I was wondering if anyone would know of any good minors I could get into from Slippery Rock?

SMANSA

Hello. asked:


No silly answers please. It is for biology and I need specific words and stuff. We had a cover teacher for the lesson and she didn’t explain it to us because she teaches Spanish so…

Thanks.

SMANSA

son92 asked:


answer the following briefly.
a. where and when did chemistry begin?
b. what are the related sciences that make use of chemistry?
c. where can a chemist work after graduation?

10 pts. for the best answer.

SMANSA