What Is Chemistry? Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space. Chemistry is the study of the composition of matter and the changes that matter.

What Is Chemistry?

Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space.

Chemistry is the study of the composition of matter and the changes that matter undergoes.

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What Is Chemistry?

Because living and nonliving things are made of matter, chemistry affects all aspects of life and most natural events.

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Areas of Study

Areas of Study

What are five traditional areas of study in chemistry?

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Areas of Study

Five traditional areas of study are

•organic chemistry

•inorganic chemistry

•biochemistry

•analytical chemistry

•physical chemistry

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Organic chemistry is defined as the study of all chemicals containing carbon.

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Inorganic chemistry is the study of chemicals that, in general, do not contain carbon.

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The study of processes that take place in organisms is biochemistry.

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Analytical chemistry is the area of study that focuses on the composition of matter.

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Physical chemistry is the area that deals with the mechanism, the rate, and the energy transfer that occurs when matter undergoes a change.

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Pure and Applied Chemistry


How are pure and applied chemistry related?

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Pure chemistry is the pursuit of chemical knowledge for its own sake.

Applied chemistry is research that is directed toward a practical goal or application.

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Pure research can lead directly to an application, but an application can exist before research is done to explain how it works.

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Nylon

In the early 1930’s, Wallace Carothers produced nylon while researching cotton and silk.

A team of scientists and engineers applied Carothers’s research to the commercial production of nylon.

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Aspirin

Long before researchers figured out how aspirin works, people used it to relieve pain, and doctors prescribed it for patients who were at risk for a heart attack.

In 1971, it was discovered that aspirin can block the production of a group of chemicals that cause pain and lead to the formation of blood clots. This is an example of pure research.

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Why Study Chemistry?


What are some general reasons to study chemistry?

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Chemistry can be useful in explaining the natural world, preparing people for career opportunities, and producing informed citizens.

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Explaining the Natural World

Chemistry can help you satisfy your natural desire to understand how things work.

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Preparing For a Career

Many careers require knowledge of chemistry. A photographer uses chemical processes to control the development of photographs in a darkroom.

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Being an Informed Citizen

Knowledge of chemistry and other sciences can help you evaluate the data presented, arrive at an informed opinion, and take appropriate action.

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You need it to graduate!!!!!

Materials

Materials

What impact do chemists have on materials, energy, medicine, agriculture, the environment, and the study of the universe?

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Materials

In 1948, George de Mestral took a close look at the burrs that stuck to his clothing. He saw that each burr was covered with many tiny hooks.

In 1955, de Mestral patented the design for the hook-and-loop tapes. These are used as fasteners in shoes and gloves.

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Materials

This story illustrates two ways of looking at the world—the macroscopic view and the microscopic view.

• Burrs belong to the macroscopic world, the world of objects that are large enough to see with the unaided eye.

• The hooks belong to the microscopic world, or the world of objects that can be seen only under magnification.

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Energy

Energy

Chemists play an essential role in finding ways to conserve energy, produce energy, and store energy.

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Energy

Conservation

One of the easiest ways to conserve energy is through insulation. Insulation acts as a barrier to heat flow from the inside to the outside of a house or from the outside to the inside of a freezer.

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Energy

SEAgel is a modern insulation that is light enough to float on soap bubbles.

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Energy

Production

The burning of coal, petroleum, and natural gas is a major source of energy. These materials are called fossil fuels. Oil from the soybeans is used to make biodiesel.

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Energy

Storage

Batteries are devices that use chemicals to store energy that will be released as electric current.

For some applications, it important to have batteries that can be recharged rather than thrown away. Digital cameras, wireless phones, and laptop computers use rechargeable batteries.

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Medicine and Biotechnology


Chemistry supplies the medicines, materials, and technology that doctors use to treat their patients.

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Medicines

There are over 2000 prescription drugs. Many drugs are effective because they interact in a specific way with chemicals in cells. Knowledge of the structure and function of these target chemicals helps a chemist design safe and effective drugs.

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Materials

Chemistry can supply materials to repair or replace body parts. Artificial hips and knees made from metals and plastics can replace worn-out joints and allow people to walk again without pain.

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Biotechnology

From 1990 to 2003, scientists worldwide worked on the Human Genome Project. They identified the genes that comprise human DNA—about 30,000. The discovery of the structure of DNA led to the development of biotechnology.

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Biotechnology applies science to the production of biological products or processes.

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Agriculture

Agriculture

Chemists help to develop more productive crops and safer, more effective ways to protect crops.

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Agriculture

Productivity

One way to track productivity is to measure the amount of edible food that is grown on a given unit of land.

Chemists test soil to see if it contains the right chemicals to grow a particular crop and recommend ways to improve the soil.

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Agriculture

Chemists also help determine when a crop needs water.

If the genes from a jellyfish that glows are transferred to a potato plant, the plant glows when it needs to be watered.

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Agriculture

Crop Protection

Chemists sometimes use chemicals produced by insects to fight insect pests. The plastic tube wrapped around the stem of the tomato plant contains a chemical that a female pinworm moth emits to attract male moths. It interferes with the mating process so that fewer pinworms are produced.

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The Environment

The Environment

A pollutant is a material found in air, water, or soil that is harmful to humans or other organisms.

•Chemists help to identify pollutants and prevent pollution.

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The Environment

Identify Pollutants

Until the mid-1900s, lead was used in many products, including paints and gasoline.

A study done in 1971 showed that the level of lead that is harmful to humans is much lower than had been thought, especially for children. Even low levels of lead in the blood can permanently damage the nervous system of a growing child.

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The Environment

Prevent Pollution

The strategies used to prevent lead poisoning include testing children’s blood for lead, regulation of home sales to families with young children, and public awareness campaigns with posters.

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The Environment

The percentage of children with elevated blood levels has decreased since the 1970s.

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The Universe

The Universe

To study the universe, chemists gather data from afar and analyze matter that is brought back to Earth.

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The Universe

Chemists have analyzed more than 850 pounds of moon rocks that were brought back to Earth. Some of these rocks are similar to rocks formed by volcanoes on Earth, suggesting that vast oceans of molten lava once covered the moon's surface.

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The Universe

The robotic vehicle Opportunity was designed to determine the chemical composition of rocks and soil on Mars. Data collected at the vehicle’s landing site indicated that the site was once drenched with water.

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Thinking Like a Scientist

In 1928, Alexander Fleming noticed that bacteria he was studying did not grow in the presence of a yellow-green mold. In 1945, Fleming shared a Nobel Prize for Medicine with Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, who led the team that isolated penicillin.

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Alchemy

Alchemy

How did alchemy lay the groundwork for chemistry?

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Alchemy

Alchemists developed the tools and techniques for working with chemicals.

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Alchemy

Alchemists developed processes for separating mixtures and purifying chemicals. They designed equipment that is still in use today including beakers, flasks, tongs, funnels, and the mortar and pestle.

Mortar and Pestle

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An Experimental Approach to Science


How did Lavoisier help to transform chemistry?

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Lavoisier helped to transform chemistry from a science of observation to the science of measurement that it is today.

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Lavoisier designed a balance that could measure mass to the nearest 0.0005 gram. He also showed that oxygen is required for a material to burn.

Reconstruction of Lavoisier’s Laboratory

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The Scientific Method


What are the steps in the scientific method?

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The scientific method is a logical, systematic approach to the solution of a scientific problem.

•Steps in the scientific method include making observations, testing hypotheses, and developing theories.

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Making Observations

When you use your senses to obtain information, you make an observation.

Suppose you try to turn on a flashlight and it does not light. An observation can lead to a question: What’s wrong with the flashlight?

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Testing Hypotheses

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for an observation.

You guess that the flashlight needs new batteries. You can test your hypothesis by putting new batteries in the flashlight. If the flashlight lights, you can be fairly certain that your hypothesis is true.

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An experiment is a procedure that is used to test a hypothesis. When you design experiments, you deal with variables, or factors that can change.

• The variable that you change during an experiment is the manipulated variable, or independent variable.

• The variable that is observed during the experiment is the responding variable, or dependent variable.

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Developing Theories

Once a hypothesis meets the test of repeated experimentation, it may become a theory.

• A theory is a well-tested explanation for a broad set of observations.

• A theory may need to be changed at some point in the future to explain new observations or experimental results.

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Scientific Laws

A scientific law is a concise statement that summarizes the results of many observations and experiments.

A scientific law doesn’t try to explain the relationship it describes. That explanation requires a theory.

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Steps in the Scientific Method

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Collaboration and Communication


What role do collaboration and communication play in science?

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No matter how talented the players on a team, one player cannot ensure victory for the team. Individuals must collaborate, or work together, for the good of the team.

•When scientists collaborate and communicate, they increase the likelihood of a successful outcome.

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Collaboration

Scientists choose to collaborate for different reasons.

• Some research problems are so complex that no one person could have all of the knowledge, skills, and resources to solve the problem.

• Scientists might conduct research for an industry in exchange for equipment and the time to do the research.

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Collaboration isn’t always a smooth process. You will likely work on a team in the laboratory. If so, you may face some challenges. But you can also experience the benefits of collaboration.

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Communication

Scientists communicate face to face, by e-mail, by phone, and at international conferences.

Scientists publish their results in scientific journals. Articles are published only after being reviewed by experts in the author’s field.

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What Is Chemistry? Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space. Chemistry is the study of the composition of matter and the changes that matter.

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