CHEMISTRY
What is Chemistry?
Chemistry is the study of the composition of substances and the changes they
undergo. In other words, chemists study what the things around us are made of
(including human beings) and how they change during chemical reactions.
Who were the first chemists?
We can trace the origins of chemistry back over 1000 years ago to alchemists.
These early alchemists were experimenters that were trying to turn ordinary
metals into gold. Although they were not successful in their pursuit to turn
common metals into gold they spurred the development of science through trial
and error.
They:
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Discovered new elements and compounds
Designed new laboratory equipment
Developed new procedures such as distillation and sublimation
These discoveries helped in the development of the science of chemistry. Early
chemists tried to gain an understanding of the natural world around them by
making observations and performing experiments. A Frenchman by the name
of Antoine Lavoisier made the important step of making accurate
measurements of mass changes in his experiments. His experiments changed
chemistry from a science of observation to the science of measurement that it is
today. Because of this, Lavoisier is often called the founder of modern
chemistry.
In modern chemistry there are generally considered to be five major divisions.
They are:
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Organic Chemistry - the study of all substances containing carbon
Inorganic Chemistry - largely concerns substances without carbon
Analytical Chemistry - is concerned primarily with the composition of
substances
Physical Chemistry - the use of theories and experiments to describe
the behavior of chemicals
Biochemistry - the study of the chemistry of living organisms
There is overlap from one division of chemistry to another so chemists need to
have a broad base of knowledge in each of these areas. There are many careers
related to these different divisions of chemistry and in the majority of them
chemical knowledge is used to attain a specific goal. This is called applied
chemistry or chemical technology. In applied chemistry scientific knowledge
can be used in ways that either benefit or harm people and the environment. In
pure chemistry, or pure science, knowledge is accumulated for the sake of
knowing and there are no specific purposes in mind. Because of this, pure
science is neither good nor bad.