Chemistry Is The Scientific Study of The Properties and Behavior of

Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter.
[1] It is a physical
science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter
and compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, properties,
behavior and the changes they undergo during reactions with other substances.[2][3][4][5] Chemistry
also addresses the nature of chemical bonds in chemical compounds.
In the scope of its subject, chemistry occupies an intermediate position between physics and biology.
[6]
It is sometimes called the central science because it provides a foundation for understanding
both basic and applied scientific disciplines at a fundamental level.[7] For example, chemistry explains
aspects of plant growth (botany), the formation of igneous rocks (geology), how atmospheric ozone
is formed and how environmental pollutants are degraded (ecology), the properties of the soil on the
Moon (cosmochemistry), how medications work (pharmacology), and how to collect DNA evidence
at a crime scene (forensics).
Chemistry has existed under various names since ancient times.[8] It has evolved, and now chemistry
encompasses various areas of specialisation, or subdisciplines, that continue to increase in number
and interrelate to create further interdisciplinary fields of study. The applications of various fields of
chemistry are used frequently for economic purposes in the chemical industry.
Etymology
Main article: Etymology of chemistry
The word chemistry comes from a modification during the Renaissance of the word alchemy, which
referred to an earlier set of practices that encompassed elements of
chemistry, metallurgy, philosophy, astrology, astronomy, mysticism, and medicine. Alchemy is often
associated with the quest to turn lead or other base metals into gold, though alchemists were also
interested in many of the questions of modern chemistry. [9][10]
The modern word alchemy in turn is derived from the Arabic word al-kīmīā (‫)الكیمیاء‬. This may
have Egyptian origins since al-kīmīā is derived from the Ancient Greek χημία, which is in turn derived
from the word Kemet, which is the ancient name of Egypt in the Egyptian language.[11] Alternately, al-
kīmīā may derive from χημεία 'cast together'.[12]
Modern principles
Laboratory, Institute of Biochemistry, University of

Cologne in Germany
The current model of atomic structure is the quantum mechanical model.[13] Traditional chemistry
starts with the study of elementary particles, atoms, molecules,[14] substances, metals, crystals and
other aggregates of matter. Matter can be studied in solid, liquid, gas and plasma states, in isolation
or in combination. The interactions, reactions and transformations that are studied in chemistry are
usually the result of interactions between atoms, leading to rearrangements of the chemical
bonds which hold atoms together. Such behaviors are studied in a chemistry laboratory.
The chemistry laboratory stereotypically uses various forms of laboratory glassware. However
glassware is not central to chemistry, and a great deal of experimental (as well as applied/industrial)
chemistry is done without it.
Solutions of substances in reagent bottles, including ammonium

hydroxide and nitric acid, illuminated in different colors
A chemical reaction is a transformation of some substances into one or more different substances.
[15]
The basis of such a chemical transformation is the rearrangement of electrons in the chemical
bonds between atoms. It can be symbolically depicted through a chemical equation, which usually
involves atoms as subjects. The number of atoms on the left and the right in the equation for a
chemical transformation is equal. (When the number of atoms on either side is unequal, the
transformation is referred to as a nuclear reaction or radioactive decay.) The type of chemical
reactions a substance may undergo and the energy changes that may accompany it are constrained
by certain basic rules, known as chemical laws.
Energy and entropy considerations are invariably important in almost all chemical studies. Chemical
substances are classified in terms of their structure, phase, as well as their chemical compositions.
They can be analyzed using the tools of chemical analysis, e.g. spectroscopy and chromatography.
Scientists engaged in chemical research are known as chemists.[16] Most chemists specialize in one or
more sub-disciplines. Several concepts are essential for the study of chemistry; some of them are:[17]

Chemistry Is The Scientific Study of The Properties and Behavior of

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Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter.

Main article: Etymology of chemistry

Laboratory, Institute of Biochemistry, University of

Solutions of substances in reagent bottles, including ammonium

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