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Why Study Chemistry?

Why Study Chemistry?. When you start your car, do you think about chemistry? The power to start your car is furnished by a lead storage battery. How does this battery work, and what does it contain? When a battery goes dead, what does that mean?

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Why Study Chemistry?

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  1. Why Study Chemistry? When you start your car, do you think about chemistry? The power to start your car is furnished by a lead storage battery. How does this battery work, and what does it contain? When a battery goes dead, what does that mean? If you use a friend’s battery to “jump start” your car, did you know that your battery could explode? How can you avoid such an unpleasant possibility? What is in the gasoline that you put in your tank, and how does it furnish the energy to drive to school? What is the vapor that comes out of the exhaust pipe, and why does it cause air pollution?

  2. All of these questions can be answered by understanding some chemistry. As we go along you will learn the answers to these questions . Chemistry is all around you; you just don’t realize it. Chemical reactions in your brain enable you to read and understand; chemical reactions break down the food you eat to give you energy; and trees and grass grow because of chemical changes.

  3. Chemistry helped archaeologist Luis Alvarez explain why dinosaurs disappeared. Did you realize that lead poisoning probably was a significant contributing factor in the demise of the Roman Empire? The Romans had high exposure to lead and lead poisoning with its symptoms of lethargy and mental malfunctions could have contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire.

  4. Scientific Method Courtesy: www.lab-initio.com

  5. The Scientific Method • Science is not simply a set of facts but also a plan of action – a procedure of processing and understanding certain types of information. • This process is known as the scientific method. • General frame work for a generic scientific method: • Making observations: • Quantitative (involves number and a unit) such as water boils at 100oC or a book weighs 2 pounds. • Qualitative (no numbers) such as the sky is blue or water is a liquid.

  6. Formulating hypotheses. A hypothesis is a possible explanation for an observation. Performing experiments. An experiment is carried out to test a hypothesis. Experimentation allows a scientist to decide whether a hypothesis is valid.

  7. Once a hypothesis or set of hypotheses agrees with the data obtained, a theory can be developed. • Theory (or model) – set of tested hypotheses that explains some natural occurrence. • What is the difference between a law and a theory? • A law summarizes what happens; a theory (model) is an attempt to explain why it happens.

  8. Observation Empirical facts Scientific laws Explanation Hypothesis Theories • The scientific method does not always proceed in an orderly, stepwise manner previously described. • It is a cyclical process: observations suggest explanations, which suggest new experiments, which suggest new explanations, and so on. • It is important to remember that science does not always progress smoothly and efficiently. • Some of the greatest inventions happen by accident!!

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