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Chapter 1 LIVING IN A WORLD OF CHEMISTRY. By the end of the chapter, you will recognize that Chemistry is the study of matter, the physical substance of all materials. There is a difference between physical and biological sciences that arises from natural science.
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By the end of the chapter, you will recognize that • Chemistry is the study of matter, the physical substance of all materials. • There is a difference between physical and biological sciences that arises from natural science. • DNA and the purpose of the Human Genome Project - to explore, explore, explore Chapter Learning Objectives
The development of refrigerants is rooted as some interests in chemistry. • A brief intro about the ozone layer. • Distinctions of scientific discovery among basic science, applied science, and technology. • The use of fossil fuels used in everyday lifestyle and global warming. • The benefit and risk analysis factors come into play. Chapter Learning Objectives (cont)
Chapter Outline • Living in a World of Chemistry • What does Chemistry Mean to You? • Maybe chemistry means ??? to you. • Chemistry is the study of matter and the changes it can undergo. • Chemistry is a member of the physical sciences
The amazing effect of nitric acid (b) on copper (a). A young man, Ira Remsen (1864-1927) dropped a copper penny into nitric acid to see what would happen. This is chemistry at work! What type of chemistry do you know that is daily in our lives?
Living in a World of Chemistry • Natural Sciences have been associated with observation of nature. • Our physical and biological environment. Requires The Natural Science Mathematics Physical Sciences Study of matter and energy Biological Sciences Study of living organisms Chemistry Biochemistry
Physical Sciences Study of matter and energy Geology Astronomy Physics Chemistry Chemical Physics Cosmo Chemistry Geo Chemistry Physical Inorganic Organic Analytical Basic physical processes of chemistry Determination of structure & composition Carbon compounds Non-Carbon compounds
Biological Sciences Study of living organisms Botany Zoology Microbiology Cell Biology Genetics Ecology Physiology Microscopic organism Cell structure and Function Heredity Environment Function
Physical vs. Biological Sciences cont. Immunology Pharmacology Toxicology Biochemistry Biological Sciences Chemistry Pathology Medicinal Chemistry
Living in a World of Chemistry • DNA and The Human Genome Project. • DNA is an abbreviation for Deoxyribonucleic acid and is present throughout our bodies. • DNA provides the fingerprint of an individual. • The study of DNA is one aspect of biochemistry
An abstract picture of how DNA unravels and is reproduced. In this way, a parent's DNA is passed to the offspring. More to be discussed in Ch15.
Living in a World of Chemistry • DNA and The Human Genome Project cont. • In 2000, a revolution in our knowledge of DNA begins. • A non-profit consortium called The Human Genome Project begins. • The map of human DNA is completed in April 2003 where the location of every segment of human DNA is identified.
Purpose of The Human Genome Project The original publication by the leaders of The Human Genome project make the following prophetic statement: “It has not escaped our notice that the more we learn about the human genome, the more there is to explore.” Among these ongoing explorations are the following: • Development of products that improve the health of humans, other animals, and plants • Understanding of hereditary diseases • Development of drugs to cure hereditary diseases • Alternation of an individual’s genetic makeup to prevent or cure a disease • The study of why a drug can be effective in some individuals but not in others • Exact matching of drugs to an individual’s genetics makeup • Development of improved agricultural crops and animals • Creation of genetically modified bacteria that will mass-produce desirable chemical products • Use of genetic information for a better understanding of evolution
Living in a World of Chemistry • Air-Conditioning/Refrigerant. • Refrigerants has been in use since the late 1800s. • This process requires a fluid that absorbs heat as it evaporates, releases heat when it condenses, and can be continuously cycled through evaporation and condensation without breaking down. • The development of chlorofluorocarbons, often referred to as CFCs, as much less hazardous refrigerants after WWII.
Thomas MidgleyJr. invented Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) Credit: Kettering University
Living in a World of Chemistry • Air-Conditioning/Refrigerant cont. • The Problem of using CFCs did not emerge until 1970 that would cause damage to the environment. • By the 1980, it became clear that CFCs reacted with the stratosphere, where they interact with the ozone, and started to destroying it. • The Ozone Layer (Depletion) • Ozone in the stratosphere absorbs ultraviolet radiation, is like the Earth’s sunscreen. • Increased ultraviolet exposure becomes harmful to the environment and us.
Figure 15.29c: Ozone holeover Antarctica, October 2005 Will learn more about ozone depletion later in the semester.
Living in a World of Chemistry • Distinguishing between basic science, applied science, and technology. • Basic science, or basic research, is the pursuit of knowledge about the universe with no short-term practical objectives for application in mind. • Ex. Biochemists who struggled for years to understand exactly how DNA functions within cells were doing basic science. • Applied science has the well-defined, short-term goal of solving a specific problem. Ex. The search for a better refrigerant by Midgley and his colleagues.
Living in a World of Chemistry • Distinguishing between basic science, applied science, and technology cont. • Technology, also an application of scientific knowledge, is a bit more difficult to define. In essence, it is the sum of the way we apply science in the context of our society, our economic system, and our industry. • Ex. The first refrigerators and automobiles air conditions designed to use CFCs were the products of a new technology or ways to manipulate DNA to make new medicines or other marketable products is referred to as biotechnology.
Living in a World of Chemistry • Fossil Fuels and Brief intro to Global Warming. • Fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas to support consumer-driven societies and their associated lifestyles. • The fuels are burned in a variety of vehicles to propel down the road, through the air, or across the oceans. • Other uses of fossil fuel include powering an engine, provide heat and cool our homes, grow, harvest, provide health care, medicine, etc… • Fossil fuels are nonrenewable resources, where eventually supply will run out!
Living in a World of Chemistry • Fossil Fuels and Brief intro to Global Warming cont. • Depletion of traditional sources of energy such as petroleum has led to the development of alternative sources of energy. • Renewable energy sources can be replenished on a short time scale; e.g., solar power, wind, and biomass. • Water vapor and carbon dioxide (CO2) are gases that are known to absorb and trap heat radiation (Ex. in nuclear reactors).
Figure 15.15: Municipal solidwaste recycling rates, 1960-2003 RECYCLE!!! Source: EPA
Living in a World of Chemistry • Fossil Fuels and Brief intro to Global Warming cont. • Global warming or the greenhouse effect is a warming of the Earth by a layer of gases that trap the sun’s energy. • Human activity appears to be causing an increase in the amount of atmospheric CO2. • Increased atmospheric CO2 appears to be enhancing the greenhouse effect, leading to an increase in average global temperatures.
Figure 15.25: The Earth'satmosphere acts like the glass of a greenhouse
Figure 15.24: CO2 levels arestill increasing in the atmosphere Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Figure 15.26: Rising global temperatures Source: NASA
Living in a World of Chemistry • Benefits/Risks Tradeoff • It is important to consider how society weighs the benefit of some activity, the use of some chemical, or the use of some new technology against the potential risks. Ex. Automobile offer many transportation over horses, yet automobiles are responsible for thousands of deaths and considerable pollution each year. We accept these risks whiles, at the same time, making efforts to minimize or eliminate them. • What is the risk-benefit tradeoff for vaccination? • Any benefit vs. risk analysis, several factors come onto play.
An excellent discussion these factors is presented in the June 2003 Harvard Center for Risk Analysis (HCRA). The authors identify the following major risk perception factors to consider: • Level of dread: Which do you dread more, for example, heart attack or cancer? • Control: We feel safer when we are in control. • Natural or human-made risk: Natural risks seem less worrisome. • Choice: Do you have a choice in the risk activity? • Involvement of children: Risks that acceptable for adults may not be see in the same light when children are involved. • Newness of risk: Newly perceived risks seem worse that “old” risks. • Awareness: Simply becoming more aware of a risk makes it seem more serious than it may really be. The popular press may contribute to this problem in its effort to keep us well-informed.
Living in a World of Chemistry • Benefits/Risks Tradeoff cont. • Can it happen to you? Not long ago American citizens didn’t worry much about terrorism because “it doesn’t happen here.” September 11, 2001, certainly changed that. • Trust: We tend to be more willing to accept risks imposed on us by those we trust than by those we do not. • Risk-benefit tradeoff: Benefits tend to make risks more acceptable.
Consider the following risk comparison of “natural” versus “human-made” risks. Many are opposed to the use of “toxic chemicals” around food products, yet toxicologists estimate that the typical American diet contains ten thousand times more naturally occurring cancer-causing chemicals than those of the synthetic variety. Over time our ability to detect the presence of toxic substances (concentration) has changed from levels in the parts per hundred (%) to levels below parts per million (ppm), parts per billion (ppb), and now parts per trillion (ppt).
Cottonwood Lake near Buena Vista, Colorado. It’s up to us to keep such places beautiful.
Key Words • Chemistry • Basic science • Applied science • Technology • Natural science • Physical science • Biological science • Fossil Fuel Acknowledgement/Credit: Julie T. Millard, Colby College “Adventures in Chemistry”