Introduction to Chemistry and Scientific Method

What is Chemistry?

• Chemistry is the branch of science that deals with the study of matter and its processes.
• It is the basis of other engineering sciences such as biology, physics, thermodynamics, and others.

The Scientific Method

• The scientific method is a systematic approach to research used in almost all types of engineering sciences.
• It involves defining a problem, making experiments, collecting data, interpreting the data, formulating a hypothesis, and summarizing the data in a simple and precise way.

Data

• Data refers to the raw information collected from experiments.
• Once organized, data is referred to as results.
• Conclusions are made by making deductions from the results.

Types of Data

• Qualitative Data: general statements about observations on a system, e.g. color, odor, shape.
• Quantitative Data: numbers obtained by measuring certain parameters of a system, e.g. mass, length, volume.

Branches of Chemistry

• Organic Chemistry: study of chemical substances with carbon-carbon bonds, e.g. Pharmaceuticals, plastics.
• Inorganic Chemistry: study of chemical substances without carbon-carbon bonds, e.g. metals, minerals, semiconductors.
• Physical Chemistry: study of behavior and changes of matter and related energy changes, e.g. reaction rates, reaction mechanisms.
• Analytical Chemistry: study of different components and composition of substances, e.g. food nutrients.
• Biochemistry: study of matter and processes in living organisms, e.g. metabolism, fermentation.

Summarizing Data

• Hypothesis: a statement produced out of few observations without much experimental evidence.
• Law: a statement produced out of thorough research and experimentation that indicates the relationships between different phenomena.
• Theory: a unifying principle that explains a body of facts and/or laws.

Matter

• Anything that has mass and occupies space.
• Mass is a measurement of the amount of matter in a certain object.

States of Matter

• Solid: molecules closely held together, rigid, almost incompressible.
• Liquid: molecules further apart, can flow, follows the shape of its container, hard to compress.
• Gas: molecules separated by large distances, free to move randomly, flows, easy to compress.