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.

Learn the basics of chemistry, the branch of science that deals with matter and its processes, and the scientific method, a systematic approach to research in engineering sciences.