What makes chemistry interesting

Personally, I believe that Chemistry is for everyone in some way, and studying it will develop you as a person as well as a scientist. Here are 5 reasons which explain why I love this subject so much:. Biology used to be my favourite subject in school, but I soon realised that my real interest lay in delving deeper into explanations underpinning biological processes.

I also loved the intricacies of Physics, and how it tries to explain what seems impossible to comprehend. This all lead to me discovering a love for Chemistry, as it is a discipline which seems to combine bits and pieces from all the sciences, while adding its own theories. Chemistry is a subject which brings people together from all around the world. You may have had various life experiences and grown up in different cultures, but the Chemistry you learn about is the same.

Creativity is extremely important in Chemistry. A chemistry degree also serves as an excellent foundation for advanced study in a number of related areas. The list of career possibilities for people with training in chemistry is long and varied.

Even in times when unemployment rates are high, the chemist remains one of the most highly sought after and employed scientists. The behavior of atoms, molecules, and ions determines the sort of world we live in, our shapes and sizes, and even how we feel on a given day.

Chemists who understand these phenomena are very well equipped to tackle problems faced by our modern society. On any given day, a chemist may be studying the mechanism of the recombination of DNA molecules, measuring the amount of insecticide in drinking water, comparing the protein content of meats, developing a new antibiotic, or analyzing a moon rock. To design a synthetic fiber, a life-saving drug, or a space capsule requires a knowledge of chemistry. To understand why an autumn leaf turns red, or why a diamond is hard, or why soap gets us clean, requires, first, a basic understanding of chemistry.

It may be obvious to you that a chemistry background is important if you plan to teach chemistry or to work in the chemical industry developing chemical commodities such as polymeric materials, pharmaceuticals, flavorings, preservatives, dyestuffs, or fragrances. You may also be aware that chemists are frequently employed as environmental scientists, chemical oceanographers, chemical information specialists, chemical engineers, and chemical salespersons.

However, it may be less obvious to you that a significant knowledge of chemistry is often required in a number of related professions including medicine, pharmacy, medical technology, nuclear medicine, molecular biology, biotechnology, pharmacology, toxicology, paper science, pharmaceutical science, hazardous waste management, art conservation, forensic science and patent law.

Thus, a chemistry degree can be effectively combined with advanced work in other fields which may lead, for example, to work in higher management sometimes with an M. It is often observed that today's graduate, unlike the graduate of a generation ago, should anticipate not a single position with one employer or in one industry, but rather many careers. In everyday life, you do chemistry when you cook, when you use cleaning detergents to wipe off your counter, when you take medicine or when you dilute concentrated juice so that the taste isn't as intense.

Related: Whoa! Enormous 'cotton candy' explosion in kids' chemistry lab. According to the ACS, chemistry is the study of matter , defined as anything that has mass and takes up space, and the changes that matter can undergo when it is subject to different environments and conditions. Chemistry seeks to understand not only the properties of matter, like the mass or composition of a chemical element, but also how and why matter undergoes certain changes — whether something transformed because it combined with another substance, froze because it was left for two weeks in a freezer, or changed colors because it was exposed to too much sunlight.

The reason why chemistry touches everything we do is because almost everything in existence can be broken down into chemical building blocks. The main building blocks in chemistry are chemical elements , which are substances made of a single atom. Each chemical is unique, composed of a set number of protons, neutrons and electrons, and is identified by a name and a chemical symbol, such as "C" for carbon.

The elements that scientists have discovered so far are listed in the periodic table of elements, and include both elements that are found in nature like carbon , hydrogen and oxygen , as well as those that are manmade, like Lawrencium.

Related: How are elements grouped in the periodic table? Chemical elements can bond together to form chemical compounds, which are substances made up of multiple elements, like carbon dioxide which is made of one carbon atom connected to two oxygen atoms , or multiple atoms of a single element, like oxygen gas which is made of two oxygen atoms connected together. These chemical compounds can then bond with other compounds or elements to form countless other substances and materials.

Chemistry is typically considered a physical science, as defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica , because the study of chemistry does not involve living things. Most of the chemistry involved in research and development, such as making new products and materials for customers, falls within this purview. But the distinction as a physical science becomes a bit blurry in the case of biochemistry, which explores the chemistry of living things, according to the Biochemical Society.

The chemicals and chemical processes studied by biochemists are not technically considered "living," but understanding them is important to understanding how life works. Traditionally, chemistry is broken into five main branches, according to the online chemistry textbook published by LibreText.

There are also more specialized fields, such as food chemistry, environmental chemistry and nuclear chemistry, but this section focuses on chemistry's five major subdisciplines. Analytical chemistry involves the analysis of chemicals, and includes qualitative methods like looking at color changes, as well as quantitative methods like examining the exact wavelength s of light that a chemical absorbed to result in that color change. These methods enable scientists to characterize many different properties of chemicals, and can benefit society in a number of ways.

For example, analytical chemistry helps food companies make tastier frozen dinners by detecting how chemicals in food change when they are frozen over time.