What can we make of Chemistry?

Most of us are blind. Blind to see opportunities created by chemistry to help us change our world for better.

You  might  think  of  chemistry  only  in  the  context  of  lab  tests,  food  additives or  dangerous  substances,  but  the  field  of  chemistry  involves  everything around us. 

Everything  you  hear,  see,  smell,  taste,  and  touch  involves  chemistry  and chemicals  (matter).

"And  hearing,  seeing,  tasting,  and  touching  all involve  intricate  series  of  chemical  reactions  and  interactions  in  your  body."

So,  even  if  you  don't  work  as  a  chemist,  you're  doing  chemistry,  or something  that  involves  chemistry,  with  pretty  much  everything  you  do.  

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.

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. 

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.

With this you can apply the same principle to:  Develop new product applications by making elements or compounds to react.

For  example,  food chemists  improve  the  quality,  safety,  storage  and  taste  of  food; pharmaceutical  chemists  develop  and  analyze  the  quality  of  drugs  and  other medical  formulations;  and  agricultural  chemists  develop  fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides necessary for large-scale crop production. 

Sometimes,  research  and  development  may  not  involve  bettering  the product  itself,  but  rather  the  manufacturing  process  involved  in  making  that product.  

Chemical  engineers  and  process  engineers  devise  new  ways  to make  the  manufacturing  of  their  products  easier  and  more  cost  effective, such as increasing the speed and/or yield of a product for a given product.

Environmental  chemists use chemistry to  study  how  chemicals  interact  with  the  natural environment, characterizing the chemicals and chemical reactions present in natural  processes  in  the  soil,  water  and  air.  

For  example,  scientists do collect  soil,  water  or  air  from  a  place  of  interest  and  analyze  it  in a laboratory  to  determine  if  human  activities  have  contaminated,  or  will contaminate,  the  environment  or  affect  it  in  other  ways. 

 

Some environmental  chemists  also  help  remediate,  or  remove  contaminants, from the soil.

Chemistry can also help us to  work  in intellectual  property,  where  we  might  apply  some  scientific  knowledge  to copyright  issues,  or  in  environmental  law,  where  we  may represent  special  interest  groups  and  file  for  approval  from  regulating agencies before certain activities occur.

Question: what elements can you put together to form your own compound?

Which one?