Module 1: What is Chemistry?

What comes to mind when you hear the word “chemistry”? There are so many ways that chemistry is a part of your life. Chemistry is happening all around you in virtually everything you do. A very broad definition of chemistry is that it is the study of matter, and matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. That pretty much means everything you can feel and touch is involved in some way with chemistry and its processes. Chemistry helps to answer lots of everyday questions. Here are just a few:

• Why does oil not mix with water?
• Why does ice float on water?
• Why do people put salt on the roads when it snows?
• Why does a balloon deflate over time?
• Why does an acid neutralize a base?

To help you answer these questions, you will explore the fundamental ways that chemists classify and observe matter in this module. This includes learning about the different types of chemical properties and changes. In addition, you will examine the chemical property of density, which is a value determined by a substance's mass and volume. Finally, you will end the module with some more chemistry tools and techniques. You will learn about the separation techniques that chemists use in the lab, as well as how scientists use dimensional analysis to convert from one unit to another.

Getting Started

Chemistry is all around you - even at the beach. In this interactivity, click on each of the spinning icons to learn more about the chemical processes and properties that you can find on the beach. Once you have viewed the interactivity, look around you. Where is chemistry in your life?

Download a printable version of the interactivity.

 

Key Vocabulary

To view the definitions for these key vocabulary terms, visit the course glossary.

Archimedes	element	liquid	pure substance
chemical change	equivalence statement	mass	qualitative observation
chemical property	evaporation	matter	quantitative observation
chromatography	extensive property	mixture	radioactivity
compound	filtration	percent error	solid
crystallization	gas	physical change	triple beam balance
decanting	heterogeneous mixture	physical property	volume
density	homogeneous mixture	plasma	water displacement
dimensional analysis	intensive property