Knowledge From The Beaker: Chemistry, Everyman’s Science

Most people remember chemistry from their schooldays as a subject that was largely incomprehensible and fact-rich due its grubby concepts, spells, recipes, and rules. The perception of chemistry as too difficult to bother with and too clinical to be any fun is still rife. From a layman’s view, chemistry is what we refer to when a couple falls in love. In fact that assertion is not far from the truth because attractions and love are all chemistry fuelled by neurochemicals that form in the brain.

Chemistry is amazing science of familiar things. In more formal terms, chemistry is the study of the composition of matter and the changes it undergoes. Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space. Chemistry affects all aspects of life and most natural events because all living and non-living things are made of matter. This is to say, everything you hear, see, smell, taste and touch involves chemistry and chemicals (matter). Common usage might have us believe that ‘chemicals’ are just those substances in the laboratory or something that is not a natural substance. But the truth is that everything is made of chemicals.

If you are aware of the comforts which science has provided to the society, then it should not be taken as any surprise if one finds out that chemistry plays leading role in serving all aspects of life. The modern technology, advances in medicines, fastest means of transport, as well as the fabrics of our clothing and furnishings are a few common things which everyone is familiar with. In simple truth, chemistry provides the infrastructure of our world. By considering the remarkable achievements that chemistry has made, it is essential to know chemistry at some level to understand the world around us.

The story of chemistry is a human adventure of both mind and action. From very early times, chemists have sought to expand our understanding of matter, from the atomic to the galactic. In many ways, the history of civilization is the history of chemistry. Humans have always sought to identify, use and change the materials in our environment. Early potters found beautiful glazes to decorate and preserve their wares. Herdsmen and brewers used fermentation techniques to make beer and wine. Housewives leached the lye from wood ash to make soap. Smiths learned to combine copper and tin to make bronze. Crafters learned to make glass; leatherworkers tanned hides.

The wonder of chemistry is that when basic particles are combined, they make something new and unique. A chemical reaction happens when a chemical (reactant) changes into new substances (products). Have you thought of how soaps and detergents made from “messy” animal fat and ash can be used for cleaning? Soaps and detergents clean by way of chemical reactions. Soap emulsifies grime, which means oily stains bind to the soap so they can be lifted away with water. Detergents act as surfactants, lowering the surface tension of water so it can interact with oils, isolate them and rinse them away.

Consider the element sodium. It is a soft, silvery metal that reacts vigorously with water, giving off hydrogen gas and enough heat to make hydrogen explode. Also consider chlorine, a green gas when at room temperature. It is very caustic and choking, and is nasty enough that it was used as horrible chemical gas weapon in the last century. So what kind of horrible mess is produced when sodium and chlorine is combined? Nothing more than sodium chloride, common table salt. Table salt does not explode in water or choke us: rather, it is a common additive for foods we eat everyday.

And there are things that we take for granted, things most of us don’t even imagine involve chemical reactions and chemistry for that matter. Take batteries for example. Perhaps you are among those who take low battery notifications as the only serious warning sign. Although batteries seem like passive objects that we put in our devices and electricity magically happens, the fact is that electricity happens because of a chemical reaction going on inside the battery. Batteries contain chemical energy that is turned into electrical energy during a chemical reaction called electrolysis.

The contribution of chemistry to fields like, agriculture, productions, healthcare, food industry, environment, transport and research has been precious. Understanding the basic properties of matter and learning how to predict and explain how they change when they react to form new substances is what chemistry and chemists are all about.

Chemistry is not limited to beakers and laboratories. It is all around us, and the better we know chemistry, the better we know our world.

Kojo Yeboah-Asiamah
The writer is a chemist and freelance science writer. His writings promote the understanding of central concepts of science and explain how it contributes not only towards our material comfort, but also to human culture.

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