INTRODUCTION

Chemistry is the study of the materials that we see around us or that make up the universe. The study deals with the composition, structure and properties of matter. When we talk about composition, we mean the atoms and molecules. In fact, we are not able to see atoms or molecules with our naked eyes but we learn many things about them in Chemistry. Right ?

IMPORTANCE OF CHEMISTRY

We can see many things around us and those things are made up of different kinds of substances. We are always curious about how the things that we see around us came into existence, what they are made up of, how long they will exist and so on. Through our effort, we have found answers to some of the questions but we don’t have answers to many such questions.

Whenever we succeed in finding any answer to such question, we systematize it. Thus, the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment is known as Science. For the sake of convenience, science is divided into various disciplines such as chemistry, physics, biology etc.

Chemistry is the branch of science which deals with the study of composition, properties and structures of matter and the changes which the matter undergoes under different conditions and the laws which govern these changes.

Scope of Chemistry

Since there is a large variety of substances in the universe, its scope is very vast. Its applications in medicine, food industry, materials such as iron, steel etc is not unknown to anyone. The important applications of chemistry in different fields are discussed below:

1) Supply of Food

Chemistry provided us with chemical fertilizers such as urea, calcium superphosphate, sodium nitrate, and Ammonium Sulphate which have helped greatly in increasing the yield of fruits, vegetables, and other crops. It has also provided us with insecticides, fungicides and pesticides which have helped to protect the crops from insects and harmful bacteria.

Chemistry has also led to the discovery of preservatives. These chemicals have greatly helped to preserve food products for a longer period.

2) Health and Sanitation

Chemistry has also made a lot of contributions towards health and sanitation. The epidemics such as cholera, small pox and plague have become things of the past.

The discovery of anesthetics has made surgical operations more and more successful.

Chemistry has also given us a variety of drugs such as antipyretics (to lower body temperature during high fever), analgesics (to relieve pain), tranquilizers (for treatment of stress and mental diseases), antimicrobial (to cure infections), antimalarials (to treat malaria) etc.

Antibiotics such as penicillin, amoxicillin, streptomycin and broad spectrum antibiotics such as tetracycline, chloramphenicol etc have cured a variety of diseases which are caused due to harmful micro-organisms. Anti-fertility drugs have been used world-wide for birth control method.

Besides this, chemistry has also given many life-saving drugs like cisplatin and taxol which are effective for cancer therapy and AZT (azidothymidine) is used for AIDS victim.