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Nature and scope of chemistry

Chemistry. It is the branch of science which deals with the composition, preparation and properties of the substances.

Main branches of chemistry: (1) Inorganic chemistry (2) Physical chemistry (3) Organic chemistry (4) Biochemistry (5) Analytical chemistry (6) Agricultural chemistry (7) Industrial chemistry.

Scientific Methods : The scientific method consist of the following five steps :
1 -  To accumulate information through observation
2 -  To organize this information and to seek regularities in it.
3 -  To wonder why regularities are there.
4 -  To frame hypothesis, theories and laws.
5 - To communicate the knowledge to others.

Law: It is a brief statement that can be accepted as general truth.

Hypothesis: It is a provisional conjecture (based upon available data) to explain the known facts about a phenomenon.

Theory: Theory is the result of testing and retesting the hypothesis by experiments under different conditions.

Role of Chemistry: The role of chemistry can be summarized as below :
1 -  Population explosion: Chemistry has solved this growing population by new birth controlling drugs.
2 -  Food for millions: Chemists have developed new fertilizers such as urea etc. and effective insecticides such as DDT for better agriculture.
3 -  Treatment of diseases: Chemists have saved man from dreadful diseases such as malaria, T.B ., Typhoid. They have produced wonderful drugs like penicillin, vitamins, hormones etc.
4 -  Environmental pollution: Chemist are dedicated in devising new methods for checking air and water pollution.
5 -  Energy resources. The chemists are trying to exploit new sources of energy like sea, air etc. meet the demand of energy.

Father of chemistry: Robert Boyle.

Founder of modern chemistry: Lavoisier.