Chemistry

Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It studies the chemical elements that make up matter and compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, properties, behavior and the changes they undergo during reactions with other substances. Chemistry occupies an intermediate position between physics and biology.  The chemistry areas can be classified into the following categories:

• Analytical chemistry is related to the development and application of methods to identify the chemical composition of materials and quantify the amounts of components in mixtures. It focuses on methods to identify unknown compounds, possibly in a mixture or solution, and quantify a compound's presence in terms of amount of substance (in any phase), concentration (in aqueous or solution phase), percentage by mass or number of moles in a mixture of compounds (or partial pressure in the case of gas phase). 

• Inorganic chemistry (explores the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of free-carbon compounds.

• Organic chemistry explores the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-containing compounds. Most organic compounds contain carbon and hydrogen, but they may also include any number of other elements. 

• Organometallic chemistry explores organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal.

• Biological chemistry (also called chemical biology) explores chemical processes related to living organisms. It is a laboratory-based science combining biology and chemistry. Biochemists study the structure, composition, and chemical reactions of substances in living systems and, in turn, their functions and ways to control them. 

• Physical chemistry is related to interactions and transformations of materials. It deals with the principles of physics underlying all chemical interactions (e.g., gas laws), seeking to measure, correlate, and explain the quantitative aspects of reactions.