- Chemistry gradually developed as a separate science in the second half of the eighteenth century thanks to the research conducted by Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, who gave it new founding methods and principles. Lavoisier accomplished a true revolution that his contemporaries saw as a break with the past. Drawing on the philosophical precepts of the Enlightenment, Lavoisier radically transformed the traditional vision of matter as a compound of a handful of elements:
- Aristotle's four elements, or, later, the three principles of Paracelsus. According to Lavoisier, the number of elements had to be determined from experimental investigations and the results of chemical analysis. He concluded that at least thirty-three elements or simple substances existed in nature.
- Modern chemistry is not a direct offshoot of alchemy, although the emerging discipline used the characteristic symbols and instruments of alchemy. In fact, alchemy survived alongside the new chemical science. The roots of modern chemistry lie, instead, in medicine, pharmacy, natural philosophy, mineralogy, and artisanal practices.
- Chemical substances are classified in terms of their structure, phase, as well as their chemical compositions. They can be analyzed using the tools of chemical analysis, e.g. spectroscopy and chromatography. Scientists engaged in chemical research are known as chemists.[14] Most chemists specialize in one or more sub-disciplines. Several concepts are essential for the study of chemistry; some of them are
- The interactions, reactions and transformations that are studied in chemistry are usually the result of interactions between atoms, leading to rearrangements of the chemical bonds which hold atoms together. Such behaviors are studied in a chemistry
- The chemistry laboratory stereotypically uses various forms of laboratory glassware. However glassware is not central to chemistry, and a great deal of experimental (as well as applied/industrial) chemistry is done without it.
- Solutions of substances in reagent bottles, including ammonium hydroxide and nitric acid, illuminated in different colors
- A chemical reaction is a transformation of some substances into one or more different substances.[13] The basis of such a chemical transformation is the rearrangement of electrons in the chemical bonds between atoms.
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
