1. Chapter 1 Introduction to Chemistry Vanessa N. Prasad-Permaul CHM 1025
Valencia Community College

2. Evolution of Chemistry
The Greeks believed in four basic elements:
1. Earth
Air
Fire
Water
All substances were combinations of these four basic elements.

3. Scientific Investigations
Science is the methodical exploration of nature followed by a logical explanation of the observations.
Scientific investigation entails the following activities:
Planning an investigation
Carefully recording observations
Gathering data
Analyzing the results

4. The Scientific Method
The scientific method is a systematic investigation of nature and requires proposing an explanation for the results of an experiment in the form of a general principle.
The initial, tentative proposal of a scientific principle is called a hypothesis.
After further investigation, the original hypothesis may be rejected, revised, or elevated to the status of a scientific principle.

5. Applying the Scientific Method
Step 1: Perform a planned experiment, make observations, and record data.
Step 2: Analyze the data and propose a tentative hypothesis to explain the experimental observations.
Step 3: Conduct additional experiments to test the hypothesis. If the evidence supports the initial proposal, the hypothesis may become a theory.

6. Applying the Scientific Method, Continued
After sufficient evidence, a hypothesis becomes a scientific theory.
A natural law is a measurable relationship.

7. Critical Thinking: Reactions with Oxygen
What do burning wood, rusting iron, and exploding gasoline have in common?
All three are examples of combustion.
Combustion is a chemical reaction of a substance with oxygen.
Rusting is a slow reaction, burning is a rapid reaction, and an explosion is an instantaneous reaction.

8. Modern Chemistry
Chemistry is a science that studies the composition of matter and its properties.
Antoine Lavoisier ( ) said to be the founder
Chemistry is divided into several branches:
Organic chemistry is the study of substances containing carbon.
Inorganic chemistry is the study of all other substances that don’t contain carbon.
Biochemistry is the study of substances derived from plants and animals.

9. Learning Chemistry Different people learn chemistry differently.
What do you see in the picture?
Some people see a vase on a dark background; some people see two faces.

10. Problem Solving Experiment until you find a solution.
Connect the dots using only four straight lines.
Experiment until you find a solution.
Did you have to use five straight lines?
No matter which dot we start with, we still need five lines.

11. Problem Solving, Continued
Are we confining the problem?
We need to go beyond the nine dots to answer the problem.

12. Chemistry: The Central Science
Knowledge of chemistry is important to understanding the world around us.

13. Chapter Summary
Science began with the ancient Chinese, Egyptian and Greek civilization
Ancient chemistry is based on speculation
Modern chemistry is based on scientific method
Robert Boyle founded the scientific method
The major components of the scientific method is:
Experiment
Hypothesis
Scientific Theory
Natural Law

14. Chapter Summary
Scientists use the scientific method to investigate the world around them.
Experiments lead to a hypothesis, which may lead to a scientific theory or a natural law.
Chemistry is a central science with many branches.
The impact of chemistry is felt in many aspects of our daily lives.

15. EXAMPLE 1.1 Introduction to Chemistry
What is the difference between ancient chemistry and modern chemistry?
The principal difference is that modern chemistry is founded on the scientific method. Ancient chemistry was based on speculation, while modern chemistry is based on planned experiments and the analysis of data.
Solution

16. What question can we ask to distinguish
between a scientific theory and a
natural law?
Practice Exercise
Answer: We can distinguish a theory from a law by asking the question, “Is the proposed statement measurable?” If we take measurements and verify a relationship by a mathematical equation, the statement is a law; if not, it is a theory.

17. Which of the line segments in the image below
appears to be longer, AB or BC?
Concept Exercise

18. Austria, France, and Germany China, Egypt, and Greece
EXERCISE 1.1
The earliest concept of science began in the civilizations of which countries?
Austria, France, and Germany
China, Egypt, and Greece
England, Italy, and Sweden
United States, Canada, and Japan

19. Modern chemistry mainly differs from ancient chemistry in the
EXERCISE 1.2
Modern chemistry mainly differs from ancient chemistry in the
application of scientific method.
availability of laboratories.
number of known elements.
use of computers.
Chapter 1
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

20. Which is not a component of the scientific method?
EXERCISE 1.3
Which is not a component of the scientific method?
belief
experiment
hypothesis
scientific theory

21. Which component of the scientific method never changes?
EXERCISE 1.4
Which component of the scientific method never changes?
experiment
hypothesis
natural law
scientific theory

22. Who is considered the founder of modern chemistry?
EXERCISE 1.5
Who is considered the founder of modern chemistry?
Bunsen
Lavoisier
Einstein
Plato