Chemistry in Our Lives

The alcohol in beverages undergoes oxidation reactions to other compounds that are eliminated by the body. When ethylene glycol is oxidized, the products can cause renal failure and may be toxic to the body. 

NOW that you are in a chemistry class, you may be wondering what you will be learning. What questions in science have you been curious about Perhaps you are interested in how smog is formed, what causes ozone depletion, how nails form rust, or how aspirin relieves a headache. Just like you, chemists are curious about the world we live in. 

The chemical reaction of NO with oxygen in the air forms NO2, which produces the reddish brown coior of smog. 

Chemists perform many different kinds of research. Some design new fuels and more efficient ways to use them. Researchers in the medical field develop new treatments for diabetes, genetic defects, cancer, AIDS, and other diseases. Researchers in the environmental field study the ways in which human development impacts the environment and develop processes that help reduce environmental degradation. For the researcher in the laboratory, the physician in the dialysis unit, the environmental chemist, or the agricultural scientist, chemistry plays a central role in understanding problems, assessing possible solutions, and making important decisions. 

A geochemist collects newly erupted lava samples from Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. 

A female victim is found dead in her home. The police suspect that she was murdered, so samples of her blood and stomach contents are sent to Sarah. Using a variety of qualitative and quantitative tests, Sarah finds traces of ethylene glycol. 

Once the oxygen is released, hemoglobin binds to carbon dioxide (CO2) for transport to the lungs where it is released. 

Hemoglobin transports oxygen to the tissues and carbon dioxide to the lungs. 

Chemists working in research laboratories test new products and develop new pharmaceuticals. 

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This reading simply explains the importance of chemistry in our lives. You can see chemistry in every part of our life. For example, while preparing this textbook we used pencils, pens and papers. To type it, computers were used and printers to print its pages with different inks (paints) paper and printing machines were also utilized. All materials and machines used in the printing of this book are also the products of chemicals. In other words, they are produced with the help of different elements or/and compounds. All these are the subjects of chemistry. Yet another example, what if you were to become ill, how would your ailment be diagnozed ... 

Chemistry Around Us. These boxed features present everyday applications of chemistry that emphasize in a real way the important role of chemistry in our lives. Forty percent of these are new to this edition and emphasize health-related applications of chemistry. 

Chapter 1, Chemistry in Our Lives, introduces the concepts of chemicals and chemistry, discusses the scientific method in everyday terms, and guides students in developing a study plan for learning chemistry. 

Chapter 1, Chemistry in Our Lives, introduces the concepts of chemicals and chemistry, discusses the scientific method in everyday terms, guides students in developing a study plan for learning chanistry, and now has a new section of Key Math Skills, which reviews basic math needed for learning chemistry. The section on Writing Numbers in Scientific Notation was moved from Chapter 2 and is now part of the section of Key Math Skills in this chapter. 

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