Understand what chemistry studies and see that it is everywhere, in everything we see, hear and feel.
In everyday conversations, in the packaging of products we buy, in television programs, in newspapers, on the internet and in other media, Chemistry is cited as being something bad, which harms the environment and our health. For example, have you ever heard someone say, “This food is better because it has no chemistry” ? Or “This cleaning product is very dangerous, because it has a lot of chemistry!” ? Or, yet, “this hair treatment doesn’t hurt because it has no chemistry!” ?
Well, these are wrong and negative concepts that many have, because they think that Chemistry is only related to what is produced in the laboratory, with synthetic or artificial substances.
In reality, Chemistry is everywhere, because we call “chemistry” the study of materials and the transformations that occur with them. Chemists separate components from materials, study their properties such as color, smell, hardness, shape, consistency, what will happen if we put it in contact with other materials and for what purpose they can be used.
Everything around you and inside you works and exists because of chemistry. For example, would you live without air ? Of course not! Well, the air is composed of gaseous chemical substances, such as nitrogen and oxygen.
The air we breathe is made up of various gases (which are chemical substances)
Is there anything more natural than plants? So, plants carry out a very important chemical reaction that cleans the air, which is photosynthesis .
Plants as well as everything are formed by atoms that are studied by chemistry
As shown in the text What are all things made of? , everything is made up of atoms, and chemistry is the science that studies these tiny particles.
Water is made up of molecules with two hydrogen atoms linked to an oxygen atom, that is, H 2 O. Sea water has many chemical substances mixed with it, which can then undergo transformations and separate its components, such as the table salt. If you want to know how this is done, read the text Separation of mixtures .
Inside you, food is digested and energy is consumed by your body, allowing you to live and perform day to day activities. The blood that circulates in your veins carrying oxygen to the other parts of the body, your skin, your nails, your hair, everything has chemistry.
Anyway, there is nothing you can imagine that is not related to chemistry!
But what about products that are made in the laboratory by chemists? Is it true that they do harm?
As stated, chemists can study ways of making transformations with materials taken from nature to manufacture products that will be used by man. This is the case, for example, of medicines that help save many lives, hygiene and cleaning products that, in addition to making us more beautiful and smelling, also help to maintain our health and that of our family, as dirt attracts insects and animals that transmit diseases.
These examples show that “chemicals” or more correctly “synthetic products” can be used for good things. But it is also true that if they are used in the wrong way or in excess, they can harm the environment, animals and us.
The wrong use of chemistry has brought damage to the planet
For example, the human being has sought more and more energy and, many times, for this, ends up taking many resources from nature , polluting it. Thus, chemistry will be “good” if humanity is “good” , that is, if it is used for beneficial and peaceful purposes. But if humanity is “bad” , that is, if it is used only to satisfy its own immediate needs, without thinking about other people, nature and the future, then chemistry will be “bad”.
But many environmental problems that exist today are also studied by people who work with chemistry, who are looking for ways to solve these problems. For this reason, we encourage you to study chemistry and obtain the very important knowledge that this science gives us so that it stays in the “right hands” and you can use it in your favor and for the benefit of humanity.
