Chapter 1, Section 1
Areas of Study
Because the scope of chemistry is vast, chemists tend to focus on one area. Five traditional areas of study are organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, analytical chemistry, and physical chemistry.
Most of the chemicals found in organisms contain carbon. Organic chemistry was originally defined as the study of these carbon-based chemicals. Today, with a few exceptions, organic chemistry is defined as the study of all chemicals containing carbon. By contrast, inorganic chemistry is the study of chemicals that, in general, do not contain carbon. Inorganic chemicals are found mainly in non-living things, such as rocks. The study of processes that take place in organisms is biochemistry. These processes include muscle contraction and digestion. Analytical chemistry is the area of study that focuses on the composition of matter. A task that would fall into this area of chemistry is measuring the level of lead in drinking water. Physical chemistry is the area that deals with the mechanism, the rate, and the energy transfer that occurs when matter undergoes a change.
The boundaries between the five areas are not firm. A chemist is likely to be working in more than one area of chemistry at any given time. For example, an organic chemist uses analytical chemistry to determine the composition of an organic chemical. Figure 1.2 shows how research in these areas of study can be used to keep humans healthy.
