Chemistry Demystified And Made Interesting
The moment I talk about science to students, many of them certainly twinge and squirm in their seats. Is it such a boring subject? I believe, not at all. If I look around our daily lives there is science all around. The air I breathe, the water I drink, the food I eat, the phone I use, the games I play on my computers and the medicines I take when I am sick has all science written all over the place.
The problem perhaps is that students are not taught this subject the way it should be. I will try my hand at it and I will look one aspect of science and that is chemistry. It certainly is an important part of our daily lives and therefore, whether we are children or grownups we ought to know something about it.
What is chemistry?
Put in plain and simple words chemistry could be defined as a logical science. As far as the basics are concerned, we can master the same even without having a teacher explaining it to us with those big and confusing experiments. If you look around and experience and try to understand things which are happening around you, I believe that you will be able to learn the basics of this.
The best thing about chemistry is that it can be learned in any order and there is no straight jacketing or regimentation necessary. However, I do believe that the best way would be to start from the top and then move down. This, I understand will help our students to know more about conversion of unit. It also will help them to know as to how atoms and molecules interact with one another.
Chemistry put in layman’s terms is the study of energy and matter
When they interact they cause some effects and come out with some by-products and actions. Understanding this is the basic crux of this subject. It is the reaction which takes place when chemicals of different types interact with one another.
These reactions take place when various electrons are joined together. Ok that is all fine but why should I study this subject? This is a common question which comes to our mind. I know that most scientists experience and find new ways to keep us healthy. Let us try and find some answers to this genuine question.
The world around us is based on chemistry
We will love and like chemistry if we look at the world around us. Learning this subject as a part of our formal education certainly helps. Let us take one small example. All of us cook food in our homes. When I cook a bowl of rice, what do I do? I add some water to the raw rice and heat it under a flame. There are three elements which are responsible for a chemical reaction.
The first is the water which is a chemical form of oxygen and hydrogen. Then I have fire and lastly rice. When all these three electrons are mixed and when they are heated and cooked at certain temperature there are some chemical changes taking place. That is how boiled rice is made available to us. This is a basic example as to how chemistry works on the ground.
Where and how is chemistry used?
I would like to say that there are innumerable instances and situations where chemical reactions happen. I will find it impossible to list down each and every one of them. Right now as I am talking to you there are some chemical changes happening. The water that I drink is made up of oxygen and hydrogen and only when there is a chemical reaction can I get what is known as potable water. In the same way the food I eat goes through a chemical process of digestion leading to absorption of nutrients and excretion of waste materials.
The medicines and drugs which I take during illnesses also have lot of chemicals in it and the changes which happen in the electrons, I believe plays a major role in making the final product and also makes me healthy once again. Hence at the end of the day, if I am able to put across the view that there are chemical reactions in almost everything I do, it certainly will help us to understand the subject better. Even falling in love for that matter is caused by chemical reactions.
