What Is Chemistry

Chemistry is the study of matter and how it changes. Matter is anything that takes up space and has weight. Everything around you is made of matter, from the air you breathe to the food you eat. Chemists study what things are made of and how different substances interact.

What Chemists Study

Chemists study atoms and molecules, the tiny building blocks of everything. They learn how substances combine to make new things. When you bake a cake, chemistry changes the raw ingredients into something new. When iron rusts, that is chemistry too. Chemistry is happening all around you every day.

Chemistry in Daily Life

Chemistry is part of everyday life. Soap uses chemistry to clean your hands. Medicine uses chemistry to help you feel better. The battery in your phone works because of chemical reactions. Even your body uses chemistry to digest food and turn it into energy.

Fun Facts

• There are about 118 known chemical elements that make up everything in the universe.
• Your body is made mostly of just six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus.
• Fireworks get their colors from different chemical elements. Strontium makes red and barium makes green.

Did You Know?

The word chemistry comes from an older word, alchemy. Alchemists were early scientists who tried to turn ordinary metals into gold. They never succeeded, but their experiments helped create modern chemistry!