Chemistry 101: Unit I - Study Notes
1.1: Discovery Process
“Chance favors the prepared mind” - Louis Pasteur
Definitions:
Scientific Method: the process of developing hypothesis to explain observations and the design of
experiments to test those hypothesis.
- Measurement of the properties of matter and careful observation for data recording are
essential to the scientific inquiring of chemical relationships and reactions.
Measurements must be reported to allow others to determine their significance.
Chemistry: The study of matter, it’s chemical and physical properties, the chemical and physical
changes it undergoes, and the energy changes that accompany those processes.
Matter: Anything that has mass and occupies space. Changes to matter always involve either a
gain or a loss.
Energy: Ability to do work to accomplish some change.
Major Areas of Chemistry:
-Biochemistry: Study of life at the molecular level and the proce sses associated with life, such as
reproduction, growth, and respiration.
-Organic Chemistry: Study of matter that is composed principally of carbon and hydrogen.
-Inorganic Chemistry: Study of matter that consists of all elements other than carbon and
hydrogen and their combinations.
-Analytical Chemistry: Analyzation of matter to determine its compositin and the quantity of
each kind of matter that is present.
-Physical Chemistry: A discipline that attempts to explain the way in which matter behaves.
-develop theoretical concepts
-try to prove them experimentally
An understanding of the basic chemical principles and their applications is essential for any worker in a
science related field.
Scientific Method
Systematic approach to the discovery of new information.
Used by chemists to study the way in which matter changes under carefully controlled conditions.
Every scientist brings his own curiosity, creativity, and imagination to scientific study.
1. Observation: The description of, for example, the color, taste, or odor of a substances is a
result of observation.
2. Formulation of a research question: Why, and how, something works.
3. Pattern Recognition: Cause and effect relations identification, basis of a generalized
explanation of substances and their behavior.
4. Theory Development: Creating hypothesis and support it with extensive testing.
5. Experimentation: Demonstrating the correctness of a hypothesis or theory by carrying out
experiments that support or disprove it.
6. Information Summarization: Summarizing the large quantity of information into a feasible
