Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
CHEMISTRY
D
IVISIONS
Inorganic
The chemistry of all elements and their compounds
except those containing carbon
Organic
The chemistry of all compounds containing carbon
Physical
Applies concepts of physics to chemical phenomena
Analytical
Chemical characterization and identification
Biochemistry
Chemistry of living organisms
Chemical engineering
Design and operation of equipment for the production of
chemical products by the use of chemical reactions
No branch of science is broader than chemistry because it deals with all
matter in all forms. For convenience, chemistry is usually divided into the
above divisions, but there is a great overlap. For example, there are chemicals
known that contain inorganic elements and large carbon compound fragments
that can be classified as either inorganic or organic. Thus, trained chemists
must have a background in all the divisions of chemistry although their work
may be in a specialized area such as organic chemistry or analytical chem-
istry. In the chemical industry, chemical engineers are concerned with the
production of bulk materials from basic raw materials by large-scale appli-
cation of chemical reactions worked out in laboratories. In doing this, they
make use of so-called
of chemical engineering such as fluid
flow, heat transfer, filtration, evaporation, distillation, drying, mixing, adsorp-
tion, solvent extraction, and gas absorption.
unit operations
