Portal:Chemistry

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The Chemistry Portal

Shortcut: P:CHEM

Welcome to the chemistry portal. Chemistry, from Arabic language khemeia meaning "alchemy", is a branch of science. Modern chemistry focuses on the study of elements of the world and the bonds between elements. Chemistry also deals with composition, structure, and properties of substances and the transformations that they undergo. In the study of matter, chemistry also investigates its interactions with energy and itself. Because of the diversity of matter, which is mostly in the form of compounds, chemists often study how atoms of different chemical elements interact to form molecules, and how molecules interact with each other.
Portal Navigation: Featured article - Selected picture - News - Selected biography - History and Philosophy - Techniques - Equipment - Chemistry in society - Chemistry in industry - Periodic Table - Resources - WikiProjects - Things you can do - Collaboration of the month - Related portals - Associated Wikimedia

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Featured article

Acetic acid (CH₃COOH), also known as ethanoic acid, is an organic chemical compound best recognized for giving vinegar its sour taste and pungent smell. Pure water-free acetic acid is a colourless hygroscopic liquid (that is, it readily absorbs water) that freezes below 16.7 °C (62 °F) to a colourless crystalline solid. Acetic acid is corrosive, and its vapour is irritating to eyes and nose, although it is a weak acid based on its ability to dissociate in aqueous solutions.

Acetic acid is one of the simplest carboxylic acids. It is an important chemical reagent and industrial chemical that is used in the production of polyethylene terephthalate mainly in soft drink bottles; cellulose acetate, mainly for photographic film; and polyvinyl acetate for wood glue, as well as many synthetic fibres and fabrics. In households diluted acetic acid is often used in descaling agents. In the food industry acetic acid is used under the food additive code E260 as an acidity regulator.

The global demand for acetic acid is around 6.5 million tonnes per year (Mt/a), of which approximately 1.5 Mt/a is met by recycling; the remainder is manufactured from petrochemical feedstocks or from biological sources.

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Selected picture

Credit: Greatpatton

Gallium is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. A rare, soft silvery metallic poor metal, gallium is a brittle solid at low temperatures but liquefies slightly above room temperature and indeed will melt in the hand. It occurs in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores. An important application is in the compound gallium arsenide, used as a semiconductor, most notably in light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

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Categories

Fields of Chemistry

• Analytical chemistry: Chromatography, Spectroscopy
• Biochemistry: Molecular biology
• Environmental chemistry: Geochemistry
• Inorganic chemistry: Inorganic reactions
• Materials science: Nanotechnology
• Medicinal chemistry
• Nuclear chemistry
• Organic chemistry: Functional groups, Organic compounds, Organic reactions
• Organometallic chemistry
• Pharmacy
• Pharmacology
• Physical chemistry: Electrochemistry, Quantum chemistry
• Polymer chemistry
• Supramolecular chemistry
• Theoretical chemistry: Computational chemistry

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History and Philosophy of Chemistry

Many chemists have an interest in the history of chemistry, and those with philosophical interests will be interested that the philosophy of chemistry has quite recently developed along a path somewhat different from the general philosophy of science.

Other articles that might interest you are:-

• Superseded chemistry theories
• Alchemy
• Scientific method

There is a Wikipedia Project on the History of Science and portals for the scientific method and philosophy of science.

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Chemistry Resources

Wikipedia:WikiProject Chemicals/Data is a collection of links and references that are useful for chemistry-related works. This includes free online chemical databases, publications, patents, computer programs, and various tools.

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In the news

• 02-19: A new chapter in the history of quinine total synthesis: in an extensive Angewandte Chemie review, Jeffrey Seeman validates the 1944 quinine synthesis by Bob Woodward and William Doering. Read more...

• 02-07: University of Pennsylvania chemist Alan MacDiarmid died on February 7th at the age of 79. MacDiarmid is best known for the discovery and development of conductive polymers such as doped polyacetylene, work for which he shared the 2000 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Read more...

• 01-23: Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced a major restructuring plan, involving the loss of 10,000 jobs worldwide, after the failure of Torcetrapib in clinical trials. The $7bn. R&D budget remains intact, but in future Pfizer aims to bring in more externally sourced drug candidates. Read more...

• 11-17: Researchers at University of Windsor report a non-metal phosphonium-borate displaying reversible hydrogen storage.

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• 10-14: Researchers working at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia, announced in Physical Review C that they had indirectly detected ununoctium-294 produced via collisions of californium-249 atoms and calcium-48 ions. The element is a noble gas, predicted to be more reactive than radon. Earlier American claims for this element were retracted, because key data had been fabricated by principal author Victor Ninov. Read more...

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Selected biography

Freiherr Justus von Liebig (1803-1873) was a German chemist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and worked on the organization of organic chemistry. As a professor, he devised the modern laboratory-oriented teaching method, and for such innovations, he is regarded as one of the greatest chemistry teachers of all time. The vapor condensation device he popularized for his research is still known as a Liebig condenser, although it was in common use long before Liebig's research began. He is known as the "father of the fertilizer industry" for his discovery of nitrogen as an essential plant nutrient, and his formulation of the Law of the Minimum which described the effect of individual nutrients on crops. He also invented a process for silvering that greatly improved the utility of mirrors.

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Techniques used by chemists

Chromatography - Combustion - Crystallization - Decantation - Distillation - Electrolysis - Extraction - Filtration - Fractionation - Reflux - Spectrometry - Sublimation - Titration

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Equipment used by chemists

Aspirator - Beaker - Boiling tube - Büchner funnel - Bunsen burner - Burette - Calorimeter - Colorimeter - Conical measure - Nuclear Magnetic Resonance - Mass Spectrometer - Liquid Chromatography - Gas Chromatography - Crucible - Cuvette - Laboratory flasks (Büchner, Erlenmeyer, Florence, Retort, Round-bottom, Volumetric) - Fume hood - Gas syringe - Graduated cylinder - Perkin triangle - Pipette - Separating funnel - Spectrophotometer - Schlenk flask - Soxhlet extractor - Stir bar - Test tube - Thistle tube - Static mixer

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Chemistry in society

Acid rain - Air pollution - Amphetamine - Anabolic steroids - Asbestos - Aspartame - Aspirin - CFCs - Cholesterol - Cocaine - Carbohydrates - Carbon dioxide - Chemical warfare - Ecstasy - Enzymes - Estrogen - Fat - Fatty acid - Free radicals - Gasoline - Heroin - Insulin - LSD - Morphine - Nuclear fuel - Nuclear fusion - Paracetamol - Penicillin - Plastic - Radioactive waste - Ozone - Smog - Soil contamination - Sugar - Tamiflu - Testosterone - Viagra - Vitamins

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Chemistry in industry

Types of chemical industry: Agrichemicals - Oleochemicals - Paints - Petrochemicals - Pharmaceuticals - Polymers
Companies: Bayer - BP - BASF - Degussa - Dow - DuPont - ExxonMobil - Mitsubishi - Monsanto - Shell - Total

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WikiProjects

Chemistry - Chemicals - Elements - Isotopes - Physical Chemistry - Polymers - Rocks and minerals - Spectroscopy

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Periodic Table

H

He

Li

Be

B

C

N

O

F

Ne

Na

Mg

Al

Si

P

S

Cl

Ar

K

Ca

Sc

Ti

V

Cr

Mn

Fe

Co

Ni

Cu

Zn

Ga

Ge

As

S

e

Br

Kr

Rb

Sr

Y

Zr

Nb

Mb

Tc

Ru

Rh

Pd

Ag

Cd

In

Sn

Sb

Te

I

Xe

Cs

Ba

*

Hf

Ta

W

Re

Os

Ir

Pt

Au

Hg

Tl

Pb

Bi

Po

At

Rn

Fr

Ra

**

Rf

Db

Sg

Bh

Hs

Mt

Ds

Rg

Uub

Uut

Uuq

Uup

Uuh

Uus

Uuo

↓

*

La

Ce

Pr

Nd

Pm

Sm

Eu

Gd

Tb

Dy

Ho

Er

Tm

Yb

Lu

**

Ac

Th

Pa

U

Np

Pu

Am

Cm

Bk

Cf

Es

Fm

Md

No

Lr

Chemical series of the periodic table

Alkali metals	Alkaline earth metals	Lanthanides	Actinides	Transition metals
Poor metals	Metalloids	Nonmetals	Halogens	Noble gases

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Things you can do

Here are some things you can do:

• Accuracy disputes: Uranium#Hazards - more...
• Attention: List of important publications in chemistry - Standard molar entropy - more...
• Update: Podophyllin - Santonin
• Articles needing an expert: Ethyl nitrate - Iodobenzene - More
• Expand: Absorption (chemistry) - Johannes Thiele (chemist)
• Merge: Accelerant/Accelerator (chemistry) - more...
• Cleanup: Thermal decomposition - Digitonin - Dioxin - Polysorbate - more...
• Requests: Potentiometric analysis - more...
• Stubs: All chemistry stubs - Chemist stubs - Inorganic compound stubs - Organic chemistry stubs - Organic compound stubs - Physical chemistry stubs - Polymer stubs
• Notability - Chemistry articles requiring attention
• Peer Review: Uranium - Distillation - Palladium - Alkane
• Collaboration of the Month: Evaporation
• WP:STUB of the Day= Glycerate 3-phosphate
• List of image requests - Category with requests

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Collaboration of the Month

The current Chemistry Collaboration of the Month is Evaporation.

Every month a different chemistry-related topic, stub or non-existent article is picked. Please improve the article any way you can.

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Related portals

Science	History of Science	Scientific method	Biology	Physics	Medicine	Molecular and Cellular Biology

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Associated Wikimedia

Science portal on Wikinews	Chemists on Wikiquote	Chemistry category on Wikisource	Chemistry bookshelf on Wikibooks	Chemistry category on Wikicommons	Chemistry category on Wiktionary	Wikiversity School of Chemistry
News	Quotations	Publications	Manuals	Images	Definitions	Learning

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