Importance of chemistry in human life. Report: Chemistry in everyday life

15.10.2019

Before opening this topic, it is impossible not to recall the words of one of the heroes of Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Cat's Cradle": "No matter what scientists work on, they still get weapons."

The importance of chemistry in human life is very difficult to overestimate, because these processes surround us everywhere: from elementary cooking to biological processes in the body. Achievements in this area of ​​knowledge have brought enormous damage to mankind (the creation of weapons of mass destruction), and gave salvation from death (the development of medicines for diseases, the cultivation of artificial organs, etc.). It is impossible to be indifferent to this science: so many contradictory discoveries did not occur in any other field of knowledge.

The role of chemistry in human life: life

Chemistry in human life: production

Knowledge about such processes is widely used in industry, and new technologies are being developed on their basis.

Even in ancient times, crafts based on chemical processes were common: for example, the creation of ceramics, metal processing, the use of natural dyes.

Today, the petrochemical and chemical industry is one of the most significant sectors of the economy, and this suggests that chemical processes and knowledge about them play an important role in society. It depends only on humanity how to use them - for creative or destructive purposes, because among the variety you can also find dangerous ones for humans (explosive, oxidizing, flammable, etc.).

Thus, chemistry in human life is a panacea for diseases, and weapons, and the economy, and cooking, and, of course, life itself.

Chemistry is a science without which the modern world is already unthinkable. Chemistry is necessary for the production of synthetic clothing, for the production of household chemicals, food additives for modern products. Synthetic materials have become familiar to us. You will not meet at home without plastic bags, without plastic cups or linoleum. Even tap water is chlorinated for disinfection purposes.

Without chemistry and chemical reactions it is impossible to imagine any ferrous or non-ferrous metallurgy and heavy engineering. Without a chemical vulcanization process, even the simplest rubber cannot be produced.

Knowledge of chemistry helps a person to navigate in the household. We have long been accustomed to washing with washing gels, washing ourselves with facial cleanser, washing our hands with soap, wiping mirrors and cleaning carpets with special chemicals.

Without chemical knowledge, even a simple aspirin cannot be produced, not even a simple vial of iodine. All pharmaceutical industry of the world is based on chemical reactions and on the synthesis of chemicals.

All modern medicine. It is difficult to imagine a doctor who would not know that rickets occurs with a lack of vitamin D, brittle bones - with a lack of calcium in the body, and that the relationship of a child and his parents can be established using a chemical DNA test.

Today, more and more people are talking about chemicals exist in our everyday life in abundance. Foaming agents - in a bottle with beer, preservatives - in cookies and milk bags, stabilizers - in drinks, flavor enhancers - even in ordinary sausage, detergent and powder residues - on washed clothes, on the human body and on dishes. Excessive passion for chemical products is not useful, but very harmful and often dangerous for humans. You should always remember this!

The importance of chemistry in human life cannot be overestimated. Here are the fundamental areas in which chemistry has its creative impact on people's lives.

1. The emergence and development of human life is not possible without chemistry. It is chemical processes, many of whose secrets scientists have not yet revealed, that are responsible for that gigantic transition from inanimate matter to the simplest unicellular, and further to the top of the modern evolutionary process - man.

2. Most of the material needs that arise in human life are served by natural chemistry or are satisfied as a result of the use of chemical processes in production.

3. Even the lofty and humanistic aspirations of people are based on the chemistry of the human body, and, in particular, are highly dependent on the chemical processes in the human brain.

Of course, all the richness and diversity of life cannot be reduced to chemistry alone. But along with physics and psychology, chemistry as a science is a determining factor in the development of human civilization.

Chemistry of life

As far as we now know, our planet formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago, and the simplest fermenting single-celled life forms have existed for 3.5 billion years. Already 3.1 billion years they could have used photosynthesis, but geological data on the oxidative state of sedimentary deposits of iron indicate that the Earth's atmosphere acquired an oxidizing character only 1.8-1.4 billion years ago. Multicellular life forms, which apparently depended on an abundance of energy, possible only by breathing oxygen, appeared on Earth from about a billion to 700 million years ago, and it was at that time that the path for the further evolution of higher organisms was outlined. The most revolutionary step, after the birth of life itself, was the use of an extraterrestrial source of energy, the Sun. Ultimately, this is what turned the miserable germs of life, which used randomly occurring natural molecules with great free energy, into a huge force capable of transforming the surface of the planet and even going beyond it.

At present, scientists adhere to the point of view that the origin of life on Earth took place in a reducing atmosphere, which consisted of ammonia, methane, water and carbon dioxide, but did not contain free oxygen.
The first living organisms obtained energy by decomposing molecules of non-biological origin with high free energy into smaller molecules without oxidizing them. It is assumed that at an early stage of the Earth's existence, it had a reducing atmosphere, consisting of gases such as hydrogen, methane, water, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, but containing very little or no free oxygen. Free oxygen would destroy organic compounds faster than they could be synthesized as a result of naturally occurring processes (under the influence of an electric discharge, ultraviolet radiation, heat, or natural radioactivity). Under these reducing conditions, organic molecules, which were formed by non-biological means, could not be destroyed by oxidation, as is the case in our time, but continued to accumulate for millennia, until, finally, compact localized formations of chemicals appeared, which can already be considered living organisms.
The living organisms that appeared could support their existence by destroying naturally occurring organic compounds, absorbing their energy. But if it were the only source of energy, then life on our planet would be extremely limited. Fortunately, about 3 billion years ago, important compounds of metals with porphyrins appeared, and this opened the way to the use of a completely new source of energy - sunlight. The first step that raised life on Earth beyond its role as a mere consumer of organic compounds was the incorporation of coordination chemistry processes into it.

Apparently, the restructuring was a side effect of the emergence of a new way of storing energy - photosynthesis* - which gave its owners a huge advantage over simple enzymatic energy absorbers. Organisms that developed this new property could use the energy of sunlight to synthesize their own energy-intensive molecules and no longer depend on what is in their environment. They became the forerunners of all green plants.
Today, all living organisms can be divided into two categories: those that are able to produce their own food with the help of sunlight, and those that do not. Most likely, related bacteria are today living fossils, descendants of those ancient fermentable anaerobes that retreated to the rare anaerobic regions of the world when the atmosphere as a whole accumulated large amounts of free oxygen and acquired an oxidizing character. Since organisms of the second category exist due to the organisms of the first category that they eat, the accumulation of energy through photosynthesis is the source of the driving force for everything living on Earth.

The general reaction of photosynthesis in green plants is the opposite of the reaction of glucose combustion and takes place with the absorption of a significant amount of energy.

6 CO 2 + 6 H 2 O --> C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6 O 2

Water is broken down into its elements, which creates a source of hydrogen atoms to reduce carbon dioxide to glucose, and unwanted oxygen gas is released into the atmosphere. The energy needed to carry out this highly non-spontaneous process is provided by sunlight. The most ancient forms of bacterial photosynthesis did not use water as a source of reducing hydrogen, but hydrogen sulfide, organic matter, or hydrogen gas itself, but the easy availability of water has made this source the most convenient, and it is now used by all algae and green plants. The simplest organisms that carry out photosynthesis with the release of oxygen are blue-green algae. It is more correct to designate them with the modern name of cyanobacteria, since these are, in fact, bacteria that have learned to extract their own food from carbon dioxide, water and sunlight.

Unfortunately, photosynthesis releases a dangerous by-product, oxygen. Oxygen was not only useless to early organisms, it competed with them by oxidizing naturally occurring organic compounds before they could be oxidized by the organisms' metabolism. Oxygen was a much more efficient “devourer” of energy-intensive compounds than living matter. Even worse, the layer of ozone, which gradually formed from oxygen in the upper atmosphere, blocked access to the ultraviolet radiation of the Sun and further slowed down the natural synthesis of organic compounds. From all modern points of view, the appearance of free oxygen in the atmosphere was a threat to life.
But, as often happens, life managed to get around this obstacle and even turned it into an advantage. The waste products of the primary protozoa were compounds such as lactic acid and ethanol. These substances are much less energy intensive compared to sugars, but they are able to release a large amount of energy if they are completely oxidized to CO 2 and H 2 O. As a result of evolution, living organisms have arisen that can “fix” dangerous oxygen in the form of H 2 O and CO 2 , and in return receive the energy of combustion of what used to be their waste. The benefits of burning food with oxygen have been so great that the vast majority of life forms - plants and animals - now use oxygen respiration.

When new sources of energy appeared, a new problem arose, no longer with obtaining food or oxygen, but with transporting oxygen to the proper place in the body. Small organisms could get by with simple diffusion of gases through their fluids, but this is not enough for multicellular creatures. Thus, another obstacle arose before evolution.
The way out of the impasse for the third time was possible due to the processes of coordination chemistry. Such molecules appeared, consisting of iron, porphyrin and protein, in which iron could bind an oxygen molecule without being oxidized. Oxygen is simply transferred to different parts of the body to be released under the right conditions - acidity and lack of oxygen. One of these molecules, hemoglobin, carries O 2 in the blood, and the other, myoglobin, receives and stores (stores) oxygen in muscle tissues until it is needed in chemical processes. As a result of the appearance of myoglobin and hemoglobin, restrictions on the size of living organisms were lifted. This led to the emergence of a variety of multicellular, and, ultimately, humans.

* Photosynthesis is the process of converting light energy into chemical bond energy of the resulting substances.

** Metabolism is the breakdown of energy-rich substances and the extraction of their energy.

Chemistry as a mirror of human life.

Take a look around and you will see that the life of a modern person is impossible without chemistry. We use chemicals in food production. We move around in cars whose metal, rubber and plastics are made using chemical processes. We use perfumes, eau de toilette, soaps and deodorants, the production of which is unthinkable without chemicals. There is even an opinion that the most exalted feeling of a person, love, is a set of certain chemical reactions in the body.
This approach to considering the role of chemistry in human life is, in my opinion, simplified, and I suggest that you deepen and expand it, moving to a completely new plane of assessing chemistry and its impact on human society.

Why does humanity need chemistry

surround us all the time

after the death of a person and its complete destruction.

This process includes

Attention!

Chemistry at home

  • using soap;
  • making tea with lemon
  • extinguishing soda;

Chemistry and the human body

.

origin of life on earth and are now very important.

various violations.

help the heart.

Attention!

Exactly mining and processing of ore get new alloys

Oil refining today shows a huge h

  • rubbers and rubbers;
  • car parts;
  • plastics;
  • plumbing;
  • stationery;
  • furniture;
  • toys;
  • and even food.

Two sides of the coin

certain harm.

Harmful effects of chemicals

and public health.

contaminate soil and water

toxic substances

recycle

poisoning the environment and human health.

artificial food

the dead just don't rot

Gradually destroying it.

The benefits of chemistry

internal stress

benefit to society.

  • medicines;
  • fertilizers;
  • energy sources;

Chemistry in human life

Conclusion

occupied an important place

The development of the chemical industry brings human life to a completely new qualitative level. However, most people consider chemistry to be very complex and impractical science engaged in abstract things that are completely unnecessary in life. Let's try to dispel this myth.

Why does humanity need chemistry

The role of chemistry in the modern world is very great. In fact, chemical processes surround us all the time, this applies not only to industrial production or domestic moments.

Chemical reactions in our own body take place every second, decomposing organic matter into simple compounds like carbon dioxide and water, as a result of which we get energy to perform elementary actions.

In parallel, we create new substances necessary for the life and work of all organs. Processes stop only after the death of a person and its complete destruction.

The food source for many organisms, including humans, are plants that have the ability to produce organic substances from water and carbon dioxide.

This process includes chain of complex chemical transformations, the result of which is the formation of biopolymers: fiber, starch, cellulose.

Attention! As a fundamental science, chemistry is engaged in the formation of ideas about the world, about the relationships in it, the unity of the discrete and the continuous.

Chemistry at home

Chemistry in human life is present daily, we are faced with the implementation of a whole chain of chemical transformations with:

  • using soap;
  • making tea with lemon
  • extinguishing soda;
  • lighting a match or gas burner;
  • cooking sauerkraut;
  • using powders and other detergents.

All these are chemical reactions, during which others are formed from some substances, and a person receives some benefit from this process. Modern powders contain enzymes that decompose at high temperatures, so washing in hot water is impractical. The effect of eating away spots will be minimal.

The action of soap in hard water is also significantly reduced, but flakes appear on the surface. You can soften the water by boiling, but sometimes this is only possible with the help of chemicals that are just added to the washing machine products that reduce the scale formation process.

Chemistry and the human body

The role of chemistry in human life begins from breathing and digestion.

All processes occurring in our body are carried out in a dissolved form, and water acts as a universal solvent. Its magical properties once allowed origin of life on earth and are now very important.

The basis of the chemical structure of a person is the food that he consumes. The better and more complete it is, the better the well-coordinated mechanism of life functions.

With a lack of any substance in the diet, processes are slowed down and the functioning of the organism is disturbed. Most often, we consider vitamins to be such important substances. But these are the most noticeable substances, the lack of which manifests itself quickly. The lack of other components may not be as visible.

For example, vegetarianism has negative aspects associated with the lack of food intake of some complete proteins and the amino acids contained in them. In such a situation, the body cannot synthesize some of its own proteins, which leads to various violations.

Even table salt must be included in the diet, since its ions help to carry out osmotic pressure, are part of the gastric juice, help the heart.

With various deviations in the activity of organs and systems, a person first of all turns to a pharmacy, which acts as the main promoter of human achievements in the field of chemistry.

More than 90 percent of medicines displayed on the shelves of pharmacies are artificially synthesized, even if they are present in nature, today it is easier to create them in a factory from individual components than to grow them in natural conditions. And although many of them have a side effect, the positive value of eliminating the disease is much higher.

Attention! Cosmetology is almost entirely built on the achievements of chemists. It allows you to prolong the youth and beauty of a person, while simultaneously bringing substantial income to cosmetic companies.

Chemistry at the service of industry

Initially, the science of chemistry was driven by people who were curious as well as greedy.

The former were interested in finding out what everything consists of and how it turns into something new, the latter wanted to learn how to create something valuable that would allow them to acquire material wealth.

One of the most valuable substances is gold, followed by other metals.

Exactly mining and processing of ore for the production of metals - the first directions in the development of chemistry, they are very important today. Because they allow get new alloys, use more efficient methods of cleaning metals, and so on.

The production of ceramics and porcelain is also very ancient, it is gradually being improved, although it is difficult to surpass some of the old masters.

Oil refining today shows a huge h the meaning of chemistry, because in addition to gasoline and other types of fuel, several hundred different substances are created from this natural raw material:

  • rubbers and rubbers;
  • synthetic fabrics such as nylon, lycra, polyester;
  • car parts;
  • plastics;
  • detergents and household chemicals;
  • plumbing;
  • stationery;
  • furniture;
  • toys;
  • and even food.

The paint and varnish industry is completely based on the achievements of chemistry, all its diversity is created by scientists, synthesizing new substances. Even construction today is using with might and main new materials that have properties that are uncharacteristic of natural substances. Their quality is gradually improving, proving that chemistry is necessary in human life.

Two sides of the coin

The role of chemistry in the modern world is enormous, we can no longer live without it, it gives us a lot of useful substances and phenomena, but at the same time it causes certain harm.

Harmful effects of chemicals

As a negative factor, chemistry in a person's life appears constantly. Most often we celebrate environmental impact and public health.

The abundance of materials alien to our planet leads to the fact that they contaminate soil and water without being subjected to natural decay processes.

At the same time, during decomposition or combustion, they release a large amount of toxic substances further poisoning the environment.

And yet, this question is quite resolvable with the help of the same chemistry.

A significant part of the substances can recycle, again turning into the desired goods. The problem, rather, is connected not with the shortcomings of chemistry as a science, but with the laziness of a person, and his unwillingness to spend extra effort for the processing of waste products.

The same problem is associated with industrial waste, which today is rarely processed efficiently, poisoning the environment and human health.

The second point, saying that chemistry and the human body are incompatible, is artificial food, which many manufacturers are trying to stuff us with. But here the question is not so much the achievements of chemistry as the greed of people.

Chemical advances make human life easier, and perhaps the role of chemistry in solving the food problem will be invaluable, especially when combined with the achievements of genetics. The inability to use these achievements and the desire to earn - that's the main enemies of human health rather than the chemical industry.

The use of a large number of preservatives in food has become a problem in some countries, where the inhabitants are so saturated with these substances that, after death, the processes of decomposition in them are greatly inhibited, as a result the dead just don't rot and lie in the ground for many years.

Household chemicals often become a source allergic reactions and poisoning organism. Mineral fertilizers and means for treating plants from pests are also dangerous for humans, and they are also harmful to nature. have a negative impact gradually destroying it.

The benefits of chemistry

In psychology, there is such a concept - sublimation, which consists in the removal internal stress through the redistribution of energy, to achieve a result in some accessible area.

In chemistry, this term is used as a designation for the process of obtaining a gaseous substance from a solid without a liquid stage. However, in this industry, you can apply the approach of psychology.

Redirecting energy towards achievements in various industries related to chemistry brings a lot benefit to society.

Speaking about why chemistry is needed in human life or industrial production, we recall many of its achievements that have made our life comfortable and longer:

  • medicines;
  • modern materials with unique properties;
  • fertilizers;
  • energy sources;
  • food sources and more.

Chemistry in human life

If chemistry didn't exist. Why Study Chemistry

Conclusion

The role of chemistry in the modern world is undeniable, it occupied an important place in the system of human knowledge accumulated over millennia. Its active development in the 20th century is somewhat frightening and makes people think about the ultimate goal of applying their knowledge. But without knowledge, humanity is only a separate group of individuals with not the best characteristics.

  • harmful;
  • annoying;
  • aggressive;
  • carcinogenic.

About the benefits of chemistry.

Chemical art arose in ancient times, and it is difficult to distinguish it from production, because, like twin sisters, it was simultaneously born at the furnace of a metallurgist, in the workshop of a dyer and a glazier. The roots of chemistry sprouted in the fertile soil of metallurgical and pharmaceutical practices. There are few written sources by which one could judge the level of ancient handicraft chemistry. The study of archaeological objects with the help of modern physical and chemical methods opens the curtain on the world of the craft of an ancient man. It has been established that in Mesopotamia in the 14th-11th centuries. BC. furnaces were used in which, when burning coal, it was possible to obtain a high temperature (1100-1200 C), which made it possible to smelt and purify metals, cook glass from potash and soda, and fire ceramics. Numerous recipes for the manufacture of ointments, medicines, paints, set out in papyri, show a high level of development of handicraft chemistry, cosmetics and pharmacy already in the middle of the second millennium BC. According to A. Lucas, "cosmetics is as old as human vanity." Recipes for the manufacture of food products, processing and dyeing of leather and furs were widely used in antiquity. In the fifth millennium BC. e. The practical technology of tanning, dyeing, perfumery, and the manufacture of detergents were well developed. In one of the surviving manuscripts of Ancient Egypt, in the so-called "Papyrus of Eberes" (16th century BC), a number of recipes for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals are given. Methods for extracting various juices and oils from plants by evaporation, infusion, squeezing, fermentation, straining are described. Methods of sublimation, distillation, extraction, filtration were widely used in various technological operations. The ancient specialists in the chemical art: smelters, glassblowers, dyers, soap makers, were "technologist chemists". They were people of pure practice, for whom "theory" meant little or nothing at all. They passed on their rich experience orally to each new generation. No one at that time generalized and described this experience, and if individual recipes were preserved in the papyri, then this was far from what the hands of the master could do. And they could do a lot. Suffice it to recall the beautiful glaze (glazing facing tiles, for the coloring of which oxides such as CuO, CoO, FeO, PbO were used). In ancient Egypt, a method was developed to obtain pure gold. The processing of the rock began with the crushing of quartz containing gold, then the pieces of quartz were alloyed in hermetically sealed crucibles with common salt, lead, tin, while the silver turned into silver chloride. In addition to gold, silver, iron, tin, mercury, copper, and lead were known in antiquity. According to the teachings of the ancients, the seven metals represented the seven planets. .

  • How chemistry affects the environment or chemical pollution by industry. (Chemical portal School chemistry)

About the dangers of chemistry.

After the advent of nuclear fuel, chemistry began to be treated worse and worse. The first nuclear power plants appeared in the 1950s. In the event of a leak of such fuel, it infects everything around, even the air. Many people, concerned about this, staged demonstrations to protest against the use of atomic energy. Until the 1950s, most power plants were oil-fired. Such fuel is not as dangerous as nuclear, but sooner or later its reserves must be depleted. In addition, the emitted smoke dissolves in rain moisture. When such rain falls on the ground, it causes damage to pastures and forests. These rains are called acid. In 1986, a large nuclear fuel leak occurred at a nuclear power plant in the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl. The whole area for many kilometers was infected. Until now, it is not safe for people to live in the Chernobyl area, to consume food produced there, to drink water from local reservoirs.

Source

Technochemistry and metallurgy reached a high level in ancient India.

Improvement in the process of obtaining bronze caused the birth of the technology of heat treatment of alloys

Source

Household chemicals - harm or benefit? Pros and cons of household chemicals - what more?

Quite a long time ago, the days when housewives put things in order in their apartment with the help of improvised means have already passed. Today, probably, it will not be possible to find those of them who would clean the house with the help of ash or soda.

Made our life easier household chemicals, thanks to which home cleaning made much easier and faster.

Now there is a fairly substantial selection of household chemicals. Among them are laundry detergents, bathroom cleaners, window cleaners and much more. All these achievements in the field of science, undoubtedly, have simplified everyday life for all of us.

When visiting stores, we can now notice several departments with different cleaning and detergents at the same time. The choice on the supermarket shelves is really wide enough that it allows you to disperse.

However, it should also be understood that in the pursuit of ideal and effective chemical agents, we forget about an important factor, namely the environmental safety of the substance used.

Household chemicals are in the house of every clean housewife. But it is worth considering all the pros and cons even at the stage of its choice. It is important to do this because only in this way you will cause minimal harm to both your own health and the well-being of your loved ones.

Sometimes even a small dose of surface cleaning chemicals can be quite effective - this is important to remember. But will you think at this moment about all the harm that it promises? Hardly.

Strange as it may seem, but still on the shelves of many stores you can find a large many chemicals that have long been banned in other countries due to harm to health.

Most of these funds contain the so-called surfactants(abbreviated as surfactants), such as ammonia, chlorine, acetone and many other chemical compounds harmful to the human body.

Upon contact with the skin and lungs, these structures can cause an allergic reaction and even severe poisoning.

But compared to other consequences, this is still mere trifles. Asthma, dermatitis, V all possible tumors, various oncological diseases- all these terrible diseases can be caused, it would seem, by the most ordinary washing powder or dishwashing detergent.

Another disadvantage is your very desire for constant cleanliness. Sometimes it becomes painful and is achieved by overcoming rather painful limits. Destroying all microbes and bacteria in the house, we will undoubtedly protect our body from their direct impact.

But subject to all these sterile conditions of life, our body refuses to deal with problems on its own. At the same time, you run the risk of getting sick immediately, since natural protection will no longer work.

The advantages of household chemicals are much less than they should have been in theory. Certainly, household chemicals make house cleaning easier and is your indispensable assistant in ensuring cleanliness.

The inhabitants especially like it when the manufacturer indicates on the labels exactly how much money is needed to wash this or that contaminated area. True, in addition to this, household chemicals, in fact, have no positive aspects - the list dries up.

At this stage, there comes the realization that household chemicals do much more harm than good. Be careful what tool you buy. It is important that these products are not made up of phosphates and other substances hazardous to the body..

Do not forget also that a few years ago it was possible to keep the house clean and without all these products from the category of household chemicals. It may cost you a little more time, but your body will surely thank you for the respect shown to it in this way.

Remember how in your mother's house, even in early childhood, ordinary mustard perfectly degreased dishes when washing. And here baking soda is actually able to polish almost any dirt.

To keep your bathroom faucets shiny and sparkling clean, simply wipe them down with alcohol. At the same time, even the most common, at first glance banal, lemon juice will help get rid of plaque on the toilet.

You can also use a baking soda solution and vinegar, which effectively removes scale and other dirt from the inside of the dishes.

In short, think twice before using household cleaning products to clean your home. This is especially true for potent products containing phosphates and other chemically active components!

Source

From the history of chemistry.

Chemistry is a science that studies substances and their transformations. Transformations of substances occur as a result of chemical reactions.

People received the first information about chemical transformations by doing various crafts, when they dyed fabrics, smelted metal, made glass. Then certain techniques and recipes appeared, but chemistry was not yet a science.

Medieval alchemy did not become the forerunner of chemistry either. The goal of the alchemists was to search for the so-called philosopher's stone, with which any metal could be turned into gold. Of course, their efforts remained fruitless. But since they conducted various experiments, they managed to make several important practical inventions. Furnaces, retorts, flasks, apparatus for distilling liquids began to be used. Alchemists prepared the most important acids, salts and oxides, described methods for the decomposition of ores and minerals.

The emergence of the science of chemistry is usually associated with the name of the 17th English physicist and chemist Robert Boyle. He first identified the central object of chemistry research: he tried to define a chemical element. Boyle believed that an element is the limit of the decomposition of a substance into its constituent parts. Decomposing natural substances into their constituents , the researchers made many important observations, discovered new elements and compounds. The chemist began to study what consists of what.

At the beginning of the 19th century Englishman J. Dalton introduced the concept of atomic weight. Each chemical element received its most important characteristic. The atomic-molecular doctrine became the basis of theoretical chemistry. Thanks to this doctrine, D.I. Mendeleev discovered the periodic law, named after him, and compiled the periodic table of elements.

In the 19th century two main sections of chemistry were clearly defined: organic and inorganic. At the end of the century, physical chemistry took shape as an independent branch. The results of chemical research were increasingly used in practice, and this led to the development of chemical technology.

Chemical art arose in ancient times, and it is difficult to distinguish it from production, because, like twin sisters, it was simultaneously born at the furnace of a metallurgist, in the workshop of a dyer and glazier. The roots of chemistry sprouted in the fertile soil of metallurgical and pharmaceutical practices. Written sources, according which could be used to judge the level of ancient handicraft chemistry, few have been preserved. BC. furnaces were used in which, by burning coal, it was possible to obtain a high temperature (1100-1200 C), which made it possible to smelt and purify metals, cook glass from potash and soda, and fire ceramics.

Technochemistry and metallurgy reached a high level in ancient India.

Numerous recipes for the manufacture of ointments, medicines, paints, set out in papyri, show a high level of development of handicraft chemistry, cosmetics and pharmacy already in the middle of the second millennium BC. According to A. Lucas, "cosmetics is as old as human vanity." In ancient times, recipes for making food, processing and dyeing leather and furs were widely used. In the fifth millennium BC. e. The practical technology of tanning, dyeing, perfumery, and the manufacture of detergents were well developed.

In one of the surviving manuscripts of Ancient Egypt, in the so-called "Papyrus of Eberes" (16th century BC), a number of recipes for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals are given. Methods for extracting various juices and oils from plants by evaporation, infusion, squeezing, fermentation are described. , filtering. Receptions of sublimation, distillation, extraction, filtration were widely used in various technological operations.

The ancient specialists in chemical art: smelters, glassblowers, dyers, soap makers, were "technologist chemists." They were people of pure practice, for whom "theory" meant little or nothing. They verbally passed on their rich experience to each new generation. Nobody at that time, this experience was not generalized and not described, and if individual recipes were preserved in the papyri, then this was far from what the hands of the master could do. And they could do a lot. which were used such oxides as CuO, CoO, FeO, PbO).

In ancient Egypt, a method was developed for obtaining pure gold. The processing of the rock began with the crushing of quartz containing gold, then pieces of quartz were fused in hermetically sealed crucibles with table salt, lead, tin, while silver turned into silver chloride. In addition to gold, in ancient times there were silver, iron, tin, mercury, copper, lead are known. According to the teachings of the ancients, seven metals personified seven planets.

Improvement in the process of obtaining bronze caused the birth of the technology of heat treatment of alloys

After the advent of nuclear fuel, chemistry began to be treated worse and worse. The first power plants operating on nuclear fuel appeared in the 1950s. In the event of a leak of such fuel, it infects everything around, even the air. energy. Until the 1950s, most power plants ran on oil on coal. Such fuel is not as dangerous as nuclear, but its reserves must be depleted sooner or later. In addition, the emitted smoke dissolves in rain moisture. When such rain falls on the ground, it damages pastures and forests. These rains are called acid rains. In 1986, a strong nuclear fuel leak occurred at a nuclear power plant in the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl. food, drink water from local reservoirs.

Source

From the history of chemistry.

Chemistry is a science that studies substances and their transformations. Transformations of substances occur as a result of chemical reactions.

People received the first information about chemical transformations by doing various crafts, when they dyed fabrics, smelted metal, made glass. Then certain techniques and recipes appeared, but chemistry was not yet a science.

Medieval alchemy did not become the forerunner of chemistry either. The goal of the alchemists was to search for the so-called philosopher's stone, with which any metal could be turned into gold. Of course, their efforts remained fruitless. But since they conducted various experiments, they managed to make several important practical inventions. Furnaces, retorts, flasks, apparatus for distilling liquids began to be used. Alchemists prepared the most important acids, salts and oxides, described methods for the decomposition of ores and minerals.

The emergence of the science of chemistry is usually associated with the name of the 17th English physicist and chemist Robert Boyle. He first identified the central object of chemistry research: he tried to define a chemical element. Boyle believed that an element is the limit of the decomposition of a substance into its constituent parts. Decomposing natural substances into their constituents , the researchers made many important observations, discovered new elements and compounds. The chemist began to study what consists of what.

At the beginning of the 19th century Englishman J. Dalton introduced the concept of atomic weight. Each chemical element received its most important characteristic. The atomic-molecular doctrine became the basis of theoretical chemistry. Thanks to this doctrine, D.I. Mendeleev discovered the periodic law, named after him, and compiled the periodic table of elements.

In the 19th century two main sections of chemistry were clearly defined: organic and inorganic. At the end of the century, physical chemistry took shape as an independent branch. The results of chemical research were increasingly used in practice, and this led to the development of chemical technology.

About the benefits of chemistry.

Chemical art arose in ancient times, and it is difficult to distinguish it from production, because, like twin sisters, it was simultaneously born at the furnace of a metallurgist, in the workshop of a dyer and glazier. The roots of chemistry sprouted in the fertile soil of metallurgical and pharmaceutical practices. Written sources, according which could be used to judge the level of ancient handicraft chemistry, few have been preserved. BC. furnaces were used in which, by burning coal, it was possible to obtain a high temperature (1100-1200 C), which made it possible to smelt and purify metals, cook glass from potash and soda, and fire ceramics.

Technochemistry and metallurgy reached a high level in ancient India.

Numerous recipes for the manufacture of ointments, medicines, paints, set out in papyri, show a high level of development of handicraft chemistry, cosmetics and pharmacy already in the middle of the second millennium BC. According to A. Lucas, "cosmetics is as old as human vanity." In ancient times, recipes for making food, processing and dyeing leather and furs were widely used. In the fifth millennium BC. e. The practical technology of tanning, dyeing, perfumery, and the manufacture of detergents were well developed.

In one of the surviving manuscripts of Ancient Egypt, in the so-called "Papyrus of Eberes" (16th century BC), a number of recipes for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals are given. Methods for extracting various juices and oils from plants by evaporation, infusion, squeezing, fermentation are described. , filtering. Receptions of sublimation, distillation, extraction, filtration were widely used in various technological operations.

The ancient specialists in chemical art: smelters, glassblowers, dyers, soap makers, were "technologist chemists." They were people of pure practice, for whom "theory" meant little or nothing. They verbally passed on their rich experience to each new generation. Nobody at that time, this experience was not generalized and not described, and if individual recipes were preserved in the papyri, then this was far from what the hands of the master could do. And they could do a lot. which were used such oxides as CuO, CoO, FeO, PbO).

In ancient Egypt, a method was developed for obtaining pure gold. The processing of the rock began with the crushing of quartz containing gold, then pieces of quartz were fused in hermetically sealed crucibles with table salt, lead, tin, while silver turned into silver chloride. In addition to gold, in ancient times there were silver, iron, tin, mercury, copper, lead are known. According to the teachings of the ancients, seven metals personified seven planets.

Improvement in the process of obtaining bronze caused the birth of the technology of heat treatment of alloys

About the dangers of chemistry.

After the advent of nuclear fuel, chemistry began to be treated worse and worse. The first power plants operating on nuclear fuel appeared in the 1950s. In the event of a leak of such fuel, it infects everything around, even the air. energy. Until the 1950s, most power plants ran on oil on coal. Such fuel is not as dangerous as nuclear, but its reserves must be depleted sooner or later. In addition, the emitted smoke dissolves in rain moisture. When such rain falls on the ground, it damages pastures and forests. These rains are called acid rains. In 1986, a strong nuclear fuel leak occurred at a nuclear power plant in the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl. food, drink water from local reservoirs.

Before opening this topic, it is impossible not to recall the words of one of the heroes of Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Cat's Cradle": "No matter what scientists work on, they still get weapons."

The importance of chemistry in human life is very difficult to overestimate, because these processes surround us everywhere: from elementary cooking to biological processes in the body. Achievements in this area of ​​knowledge have brought enormous damage to mankind (the creation of weapons of mass destruction), and gave salvation from death (the development of medicines for diseases, the cultivation of artificial organs, etc.). It is impossible to be indifferent to this science: so many contradictory discoveries did not occur in any other field of knowledge.

The role of chemistry in human life: life

This area is impossible without chemical processes: for example, few people think when they light a match about what is carrying out this complex chemical process. Or, for example, personal hygiene is also accompanied by chemical reactions when a person uses soap that foams when interacting with water. The same washing with the use of powders, rinses to soften clothes is accompanied by such reactions.

When a person drinks tea with lemon, he notices that the color of the drink weakens if this fruit is added to boiling water, and in this case, it is unlikely that many perceived tea as an acid indicator, similar to litmus. We can observe the same reaction if we sprinkle blue cabbage with vinegar solution: it will turn pink.

When people make repairs and knead cement, burn bricks, quench lime with water, the most complex chemical processes take place, which we don’t think about in everyday life, but not a single person could do without them.

Chemistry in human life: medicine

In medicine, there are many examples of the most complex chemical reactions used intentionally. By mixing substances, medicines are obtained, and when they react with the cells of the body, recovery occurs.

Nevertheless, chemistry can play both a creative role in medicine and a destructive one, because not only medicines are created, but also poisons - toxic substances that are harmful to human health.

There are such types of toxic substances:

  • harmful;
  • annoying;
  • aggressive;
  • carcinogenic.

Chemistry in human life: the biological side of life

Chemistry is part of our life, and without certain processes that took place on Earth before life arose, naturally, we would not exist. Assimilation of food, breathing of man and animal is based precisely on chemical reactions. The same process of photosynthesis, without which people cannot live, is also accompanied by chemical processes.

Some scientists believe that the origin of life on our planet took place in an environment consisting of carbon dioxide, ammonia, water and methane, and the first organisms received energy for life by decomposing molecules without oxidation. These are the simplest chemical reactions that accompany the origin of life on Earth.

Chemistry in human life: production

Knowledge about such processes is widely used in industry, and new technologies are being developed on their basis.

Even in ancient times, crafts based on chemical processes were common: for example, the creation of ceramics, metal processing, the use of natural dyes.

Today, the petrochemical and chemical industry is one of the most significant sectors of the economy, and this suggests that chemical processes and knowledge about them play an important role in society. It depends only on humanity how to use them - for constructive or destructive purposes, because among the variety of chemicals one can also find dangerous ones for humans (explosive, oxidizing, flammable, etc.).

Thus, chemistry in human life is a panacea for diseases, and weapons, and the economy, and cooking, and, of course, life itself.

Chemistry plays a very important role in the life of modern man. It increases a person's well-being, which can come in many forms: food, clothing, housing, medicines, and even recreational activities. Various chemical fertilizers are produced by thousands of enterprises in various industries daily. Mass production of goods saves humanity from starvation. Crops are protected with pesticides. Food factories work day and night, making a wide variety of food. Thanks to the manufacture of various artificial fibers, there has been a revolution in the production of clothing. We owe to chemistry all our colorful and beautiful clothes for different seasons of the year. The cement, iron, bricks, glass that are used in the construction of our houses are also the result of our chemical knowledge.

With the help of beautiful multi-colored paint, which can be bought at any store, we can decorate our homes. Polyester fiber, fiberglass, multi-colored glass, dishes, steel and alloys of various materials are all wonderful products of chemistry. But in our modern world, chemistry can bring not only benefits, but also harm. The smoke emitted from the chemical industry factories, as well as pollutant gases from a large number of cars, are harmful to the environment. In addition, waste water from the chemical industry is often saturated with hazardous chemicals and can cause irreparable damage to land, rivers and waterways.

Chemistry, a great science of today's merits, surrounds man everywhere and everywhere. It arose a very long time ago, although a person did not think about it. But miraculously, suddenly, he learned to create durable iron alloys for the manufacture of weapons and tools, invented glass, and saved himself from constant drafts, started making ceramics, and even began to paint it with multi-colored paints. And where do we come into contact with chemistry today, and do we really depend on it?

The morning of a modern person begins with the fact that he wakes up in a cozy bed, he is warm and comfortable in his favorite synthetic pajamas - and this is just the first example. Stretching, we go to the kitchen, turn on the kettle, pour instant coffee into a glass, created on the same basis of knowledge of chemical science as our favorite processed cheese, yogurt, which include artificial additives. While the kettle is boiling, a person goes to the bathroom, squeezes a small amount of paste onto a toothbrush, then takes a shaving cream or facial wash, finds that the water filter does not work as well as before, and does not even think about that these are also the fruits of the same science.

Out of habit, he turns on the TV while having a cup of coffee. A small news review tells about oil refineries that will provide the country with the necessary amount: alkalis, acids, synthetic fibers, rubber and rubber. After that, there is a review of innovations in technology, and as an alternative to gasoline for automotive fuel, Japanese manufacturers offer synthetically created products that will reduce the cost of natural resources and help preserve the environment. Also, absolutely without hesitation, he eats a vitamin, sit in a polished car, which smells nice of jasmine, thanks to a new air freshener. In the back seat, he finds a bag of peat fertilizer he bought for garden cherries and a box of cat food.

At work, having filled the cartridge with new paint, out of habit, he goes to lunch at the nearest store, where he buys his favorite cola and burger, as well as helium balloons that will be needed in the evening, because her daughter is planning a party. It is already dark when he returns home, the light of a kerosene stove in the garage attracts his attention, it turns out that his daughter is varnishing wooden figurines for the upcoming evening. And in the thoughts of this person it does not even creep in that if there were no chemistry, then he would not live in such comfortable conditions as today.

And this is only a small part of what we owe to this science. Chemistry is not only closely connected with the life of all mankind, with ensuring its comfort, safety, it is one of the main engines of the progress of human society. In addition to the fact that it links seemingly distant industries such as mechanical engineering and the food industry, for example, using catalysis processes here and there, this science also has a number of independent branches that are also at the service of the entire planet.

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