Notecards Name Year of H.S. graduation Previous Chemistry Courses (course, school, year) Class/work schedule Tell me something interesting about yourself!
What is Chemistry? Science that deals with the materials of the universe and the changes that those materials undergo. Matter! Broken down into several sub-disciplines Biochemistry Organic Chemistry Inorganic Chemistry Analytical Chemistry Physical Chemistry
Scientific Research The process of methodical investigation into a subject in order to discover new information about the subject A set of procedures to ensure research is conducted in the right way
Scientific Method Statement of the Problem or a question Make Observations Gather preliminary data, research the literature Formulate a Hypothesis Possible solutions or explanations for a problem Perform an experiment Results must be repeatable!
Scientific Method cont. Analyze Data Summarize Results of experiment Objective! Draw Conclusions Hypothesis supported – accepted Design other experiments to support hypothesis, gain more support Doesn’t support hypothesis – rejected Modify hypothesis and do more experimentation
What next? Continue process until enough information accumulated to understand process in question. Theory: set of tested hypotheses that gives and overall explanation of some part of nature An interpretation. Why nature behaves a certain way. Eventually we can apply observations to many systems, and a general statement about behavior is made. Law: Summary of observed behavior. Tells us what happens.