The importance of chemistry and chemical processes
Introduction
Chemical processes have been present since prehistory. Thanks to these, many discoveries have been made that have enabled the improvement of the quality of life such as fire, food cooking, fermentation that allowed obtaining drinks, cheeses and bread, the elaboration of ceramics, theobtaining metals and their alloys and many other processes.
Our body is a chemical process or reaction where several reagents are altered or transformed as for example when we breathe, we do digestion, metabolism, perspiration, grow, get old and even when we think.
Currently the development of chemistry remains a necessity for the survival of the human being, for the improvement of their quality of life (Altava, Burguete, & Luis, 2013).
The objective of this essay is to examine the importance of chemistry and what is the influence on the life of living beings, as well as their impact on the environment.
Developing
Chemistry has had its boom from the end of the 19th century to the present. This development has been based on the oil industry and its derivatives. In the last years of the twentieth century, other types of industries such as polymers, semiconductor materials, pharmaceutical and agrochemical products have been developed;as well as the appearance of new technologies such as nanotechnology that has a large base in chemistry (Meléndez & Camacho, 2008).
For Burns (2003) Chemistry is the branch of science that studies the characteristics and composition of all materials, as well as the changes they suffer. Each chemical has specific characteristics. When a chemical change occurs, the substances that are produced are very different from the initial materials. For example, metallic iron reacts chemically with air oxygen little by little to form rust (commonly called oxide).
Chemistry is essential for everything that society produces or consumes such as today’s high technology, creation of computer chips, computers liquid crystals and optical fibers. Chemistry also creates new materials that dress us, in addition to insulating materials and solar panels. This is used to create paintings and plastics, fertilizers, cars and airplanes, as well as many others.
All processes that occur on our planet are based on chemistry. As Gutiérrez (2016) mentions from the largest, such as the heat of the sun, to the smallest of the atoms that moves inside our nose, the leaves of the plants manage to convert the carbon dioxide into oxygen, in turn theplants are the main substrate on which the current pharmacopoeia is based and the drugs used since the beginning of the times have been.
There are different areas where chemistry has its importance:
Medicine: it is important to help discover new drugs, vaccines, anesthesia, etc.
- Nutrition: In this area chemistry has played an important role. Chemistry allows synthesizing substances called flavorings and dyes to improve certain food properties, and thus can be easily ingested;preservatives so that food does not deteriorate in a short time;Chemistry also determines the vital substances required by the organism (minerals, vitamins, proteins, etc.) (Pérez, 2015).
- Beauty and Personal Care: There are new advances in aesthetic surgery, beauty treatments, anti -aging treatments, as well as others.
- Agriculture: today thanks to chemistry, fertilizers, fertilizers and nutrients are available for plantations. There are also pesticides and insecticides, although these products are still a study because of the harmless that can be for human health. There are also genetically modified seeds, which are more resistant to pests, pesticides and have lower production cost.
- Science and Technology: Chemistry has contributed with new technologies helping to develop human abilities, but also has been negatively used as in the war action using nuclear chemistry.
- Kitchen: Help explain the changes that are generated in the cooking of food.
- CLEANING AND HYGIENE: The products we use daily for our personal toilet require the participation of chemistry.
- Industry: Chemistry helps generate energy that is essential in industry, factory or construction process.
The benefits and importance of chemistry must be measured from the point of view of the benefits and losses that it could bring. The human being often uses this resource to harm nature and all its members.
conclusion
Chemistry from prehistory has contributed to better the quality of life of the human being and with the creation of the chemical industry a diversity of products that in many cases have helped that life expectancy increase and improve. But this industry has also been the cause of products that emit pollutants to soils, air and water.
Although there are programs that mitigate and decrease these disadvantages of chemistry, it is necessary for the population to become aware and use this resource for the good of our planet.
Bibliography
- Altava, b., Burguete, m. Yo., & Luis, S. V. (2013). Cooperative Education in Chemistry Green: The Spanish experience. Chemical Education, 24, 132-138.
- Burns, r. A. (2003). Fundamentals of Chemistry. Pearson Education.
- Gutierrez, b. (2016). Importance of chemistry. Obtained from https: // importance.Biz/importance-of-chemistry/
- Meléndez, c. EITHER., & Camacho, to. (2008). Green Chemistry, the chemistry of the new millennium. Synthesis, ”, 45, 1-5.
- Montes-Valencia, n. (2015). The chemical industry: importance and challenges. Lampsakos (14), 72-85.
- Pérez, s. (2015). Importance of chemistry in nutrition. Obtained from https: // is.scribd.com/document/330186933/importance-of-the-chemical-in-nutrition
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