Chemistry can be broadly divided into pure chemistry and applied chemistry
A. PURE CHEMISTRY
Pure chemistry deals with the attempt to get better understanding of nature.
Pure chemistry is further divided into three main branches.oraganic
chemistry,inorganic chemistry and physical chemistry.These main branches
have been further divided into large number of sub-sections.The main branches
are described briefly as follows:
1. Organic chemistry – This branch of chemistry deals with the study of structure,
chemical composition and characteristics of compounds of carbon and
hydrogen elements and their derivatives.
2. Inorganic chemistry- This branch concerns itself to the study of structure,
composition and behaviour of the inorganic compounds,i.e the compounds
other than hydrocarbons or their derivatives.Such compounds are found in the
crust of the earth and constitute non-living matter.
B. APPLIED CHEMISTRY
Applied chemistry deals with the application of the knowledge of chemistry
for the benifit of mankind.The different branches of applied chemistry are as
under:
1. Analytical chemistry- This branch involves collection of techniques which
allows exact determination of the composition of the given sample of
material.It has been further divided into two categorie.
a, Qualitative analysis – It deals with the identification of various constituent particles (atoms,ions,molecules)present in the material.
b, Quantitative analysis-It deals with the estimation of various constituents
in the material.
2. Industrial chemistry- This branch deals with the chemistry involved in
different industrial processes such as manufacture of various chemical
substances.
3. Biochemistry – This branch concerns itself to the study of matabolic pathways
and enzymology pertaining to living organisms.It deals with molecular,cellular
and chemical activities of living organisms.
4. Geochemistry – This branch deals with the chemical processes occuring on
earth such as metamorphism of rocks,formation of petrolium,etc.It also deals
with the composition of soils and rocks.
5. Petrochemistry- It is branch of chemistry which deals with the transformation
of crude oil and natural gas into useful products and raw materials.
6. Radiochemistry -It is branch of chemisrtry which deals with the study of radio
active materials,both natural as well as man made.It also involves the use of
radiactive materials to study the pathways/mechanism of ordinary chemical
reactions.
7. Biotechnology- It refers to the technological application which uses biological
systems,living organisms or their creativities to make or modofy products or
process for specific use.Biotechnology infact,combines various disciplines like
genetics,molecular biology,biochemistry,embryology and cell biology for
developing for beneficial effects.
8. Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry- It is scientific discipline at the
intersection of chemistry and pharmacology which is involved with designing
synthesizing and developing phramaceutical drugs.Medicinal chemistry
involves the identification,synthesis and development of new chemical entities
suitable for interdisciplinary science that combines organic chemistry with
biochemistry,phrmacology,molecular biology,statistics and physical chemistry.
Environmental chemistry- It is a branch of chemistry which deals with scientific
study of chemical and biochemical phenomena that occur in natural places.
Environmental chemistry is also an interdisciplinary science that includes
atmospheric,aquatic,and soil chemistry along with analytical chemistry.
environmental studies and other areas if science.
