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Portal:Chemistry

The Chemistry Portal

Colourful solutions in test-tubes.
Welcome to the chemistry portal. Chemistry 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

Featured article

Dry activated Raney nickel.
Raney nickel is a solid catalyst composed of fine grains of a nickel-aluminium alloy, used in many industrial processes. It was developed in 1926 by American engineer Murray Raney as an alternative catalyst for the hydrogenation of vegetable oils in industrial processes. More recently it is used as a heterogeneous catalyst in a variety of organic syntheses, most commonly for hydrogenation reactions.

Raney nickel is produced when a block of nickel-aluminium alloy is treated with concentrated sodium hydroxide. This treatment, called "activation", dissolves most of the aluminium out of the alloy. The porous structure left behind has a large surface area, which gives high catalytic activity. A typical catalyst is around 85-percent nickel by mass, corresponding to about two atoms of nickel for every atom of aluminium. The aluminium which remains helps to preserve the pore structure of the overall catalyst.

Since Raney is a registered trademark of W. R. Grace and Company, only those products by its Grace Davison division are properly called "Raney nickel". Alternatively, the more generic terms "skeletal catalyst" or "sponge-metal catalyst" may be used to refer to catalysts that have physical and chemical properties similar to those of Raney nickel.

Selected picture

GC oven
Credit: Polimerek

Gas chromatography is an important type of chromatography used in chemical analysis. A volatile substance or mixture is injected and carried down a column (the coil shown) to a detector, which records the amount and the time on the column for each component. An oven (shown here with the door open) maintains the column at a desired temperature.

Categories

Fields of Chemistry (books)

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

History and Philosophy of Chemistry

Antoine Lavoisier

Many chemists have an interest in the history of chemistry. 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:

There is a Wikipedia Project on the History of Science and a portal for the philosophy of science.

Chemistry Resources

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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.

Science is Fun University of Wisconsin–Madison Chemistry Professor Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, shares the fun of science.

megaConverter The Web's best place to figure out what equals what.

General Chemistry Online Clear text and comprehensive coverage of general chemistry topics by Fred Senese, Dept. of Chemistry Frostburg State University

General Chemistry Demonstration at Purdue Video clips (and descriptions) of lecture demonstrations.

Intota Chemistry Experts A large online listing of real-world chemistry expert biographies provides examples of the many areas of expertise and careers in chemistry.

Chemistry Webercises Directory A large listing of chemistry resources maintained by Steven Murov, Emeritus Chemistry Professor Modesto Junior College.

MathMol MathMol (Mathematics and Molecules) is a good starting point for those interested in the field of molecular modeling.

Chemistry Educational Resources and Essential References from Wiley, the world's largest chemistry publisher

ABC-Chemistry A directory of free full-text journals in chemistry, biochemistry and related subjects.

The Element Song A goofy little song about all of the elements.

In the news

Selected biography

Harold Urey
Harold Urey (1893-1981) was an American physical chemist, who won the 1934 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on isotopes, specifically the discovery of deuterium, a hydrogen isotope, and the production of heavy water. He also performed pioneering research in cosmochemistry, which studies the origin and development of elements and their isotopes, primarily within the solar system. Urey, along with his student Stanley Miller, may be best remembered for the renowned Miller-Urey experiment, which shows that a mixture of ammonia, methane and hydrogen, when exposed to ultraviolet radiation and water, can interact to form amino acids, the "building blocks" of terrestrial life. This experiment followed on from Urey's work on the oxygen isotope 18O, and is considered to be pioneering work in the field of paleoclimatology, as it attempts to explain the composition of the early Earth's atmosphere.

Techniques used by chemists

Equipment used by chemists

Chemistry in society

Chemistry in industry

WikiProjects

Chemistry - Chemicals - Elements - Isotopes - Physical Chemistry - Polymers - Rocks and minerals -  - Science - Spectroscopy
Other WikiProjects…

Periodic Table

Group → 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
↓ Period
1 1
H
2
He
2 3
Li
4
Be
5
B
6
C
7
N
8
O
9
F
10
Ne
3 11
Na
12
Mg
13
Al
14
Si
15
P
16
S
17
Cl
18
Ar
4 19
K
20
Ca
21
Sc
22
Ti
23
V
24
Cr
25
Mn
26
Fe
27
Co
28
Ni
29
Cu
30
Zn
31
Ga
32
Ge
33
As
34
Se
35
Br
36
Kr
5 37
Rb
38
Sr
39
Y
40
Zr
41
Nb
42
Mo
43
Tc
44
Ru
45
Rh
46
Pd
47
Ag
48
Cd
49
In
50
Sn
51
Sb
52
Te
53
I
54
Xe
6 55
Cs
56
Ba
*
72
Hf
73
Ta
74
W
75
Re
76
Os
77
Ir
78
Pt
79
Au
80
Hg
81
Tl
82
Pb
83
Bi
84
Po
85
At
86
Rn
7 87
Fr
88
Ra
**
104
Rf
105
Db
106
Sg
107
Bh
108
Hs
109
Mt
110
Ds
111
Rg
112
Cn
113
Uut
114
Uuq
115
Uup
116
Uuh
117
Uus
118
Uuo

* Lanthanides 57
La
58
Ce
59
Pr
60
Nd
61
Pm
62
Sm
63
Eu
64
Gd
65
Tb
66
Dy
67
Ho
68
Er
69
Tm
70
Yb
71
Lu
** Actinides 89
Ac
90
Th
91
Pa
92
U
93
Np
94
Pu
95
Am
96
Cm
97
Bk
98
Cf
99
Es
100
Fm
101
Md
102
No
103
Lr

Shown above is an 18-column periodic table layout, which has come to be referred to as the common or standard form, on account of its popularity. It is also sometimes referred to as the long form, in comparison to the short Mendeleev-style periodic table. The wide periodic table incorporates the lanthanides and the actinides, rather than separating them from the main body of the table. The extended periodic table adds the 8th and 9th periods, and the theoretical superactinides. The lanthanides and actinides are sometimes instead called the lanthanoids and actinoids.

Atomic number colors show state of matter at standard conditions: (0 °C and 1 atm)
Solids Liquids Gases Unknown
Borders show natural occurrence:
Primordial From decay Synthetic

Things you can do

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Here are some things you can do:


Collaboration of the Month

Nuvola apps edu science.png The current Chemistry Article Improvement Drive is Sodium hydroxide.
Every month a different chemistry-related topic, stub or non-existent article may be picked. Please improve the article any way you can.

Related portals

Associated Wikimedia

Chemistry portal on Wikinews   Chemists on Wikiquote   Chemistry portal on Wikisource   Chemistry subject on Wikibooks   Chemistry category on Wikicommons   Chemistry category on Wiktionary   Wikiversity School of Chemistry
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