Chemistry In our Daily Life

Chemistry is a big part of your everyday life. You find chemistry in daily life in the foods you eat, the air you breathe, your soap, your emotions and literally every object you can see or touch. We live in a world of matter. From the food that sustains our lives to various objects that have built up our physical culture, everything is made up of matter. The human body itself is a mixture of matter of differing types. The humans who used materials obtained from nature for centuries, later made new materials out of these to suit their needs.

Now the humans have thousand of materials for their use – both natural and human made. The ability that humans acquired to make new materials from natural materials is the basis of human progress. When the structure of the material world and the nature of physical and chemical changes in them were studied, humans were able to make new materials and to control their different properties. The development of chemistry made this progress possible. The contribution of chemistry to fields like, agriculture, industries, health care, food industry, habitat, transport and research has been invaluable.

1. You feel hungry because of the satiety center in your brain falls short of particular hormones to function and then sends the signal of hunger.
2. If you have wondered, why is the sky blue, it is due to a phenomenon called the “Rayleigh scattering”, which depends on scattering of light through particles which are much smaller than the wavelength. Hence when light passes through gases, there is scattering and the sky appears blue.
3. Coffee keeps you awake because of the presence of a chemical called adenosine, in your brain. It binds to certain receptors and slows the nerve cell activity when sleep is signaled.
4. Anaerobic fermentation is also a great concept which is present in the chemistry of everyday life. It is present in yogurt, breads, cakes and many other baking products. It is the multiplication of certain useful bacteria which increase the size of the food and make it more filling and soft.
5. Soap is formed by molecules with a “head” which likes water (hydrophilic) and a long chain which hates it (hydrophobic).
6. Lactose is the main complex sugar found in the milk. It’s a pretty big compound formed by two smaller components: glucose and galactose. Such a big compound cannot get through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream, so we need “something” to break it into smaller pieces. This “something” is an enzime named lactase. The more milk and milk products we consume, the more lactase we need.
7. The iodised salt is a necessary intake. It prevents a disease called goitre.
8. In the garden we use sprays to kill insects from attacking our plants.
9. Vermiwash is a liquid fertilizer. It isused as a leaf spray.
10. Elements in the Human Body

Your body is made up of chemical compounds, which are combinations of elements. While you probably know your body is mostly water, which is hydrogen and oxygen. Most of the human body is made up of water, H2O, with cells consisting of 65-90% water by weight. Therefore, it isn’t surprising that most of a human body’s mass is oxygen. Carbon, the basic unit for organic molecules, comes in second. 99% of the mass of the human body is made up of just six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. The medicines which we use to cure diseases is produced with the help of chemisty. Chemistry has a major role in our lives.

Chemistry In Everyday Life

Our entire universe is made up of matter which is constantly changing forms and evolving into other forms of energy. Chemistry is defined as the study or science of this ever changing matter. The other sciences which we study commonly like biology, physics and mathematics are all dependent on chemistry and are known as specific studies under the elaborate subject of chemistry.

Since there is chemistry seen in biological forms as well as physical states of nature, there are subjects called biochemistry and physical chemistry which help study these changes. There are many chemical changes which occur around us everyday but we are never aware of them.

Chemistry in Everyday Life Examples:

1. Water, which occupies 70% of the earth’s surface is made by two chemical elements, hydrogen and oxygen.
2. Soap is an emulsifier which allows oil and water to mix and so the oily mixtures on body and clothes can be removed after application of soap and water.
3. Chemistry in everyday life for kids can also include why vegetables are colored. Colored vegetables consist of chemical compounds called carotenoids which have an area known as the chromophore. It absorbs certain wavelengths of light and thus there are colored vegetables.
4. Food is cooked because of the steam that’s present either in the water added or that which is present inside the food items.
5. Onions make you cry due to the presence of sulfur in the cells which break after the onions are cut. This sulfur gets mixed with moisture and thus irritates your eyes.

Polymers:

Cotton is the material used for the manufacture of clothes for our daily use. Clothes are made by weaving together thick strands that are obtained by twisting together delicate fibres. Different kinds of fibres are utilized for different purposes. In modern times, we have been able to make substances that are similar, and with better qualities with the help of chemistry.