Chemistry is a vast subject it can’t be limited to a few branches. However to cover all the areas it can be broadly categorized into five major branches: – Organic, Inorganic, Physical, analytical, and Bio-Chemistry. Each branch further divided into sub-categories on the basis of the field and scope of the study. here we know
What are the major branches of chemistry?
Five major branches of Chemistry
1.Organic Chemistry:-
It involves the study of Carbon and it’s compound. Catenation is a unique property due to which it forms the covalent bond with other atoms like H, O, N, S, P, etc. and these compounds are known as organic compounds.
Organic chemistry incorporates the structure, chemical & physical properties, and synthesis, determination, separation techniques of the carbon compounds. A chemist specialized in organic chemistry develops the skill to identify and separate out the compounds with the understanding of the structure, property, and the behavior of compound in a chemical reaction.
Organic chemistry is the heart of various industries such as pharmaceutical, petroleum refinery, rubber, cosmetic, fertilizer, agriculture, synthetic products
Organic chemistry is not only the study of Hydrocarbon (Compound of C &H) but also reveals the Carbon compounds containing other elements like O, N, S, P, halogen, organometallic (having C-Metal bond).
The following branches cover the scope of organic chemistry
Polymer Chemistry: a study of heavy molecular weight compounds (Polymer)
Stereo-chemistry: It deals with the spatial arrangements of compounds
Medicinal chemistry: the study of identification, synthesis, and effect of the compound used in drugs,
Organometallic chemistry: a study of a compound containing Carbon and metal bond.
2. Inorganic Chemistry:-
Inorganic chemistry is the study of all the known elements and their compounds except organic compounds. It is concerned with the material obtained from minerals, air, sea, and soil
Inorganic chemistry covers the study of the periodic table elements, their chemical and physical behavior, structure, extraction techniques.
There are various sub-branches of inorganic chemistry such as nuclear chemistry, an organometallic compound, Geo-Chemistry, Bioinorganic chemistry, Cluster chemistry, etc.
3. Analytical Chemistry
It deals with both qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis of the substances. It includes studying the chemical and physical methods of analysis as well as the instruments used for analysis. The analytical chemist is expertise in analysis techniques and about all the equipment and instruments. He must know on what principle instruments work.
Analytical chemistry includes the study of various isolation and identification techniques such as gravimetric, volumetric, precipitation, extraction, distillation, chromatography, and electrophoresis.
It has wide applications in field medicine, engineering forensic science, and environmental science.
4. Physical Chemistry:-
It reveals the effect of temperature, pressure, light, concentration on the properties of substances and chemical reactions that they undergo. The physical chemistry can be divided into the following branches
Chemical Kinetics: the study of rates of chemical reaction, factor affecting the rate of reaction, and determination of the mechanism of the reaction.
Thermodynamics: a study about heat, temperature, and other forms of energy and their relationship with matter.
Electrochemistry: it is the study of chemical changes due to electron movements
Photochemistry: a study of changes that occurs with the effect of light
Surface Chemistry: it is the branch of physical chemistry that deals with the study of reaction on the surface of the material. It includes the study of adsorption, catalysis, colloids, corrosion, etc.
Quantum chemistry: It incorporates the mathematical description of motion and interaction of subatomic particles. It reveals the quantization of energy, uncertainty principle, dual nature of particles and their correlation to chemical changes
5. Bio-Chemistry:
Bio-Chemistry is the combination of biology and chemical science to study the chemical structure of living organisms. It reveals the study of the living processes such as control and coordination in living organisms, together with matter. Biochemistry covers a wide area of both molecular biology and cell biology.
The major branches of biochemistry are following
Molecular biology: It deals the study of structure and behavior of biological macromolecules (DNA, RNA, Harmones, enzymes, etc) within living Genetics
Cell biology: a study of a chemical process in cell
Genetics: a study of genes and their function in a living organism
Agricultural biochemistry: it deals with the study and implication of chemistry in plants and animals.