Branches of Chemistry — Examples & Overview

Branches of Chemistry

• Chemistry is a large and broad subject that covers a ton of different material, so it is separated into different branches that focus on one section of chemistry

All Kinds of Chemistry

Chemistry is a broad scientific field which investigates chemical compounds, molecules, and reactions. Chemicals make up everything around us, so the study of chemistry can be applied in many different ways. Scientists can use chemistry to study living things, medicine, the environment, food, and more. Due to this large variety, there are different branches of chemistry which use chemistry to study specific things.

Branches of Chemistry

Some of the main branches of chemistry are:

• Organic Chemistry: the study of organic (carbon containing) compounds. Often involves the synthesis (making) and testing reactivity of these chemicals.

• Physical Chemistry: focuses on the physics, matter, and energy of chemicals. There is a lot of math involved in this branch. Main areas of study include thermodynamics (energy), kinetics (rate of a reaction), and electrochemistry (electrical chemistry).

• Analytical Chemistry: looks at the chemical make-up and structure of compounds. This branch uses a lot of scientific instruments to study chemicals.

• Biochemistry: investigates chemicals and chemical reactions in living things. Knowledge and understanding of biology (study of life) is important for this area of chemistry. Medicinal chemistry uses the knowledge of organic and biochemistry to create medicines and study their interaction with the body.

• Inorganic Chemistry: the branch of chemistry that studies inorganic (metal containing) compounds. Transition metals are types of elements found on the periodic table which behave differently than other elements in chemical compounds. Bio-inorganic chemistry is the study of metal containing chemicals in living things.

• Nuclear Chemistry: a sub-branch of inorganic chemistry that studies radioactivity. Nuclear chemists don't study electrons and bonding. Instead, they examine protons, neutrons, and atomic nuclei. The largest elements, the actinides, have unstable nuclei. So, they undergo unique nuclear reactions.

• Materials Chemistry: creation and study of chemical materials created for a function. Polymer chemistry is becoming a popular area of material chemistry. Polymers make up plastics, lubricants, and other amorphous materials.

• Theoretical Chemistry: studies the theory behind key chemistry concepts, along with applying math and physics. The main area of this branch is quantum chemistry, which applies quantum mechanics (atomic level behavior) to study chemicals.

• Environmental Chemistry: applies a great breadth of chemistry knowledge to environmental systems. For example, environmental chemists use their understanding of acid-base reactions in ocean acidification, phase changes in pollution tracking, and solutions in water treatment.

These are some of the main branches of chemistry, but there are so many more areas of study which focus on chemistry in a specific way. Some examples are geochemistry, organometallic chemistry, chemical engineering, pharmaceutical chemistry, agrochemistry, forensic chemistry and many more!

(Video) Branches of Chemistry

by Free Animated Education

This video will introduce you to some of the major branches of chemistry. You'll also get to see some examples of the work each type of chemist does. Keep in mind that there are many more types of chemistry out there. These are just some of the more common ones that you will come across.