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TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.No. Topic PageNo,


1. Introduction 4
2. Chemistry in medicines 5-6
3. Chemistry in food 6-7
4. Chemistry in soaps and detergents 7-8
5. Chemistry in dyes 8-10
6. Chemistry in cosmetics 10-11
7. Other important uses of chemistry 11-12
8. Summary 13

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INTRODUCTION

This topic deals with the use of chemistry in daily life activities i.e. how the results and
chemicals obtained by chemical reactions and chemical analysis can be utilized for the
welfare of humankind. The stress has also been given on the fact that the chemicals to be
utilized should affect the environment and surroundings in the least possible way.this is my
attempt to provide all the information as a zest.

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Chemistry plays an important role in our daily lives. we severely use chemicals now and then
for our benefit. her are some important applications of chemistry in different fields-

CHEMISTRY IN MEDICINES-

At first ayurvedic and unani methods were used for the treatment of deseases,but they took a
long time to cure the disease. As a result allopathy replaced them as it provides relief from
the disease in a time relatively small as compared to other methods.
let us first know what a medicine is. The chemical substances of natural or synthetic origin
which provide relief from pain or which are used for curing diseases are called medicines and
this process is known as chemotherapy.

to understand the topic we must be aware of the difference between term drug and medicine.
as such there is no difference between drug and medicine from chemical point of view but
our society makes a clearcut distinction between the two as follows- A medicine is a
chemical substance which cures diseases,is safe to use,has negligible toxicity and does not
cause addiction. in contrast, a drug is a chemical substance which also cures the disease but is
habit forming,causes addiction and has serious side effects.

TYPES OF DRUGS-

• Antacids-the substances which neuitralise the excess acid and raise the pH to an
appropriate level in stomach are called antacids. most commonly used antacids are
weak bases such as sodium bicarbonate,magnesium trisilicate etc.

• Antihistamines- histamine is a potent vasodilator. It is responsible for allergy such as


skin rashes,inflammation of tissues and itching of hives etc. the drug which interferes
with the natural actin of histamine by competing with histamine for binding site of
receptor where histamine exers its effect arw called antihistamines. example of
antihistamine drugs are brompheniramine and terfenadine.

• Neurologically active drugs-

(a)-Tranquilisers-drugs which are used for the treatment of stress,fatigue,mild and


severe mental diseases are called tranquilisers.they relieve anxiety, stress ,irritability
by inducing a sense of well being. examples are equanil,veronal, seconal etc.

(b)-Analgesics- drugs which reduce or abolish pain without impairment


consciousness, mental confusion,incoordination or paralysis or some other
disturbance or disorder of the nervous system are called analgesics.
these are further classified into two components

1.non narcotic or non addictive drugs which do not form habit. examples are aspirin
and paracitemol

2.narcotic or addictive drugs which form habit.examples codcine and morphine.

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• antimicrobials-drugs used to cure diseases caused by microbes or microorganisms
such as bacteria, viruses,fungi etc are called antimicrobials. examples are salvassan
and azodye.

• Antibiotic- chemical substances which in low concentration,either kill or inhibit the


growth of microorganisms by intervening in their metabolic process are called
antibiotics.chrysogenum and penicillin are few examples.

• Antiseptic and disinfactants-antiseptics are the chemical substances which prevent the
growth of micro-organisms and may even kill them. examples are furacin and
soframycin. Disinfectants are chemical substances which kill micro- organisms but
are not safe to be applied to the living tissues.examples are dettol and savlon.

CHEMISTRY IN FOOD-

All those chemicals which are added to food to improve it keeping qualities,appearance, test,
odour and nutritive value are called are called food additives. some important food additives
are-
1. food colours
2. flavours and sweetness
3. fat emulsifiers and stabilizing agents
4. flour improves-antistaling agents
5. antioxidants
6. preservatives
7. nutritional supplements such as minerals ,vitamins and amino acids.

• Artificial swetening agents-glucose and sucrose are most widely used artificial
sweetening agents but they add to the calorie intake. there fore saccharin is niw used

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as sweetener as it is about 550 times sweeter than suger and does not add to the
calorie intake. it is useul for sugar patients as it is not biodegradable and thus can be
excreted as such in urine

• Preservatives-chemical substances which are used to protect food against


bacteria,yeasts and moulds are called preservatives . some important preservatives are
sodium benzoate and sodium metabisulphate.

CHEMISTRY IN SOAPS AND DETERGENTS

A detergent is anything that cleans, especially if it removes oily or greasy dirt. One particular
kind of detergent is soap.

Soaps are detergents in the sense that they help clean oily and greasy dirt from fabrics,
metals, our skin and hair. We restrict the term soap to the sodium salts of long-chain
carboxylic acids. A carboxylic acid is marked by the presence of a carboxyl group, -CO2H.
With the anion of the carboxyl group balanced by a sodium cation and tied by a covalent
bond to a long chain of -CH2- groups that terminate in a CH3- group, we have a soap
molecule. We can generalize the molecular structure of a soap molecule as

CH3 - (CH2)n - CO2 - Na2+


CH3 - (CH2)n - resembles quite closely the long chains of
the hydrocarbon molecules. Like the molecules of gasoline
and mineral oil, this part of the soap molecule tends to
dissolve readily in materials that are or that resemble
hydrocarbons, but not in water. All these long chains of -CH2-
groups of soaps and of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon-like
materials intermingle easily, but they don't mix readily with
the H2O molecules of water. The other end of the molecule,
though is ionic:
O
||
- C - O - Na+

Like sodium chloride and other ionic compounds, that


ionic end tends to dissolve in water, but not in hydrocarbon
solvents. As a result, one molecule has two opposite and
contradictory tendencies. A hydrophilic structure is attracted
towards water molecules but shun hydrocarbons and other
oily and greasy substances. A hydrophobic structure shuns
water but mixes easily with those very oily, greasy substances
that repel the hydrophilic, or charged, part.

Limitations of soap-

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1. soaps cannot be used in hard water because calcium and magnesium ions present in
hard water produce curdy white precipitate and thus hamper the cleansing action of
the soap.
2. soaps cannot be used in acidic solution since acids present in the solution precipitate
the insoluble free fatty acids which adhere to the fabrics and thus cleansing action of
soap decreases.

Soapless detergents-
soapless detergents are cleansing agents which have all the properties of soaps, but which
actually do not contain any soap.Since they are synthetic substances,therefore they are also
called synthetic detergents.

unlike soaps , synthetic detergents can also be conveniently used even with hard water. this is
due to the reason that sodium and magnesium salts of detergents like their sodium salts are
alsosoluble in water.hence synthetic detergents do not form curdy white precipitate with hard
water. further they can also be used in acidic solutions. However synthetic detergents have
one disadvantage. unlike soaps they are not completely biodegradable.

synthetic detergents are of 3 types:-

(a).anionic detergents-these are so called because a large part of their molecules are anions.
examples are sodium lauryl sulphate( C11H23CH2OSO3- Na+) and sodium
alkylbenzenesulphonates.
(b).cationic detergents-these are quaternary ammonium salts containing one or more long
chain alkyl groups.e.g.cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide.
(c).non ionic detergents-These are esters of high molecular mass alcohols obtained by
reaction between polythelene glycol and stearic acid e.g. polythelene glycol stearate
(CH3(CH2)16COO(CH2CH2O)nCH2CH2OH)

CHEMISTRY IN DYES
Dyes - Meaning and Characteristics- Colored substances used for dyeing fabrics are called
dyes. A true dye must:
• Have a suitable color
• Be able to attach itself to the material from solution or be capable of being fixed on
it
• Be fast to light and washing when fixed. For this it must be resistant to water, acid
and alkali
Dyes - Chromophores
Unsaturated groups or groups with multiple bonds that impart color to the organic
compound are called chromophores. Examples are the nitro, the nitroso and the azo groups.

Auxochromes as Dyes
Auxochromes (salt forming groups like hydroxyl, amino) do not impart color to the
chromogens in the absence of chromophores. However, when the chromogen has a
chormophore, the auxochrome deepens the color of the chromogen. It is also used to make
the chromogen a dye.

Classification of Dyes Based on Chemical Structure


Oldest synthetic dyes do not have much commercial importance.

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Classification of Dyes Based on Application

Direct or Substantive Dyes-


These can be directly applied by immersing the cloth in a hot solution of the dye in water.
They can be again classified into acid and basic dyes.
Acid dyes are sodium salts of sulphonic acid and nitrophenols. They are used for dyeing
animal fibers (wool and silk) but not vegetable fibers (cotton). The dye solution is acidified
with sulphuric or acetic acid.
Basic dyes are salts of color bases with hydrochloric acid or zinc chloride. They can
directly dye animal fibers. They need a fixing agent called mordant (tannin) to dye vegetable
fibers. These are used for dyeing silk and cotton.

Methyl Orange as a Dye-


This belongs to the azodyes. It is prepared by coupling diazotized sulphanilic acid with
dimethylaniline.

Aniline Yellow (Amino azobenzene) as a Dye-


This is another azodye and has little value as a dye. This is because it is sensitive to
acids. This is the simplest basic azo dye. This can be obtained by coupling benzene
diazomium chloride with aniline.

Malachite Green as a Dye-


Belongs to the triphenyl methane dyes. Prepared by condensing 1 molecule of
benzaldehyde with 2 molecules of dimethylaniline (1:2 ratio) in presence of con H2SO4. The

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leuco base is oxidised with lead dioxide and HCl to color base which further reacts with HCl
to give the dye.

Natural Dyes (Alizarin and Indigo) -


Dyes can also be classified as natural and synthetic dyes. Compounds extracted from
plants are called natural dyes. These were used in olden days to color fabrics. Alizarin (red)
and indigo (blue) are two examples. Synthetic dyes came into being to provide more varieties
of colors.

CHEMISTRY IN COSMETICS-

Chemicals find great use in cosmetics. Creams like cleansing creams, cold creams, bleaching
and vanishing creams are prepared synthetically from chemicals. Perfumes, talcum powders
and deodorants are also some other cosmetic substances that are obtained from chemicals.
Lipsticks, nail polish and hair dyes also are chemical substances.

PETRFUME-

Despite the variety of personal care products we've encountered, all share a similar
characteristic: a pleasant odor or flavor. (Our sense of taste is limited to sweet, sour, bitter
and salty.) Flavors are combinations of these four tastes with the sense of smell. Odours
affect our perception of flavor.

Our perfumes, colognes and lotions, like the products we use to color our hair and
bodies, have their origins in antiquity. The word perfume itself comes from the Latin
per("through") and fumus ("smoke"), and may have applied originally to scents carried by the
smoke of incense and odorous plants used in sacred ceremonies. Today's perfumes are the
products of a long history of changes in the popularity of different sorts of various synthetic
chemicals, animal oils and extracts of fragrant plants, all dissolved as 10% to 25% solutions
in alcohol.

Cologne, a shortened form of eau de Cologne (from the French for "water of Cologne"),
is a much more dilute and much less expensive version of a perfume, with concentrations of
the fragrant oils running about a tenth those used in the perfume. The term itself refers to the
city of Cologne, Germany, where an Italian, Giovanni Maria Farina, settled in 1709 and
began manufacturing a lotion based on citrus fruit. The product became a very popular
toiletry, providing fame to the city and wealth to Farina and his heirs.

LIPSTICS-

Lipsticks and lip balm prevent moisture loss, and contain castor oil, sesame oil, mineral oils,
lanolin (or cetyl alcohol), beeswax or carnauba (used in car polishes,dyes (or pigments) and
perfumes. The oils, waxes, polymers and dyes of liptstick protect, soften and brighten the
lips.

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NAIL POLISH

Nail polish has been used since 3000 B.C., when henna was used by the Egyptians for its
red colour. Modern nail polish is made of lacquer, and consists of polymers (nylon, nitro-
cellulose), solvents (acetone, amyl acetate) plasticisers, colourants, and perfumes. Plasticisers
are used to make the polish film more flexible to prevent chipping.

OTHER IMPORTANT USES OF CHEMISTRY-

CARBON FIBRES
Carbon fibers are made of long chain of carbon atoms.They are got from synthetic or
regenerated fibers by heating them in the absence of oxygen. These fibers on heating
decompose to produce carbon fibers.

CERAMIC
Besides being useful, chemicals find use in artifacts as well. Ceramics, paints, varnishes,
glass, cement are various other useful substances that contain various chemicals as their
components. Construction industry is the major beneficiary of such substances.

MICRO ALLOYS
Micro alloyed steels are intermediate carbon steel alloys with 0.3 to 0.6% carbon content.
They also include vanadium, columbium (niobium), titanium and so on. These micro alloys
are tougher than higher alloys. Their enhanced strength is due to the precipitation hardening
reaction where nitrides or carbonitrides are formed in steel. Therefore, nitrogen level control
is a key factor.

ROCKET PROPELLANTS
Propellants are the fuels used in rockets for propulsion. For example, alcohol, liquid
hydrogen, liquid ammonia, kerosene, hydrazine and paraffin can be used as propellants.

INSECT REPELLENTS
The chemicals like dimethyl phthalate, N, N-diethyl - meta - toulamide (Deet), N - N -
diethyl benzamide are used as effective repellents against mosquitoes, flies and other insects.
These are widely used in insect repellant body creams.

PHEROMONES OR SEX ATTRACTANTS


Another way to get rid of insects is to use pheromones or insect sex attractants. These
chemicals help induce the mating urge and attract insects of opposite sex. When coated on

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poisonous baits, they prove fatal for insects. Methyl engenol attracts the oriental fruit fly.
Bombykol attracts the silk worm moth.

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SUMMARY
Our body is made up of tissues, which are all composed of chemicals. We need an
adequate supply of chemicals in the form of food, vitamins, hormones, and enzymes, which
are in turn chemicals. For taking care of our health we need medicines. We find that
chemicals and chemistry penetrate into every aspect of our life. Paper, sugar, starch,
vegetable oils, ghee, essential oils, tannery, distillery, soap, cosmetics, rubber, dyes, plastics,
petroleum infact there is almost nothing that we use in our daily life that is not a chemical.
Continuing research will keep adding to this list.

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