Chemistry (the etymology of the word has been much disputed)[1] is the science of matter and the changes

it undergoes. The science of matter is also addressed by physics, but while physics takes a more general and fundamental approach, chemistry is more specialized, being concerned with the composition, behavior (or reaction), structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions.
[2]

It is a physical science which studies

various substances, atoms, molecules, crystals and other aggregates of matter whether in isolation or combination, and which incorporates the concepts of energy and entropy in relation to the spontaneity of chemical processes. Disciplines within chemistry are traditionally grouped by the type of matter being studied or the kind of study. These include inorganic chemistry, the study ofinorganic matter; organic chemistry, the study of organic (carbon based) matter; biochemistry, the study of substances found in biological organisms;physical chemistry, the study of chemical processes using physical concepts such as thermodynamics and quantum mechanics; and analytical chemistry, the analysis of material samples to gain an understanding of their chemical composition and structure. Many more specialized disciplines have emerged in recent years, e.g. neurochemistry the chemical study of the nervous system

Summary
Chemistry is the scientific study of interaction of chemical substances that are constituted of atoms or the subatomic particles:[3] protons, electrons and neutrons.[4] Atoms combine to producemolecules or crystals. Chemistry is sometimes called "the central science" because it connects the other natural sciences such as astronomy, physics, material science, biology and geology.[5][6] The genesis of chemistry can be traced to certain practices, known as alchemy, which had been practiced for several millennia in various parts of the world, particularly the Middle East.[7] The structure of objects we commonly use and the properties of the matter we commonly interact with are a consequence of the properties of chemical substances and their interactions. For example,steel is harder than iron because its atoms are bound together in a more rigid crystalline lattice; wood burns or undergoes rapid oxidation because it can react spontaneously with oxygen in a chemical reaction above a certain temperature; sugar and salt dissolve in water because their molecular/ionic properties are such that dissolution is preferred under the ambient conditions. The transformations that are studied in chemistry are a result of interaction either between different chemical substances or between matter and energy. Traditional chemistry involves study ofinteractions between substances in a chemistry laboratory using various forms of laboratory glassware.

A chemical reaction is a transformation of some substances into one or more other substances.

[8]

It can

be symbolically depicted through a chemical equation. The number of atoms on the left and the right in the equation for a chemical transformation is most often equal. The nature of chemical reactions a substance may undergo and the energy changes that may accompany it are constrained by certain basic rules, known as chemical laws. Energy and entropy considerations are invariably important in almost all chemical studies. Chemical substances are classified in terms of their structure, phase as well as their chemical compositions. They can be analyzed using the tools of chemical analysis, e.g. spectroscopy and chromatography. Scientistsengaged in chemical research are known as chemists.
[9]

Most chemists specialize in one or more sub-disciplines.

In chemistry, a chemical substance is a form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties.[1] It can not be separated into components by physical separation methods, i.e. without breaking chemical bonds. Chemical substances are often called 'pure' to set them apart from mixtures. A common example of a chemical substance is pure water; it has the same properties and the same ratio of hydrogen to oxygen whether it is isolated from a river or made in a laboratory. Other chemical substances commonly encountered in pure form are diamond, gold, salt (sodium chloride) andsugar (sucrose). Most chemical substances occur as mixtures with other chemical substances. For example, drinking water is a mixture of water, sodium chloride and many other chemical substances. Generally, chemical substances exist as a solid, liquid, gas, or plasma and may change between thesephases of matter with changes in temperature or pressure. Chemical reactions convert one chemical substance into another. Forms of energy, such as light and heat, are not considered to be matter, and thus they are not "substances" in this regard.

The atom is a basic unit of matter that consists of a dense, central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. Theatomic nucleus contains a mix of positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons (except in the case of hydrogen-1, which is the only stable nuclide with no neutrons). The electrons of an atom are bound to the nucleus by the electromagnetic force. Likewise, a group of atoms can remain bound to each other, forming a molecule. An atom containing an equal number of protons and electrons is electrically neutral, otherwise it has a positive charge (electron deficiency) or negative charge (electron excess) and is an ion. An atom is classifiedaccording to the number of protons and neutrons in its nucleus: the number of protons determines the chemical element, and the number of neutrons determines the isotope of the element.
[1]

The name atom comes from the Greek "

"tomos (from -, "un-" +

temno, "to cut"[2]),

which means uncuttable, or indivisible, something that cannot be divided further.[3] The concept of an atom as an indivisible component of matter was first proposed by early Indianand Greek philosophers. In the 17th and 18th centuries, chemists provided a physical basis for this idea by showing that certain substances could not be further broken down by chemical methods. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, physicists discovered subatomic components and structure inside the atom, thereby demonstrating that the 'atom' was divisible. The principles of quantum mechanics were used to successfully model the atom.[4][5] Atoms are minuscule objects with proportionately tiny masses. Atoms can only be observed individually using special instruments such as the scanning tunneling microscope. Over 99.9% of an atom's mass is concentrated in the nucleus,[note 1] with protons and neutrons having roughly equal mass. Each element has at least one isotope with unstable nuclei that can undergo radioactive decay. This can result in atransmutation that changes the number of protons or neutrons in a nucleus.[6] Electrons that are bound to atoms possess a set of stableenergy levels, or orbitals, and can undergo transitions between them by absorbing or emitting photons that match the energy differences between the levels. The electrons determine the chemical properties of an element, and strongly influence an atom's magnetic properties.