Chemistry for Engineers (NS 111)

Chemical Safety
Assignment #1

Name: Petrasanta, Ma. Magdalene A. Instructor: Engr. Jenny Bermido

Course, Year & Section: BSCE 1A Date: August 8, 2022

GENERAL INSTRUCTION: Research and study Introduction to Chemistry for

Engineers. Gather information from websites, textbook and other references.

“Why do I have to take chemistry anyway? I’ll never really need to know any of
this to be an engineer.” According to ABET’s definition, “Engineering is the profession in
which a knowledge of the mathematical and natural sciences gained by study,
experience, and practice is applied with judgment to develop ways to utilize,
economically, the materials and forces of nature for the benefit of mankind.” So as one
of the sciences, chemistry is clearly included in the realm of knowledge at the disposal
of an engineer. Yet engineering students do not always recognize the role of chemistry
in their chosen profession.

Engineering requires applied science, and chemistry is the center of all science.
The more chemistry an engineer understands, the more beneficial it is. In the future,
global problems and issues will require an in-depth understanding of chemistry to have
a global solution.

The interactions of human society with the earth can be thought of largely in
terms of the conversion of matter from raw materials into waste. Much of engineering
consists of efforts to optimize the processes used in these conversions. And as the
science of matter, chemistry is an important element of the knowledge exploited in
engineering those processes.

Chemistry has been called the “central science” because it is important to so

many other fields of scientific study. It is an important fundamental topic for civil
engineers, e.g. in understanding the properties of building materials, the natural
environment (atmosphere and solutions) and the reaction of building materials with the
 Chemistry for Engineers (NS 111)
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environment (corrosion of metals, durability).Chemistry for Engineers is designed to

help you connect pieces of information you have already picked up, increase your
understanding of chemical concepts, and give you a more coherent and systematic
picture of chemistry. Also, to help you appreciate the chemical viewpoint and the way it
can help you to understand the natural world that enables chemists and engineers to
devise strategies for refining metals from their ores, as well as to approach the many
other applied problems we’ll explore.

Specifically, in civil engineering, cement is the basic element of any construction.

So, one who is using cement should know about the formation of cement. Cement is
formed through a chemical process. It combines chemical elements, including calcium,
silicon, clay, chalk, aluminum, iron, slat, silica, and other ingredients. Subjects like
mechanics, construction material, concrete, and masonry structures are also related to
chemistry – knowledge of the environment, the material used in construction, and their
relation and interaction with each other. Metals such as steel are building material. For
example, due to chemical reactions with environmental elements such as moisture
and carbon present in steel/iron. So, corrosion can be removed using white vinegar or
oxalic acid. We have to do many tests on construction materials to ensure safety. Civil
Engineers also spray a kind of chemical like boric acid on walls to control termite. And,
calcium carbide is also a chemical that is used to find the moisture content of sand.
Every process has some link with it.

A civil engineer to select a location or area for construction The nature and
properties of the soil should be studied. Soil analysis Have to do and have the chemistry
to understand it. You must also be analyzed in that area Interactions between
construction and surroundings Soil or water. To know and develop the upcoming
technologies in civil Engineering is an excellent way, chemistry knowledge will be great
Enlightenment for a civil engineer
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Chemical Safety
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Everything made by engineers is chemicals. Because Chemistry is a study of

chemicals, things will fail when chemicals act in unpleasant ways. Bridges fall down.
Machines are parked. The refineries are exploding. Nuclear plants radiation leak.
Plastics crumble.

This coherent picture involves three levels of understanding or perspectives on

the nature of chemistry: macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic. The things we can
see about substances and their reactions provide the macroscopic perspective. We
need to interpret these events considering the microscopic (or “particulate”) perspective,
where we focus on the smallest components of the system. Finally, we need to be able
to communicate these concepts efficiently, so chemists have devised a symbolic
perspective that allows us to do that. We can look at these three aspects of chemistry
first, to provide a reference for framing our studies at the outset.

PROBLEM SOLVING:

Calculations play a major role in the practice of chemistry and in its application to
real world issues and problems. And engineering designs routinely rely on a
tremendous number of calculations. The types of exercises we will introduce in this text,
though focused on chemistry, will provide practice with techniques that can also be
used in engineering applications. To a chemist, the questions associated with aluminum
ore require looking into the nature of chemical bonding and how to overcome the
stability of strong bonds between aluminum and oxygen. To an engineer, the problems
to be addressed in refining the ore might focus on how to deliver enough electricity
when and where it is needed. Both disciplines, however, need careful use of
quantitative or numerical reasoning.

Although numerical calculations will always be an important component of

chemistry, they are only part of the field. Sometimes, to ensure that the concepts
involved in chemistry are understood, we’ll also work problems that focus on the
 Chemistry for Engineers (NS 111)
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particulate representation and other concepts. Often, the strategies employed in this
type of question are different from those we have just described.

VISUALIZATION IN CHEMISTRY:

Chemistry provides multiple simultaneous ways to view problems, including the

completely abstract perspective of atoms and molecules that will never be observed
directly. Methods to visualize this level of chemistry provide an important tool in the way
that chemistry is taught and learned. The visualization techniques will help us to
develop a particulate level understanding of many concepts we encounter throughout
the text.

Since all engineering designs involve matter, the links between chemistry and
engineering are many.

An important skill in the study of both chemistry and engineering is the ability to
manipulate numerical information, including the units attached to that information. The
use of ratios to convert between a measurement in one unit and desired information in
another related unit represents a core skill for problem solving in chemistry and
engineering. The method of dimensional analysis, sometimes called the factor-label
method, provides one common way to carry out these transformations.

In some sense, one difference between an engineer and a chemist is that

chemists use their intellects and creativity to create models for understanding nature.
Usually, the product of intellect and curiosity in engineering is a design that exploits or
constrains nature. Ultimately, both fields must begin with the observation of nature.
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REFERENCES

BROWN, L.S, & HOLME, T. (2010). Chemistry for Engineering Students (William H.
Brown and Lawrence S. Brown) (2nd ed.). Cengage Learning.
https://ionlights.keybase.pub/books/Chemistry%20for%20Engineering%20Stude
nts%2C%202e.pdf

Chemistry for Civil Engineers. (n.d.). Chemistry for Civil Engineers – Institute for
Building Materials | ETH Zurich. Retrieved August 23, 2022, from
https://ifb.ethz.ch/education/bsc-courses/bsc-
chemistry.html#:%7E:text=Chemistry%20is%20an%20important%20fundamental
,corrosion%20of%20metals%2C%20durability).

STORLIE, J. (2022, July 16). Importance of Chemistry in Engineering. Biomadam.

Retrieved August 23, 2022, from https://www.biomadam.com/importance-of-
chemistry-in-engineering#Use-of-Chemistry-in-Engineering

What is the importance of chemistry in engineering? (2018, March 22). PRECIWRITE.

Retrieved August 23, 2022, from
https://kumarpreciwrite.blogspot.com/2018/03/what-is-importance-of-chemistry-
in.html