1: Environmental Chemistry and The Scientific Method
- Page ID
- 538599
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We are about to embark on the study of environmental chemistry! But what is Environmental Chemistry? What methods do scientist use to learn about the world around them? The next few pages will explore this key question.
- 1.1: What is chemistry?
- Chemistry is the study of matter. Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space. Look around you right now. Anything you can see or touch is matter. Chemists study the composition, properties, and transformations of that matter.
- 1.2: What is the Environment?
- "Environment" Is just another word for "surroundings". In this context, we are talking about what surrounds us humans."Environmental Chemistry", in general, is the study of chemical processes in the environment.
- 1.3: The Scientific Method
- Scientists search for answers to questions and solutions to problems by using a procedure called the scientific method. This procedure consists of making observations, formulating hypotheses, and designing experiments, which in turn lead to additional observations, hypotheses, and experiments in repeated cycles
- 1.4: Introduction to the Geosphere
- The Geosphere is the earth beneath our feet. It is composed of the earth's core, mantle, and crust.
- 1.5: Introduction to the Hydrosphere
- Water is the most abundant substance at the earth’s surface. Almost all of it is in the oceans, which cover 70% of the surface area of the earth.
- 1.6: Introduction to the Atmosphere
- Life as we know it on the Earth is entirely dependent on the tenuous layer of gas that clings to the surface of the globe, adding about 1% to its diameter and an insignificant amount to its total mass.
- 1.7: Introduction to the Biosphere
- The biosphere comprises the various regions near the earth’s surface that contain and are dynamically affected by the metabolic activity of the approximately 1.5 million animal species and 0.5 million plant species that are presently known.
- 1.8: Anthropgenic Contributions and Environmental Legislation
- The anthropogenic or human contributions to the state of the environment must also be discussed. As long as humans have existed, managing and protecting ourselves from our wastes has been a major concern.