What is Chemistry?
{{About|the branch of science|the band|Chemistry (band)|the album|Chemistry (album)}} {{TopicTOC-Chemistry}} [[File:Chemicals in flasks.jpg|thumb|200px|Chemistry is the science of ''chemical elements'' and ''compounds''.]] '''Chemistry''' is a branch of [[science]] that deals with [[chemical element]]s and [[Chemical compound|compounds]], and how they work together and change. In other words, chemistry is the branch of science about fundamental properties of matter and chemical reactions. Chemistry is the study of the substances and their [[transformation]]s (or change). ==History== In history, people studied elements to figure out how to do things such as turn [[lead]] into gold, but they did not manage to do it. This early form of chemistry was called [[alchemy]]. During the [[18th century]], alchemists became chemists when they began using the [[scientific method]]. Chemists separated the air into many parts and isolated the [[noble gas]]es from it. They also processed special minerals from a mine in [[Sweden]] to get [[rare earth metal]]s. [[Radioactivity]] was also discovered. 118 different elements have been found.<ref>{{cite web|title=Periodic Table of Elements|website=[[American Chemical Society]]|url=https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/periodictable.html|access-date=2023-02-20}}</ref> Some are very common, like [[oxygen]]. Many are very rare and expensive, like [[platinum]]. Some cannot be found on earth and can only be made in labs, like [[rutherfordium]]. Since the 1920s, the increased understanding of [[physics]] has changed chemists' [[theory|theories]] about [[chemical reaction]]s. With smaller and faster [[computer]]s, chemists have built better tools for [[Analytical chemistry|analyzing]] substances. These tools have been sent to study chemicals on [[Mars]]. Police also use those tools to study [[evidence]] from [[crime]] [[wikt:scene|scene]]s. ==Types of chemistry== There are several types of chemistry. [[Analytical chemistry]] looks at which chemicals are in things. For example, l