SPM Chemistry Form 4 Notes – Terminology and Concepts: Introduction to Chemistry

January 21, 2010

For those taking science stream in Form 4, Chemsitry will be a new subject that are most likely within your subject combination choices. It might seemed difficult in the beginning. You might even hear stories from seniors about how chemistry gives you sleepless nights. Or stories of exploding chemicals. Don’t fret, chemistry is not all too bad if everybody is attentive to their teachers and observe lab safety regulations. Berry Berry Easy would like to share with all Berry Readers the introduction to chemistry. Berry Berry Teacher has decided to make it very short so that students do not feel overwhelmed by new things. If you can fully understand what is written below, then you are cut out to do chemistry.

SPM Form 4 Notes – Terminology and Concepts: Introduction to Chemistry

Chemistry and Its Importance

Chemistry – earlier study of alchemy (an art of transforming common metals to precious metals, usually lead to gold but to no success) (alchemy has since been proven to be a wrong and currently dead branch of science)

Chemistry – is the study of the composition, structure, properties and interactions of matter.

Founder of Modern Chemistry (try and read up on the history of these two great men)

1. Robert Boyle (1627-1691) – performed controlled experiments and published his work with elaborate details such as procedure, apparatus and observations.
2. Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) – developed the Law of Conservation of Mass and the theory of combustion.

Scientific Method

1. Making Observation
2. Making Inference (smart guess)
3. Identifying the Problem
4. Making a Hypothesis
5. Identifying the Variables
6. Controlling the Variables
7. Planning an Experiment
8. Collecting Data
9. Interpreting Data
10. Making a Conclusion
11. Writing a Report

If you observe all 11 steps, you will be a young scientist in the making. Try to enjoy the process of learning chemistry. Berry Berry Important subject if you intend to further your career in the field of engineering.

Please also view the other berry related posts:

1. SPM Biology Form 4 Notes – Terminology and Concepts: Introduction to Biology
2. SPM Chemistry Form 4 Notes – Terminology and Concepts: Chemical Formulae and Equations (Part 1)
3. SPM Chemistry Form 5 Notes – Terminology and Concepts: Oxidation and Reduction (Part 2)
4. SPM Chemistry Form 4 Notes – Terminology and Concepts: Chemical Formulae and Equations (Part 3)
5. SPM Chemistry Form 5 Notes – Terminology and Concepts: Carbon Compounds (Part 6)

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