I’m a Scientist is like school science lessons meet the X Factor! School students choose which scientist gets a prize of $1000 to communicate their work.
Scientists and students talk on this website. They both break down barriers, have fun and learn. But only the students get to vote.
This zone is the Boron Zone. It has a range of scientists studying all different topics. Who gets the prize? YOU decide!
As an astronomer, I occasionally use chemistry in my work. We find lots of different molecules in the atmospheres of cool stars (half as cool as the Sun) and sometimes in giant clouds of gas where stars and planets form. We look to see how much of a star’s light is being absorbed (or blocked) by the various molecules and atoms by using prisms and similar equipment.
So we definitely need to understand it, even if we don’t use it that much!
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Typically I deal with the identification, as well as ecology and wildlife behaviour rather than the chemistry side of things. We do however use various fluids (e.g. 70% ethanol) to preserve the specimens we receive, so there is a little chemistry. Many branches of zoology deal with chemistry far more commonly than I do (e.g. anatomy, genetics). It was however a prerequisite (essential) subject a zoology degree at the university I attended.
Occasionally we use chemistry in identify mineral specimens that come into the museum.
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Chemistry is really important in geology. In my area, we need to think about the chemical reactions that might happen when we take hot water out of the ground, and what might happen when its cooled down a bit and we inject it back into the ground. The water that we get out of the ground has lots of stuff (minerals) dissolved in it. The amount of “stuff” that the water can hold depends on how hot it is. So, if we take some hot water out of the ground and cool it down (because we want to use the heat for something useful), we will find that some minerals might precipitate. This could block our drill holes in the ground, or the pipes in our geothermal power plant, for example. So its very important!
Another area where I have used chemistry is in trying to understand how mineral deposits, like gold, are formed. REally, you can’t do geology without chemistry!
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