Topics covered in this chapter: Chemistry in Everyday Life NCERT.
Chemistry is a subject that is heavily relevant in everyday life. Introductory chemistry is applied everywhere in real-life situations, starting right from food items to soaps, washing powders, etc. Chemistry is also relevant in medicines for any sickness. Therefore, it is clear that chemistry is applicable in all situations starting from the trivial to the most complicated cases. This article will focus on the different aspects of chemistry in detail.
Drugs are substances with low molecular mass. These substances combine with macromolecular targets to produce therapeutic abilities. These drugs are therefore known as medicines. Medicines heal and treat people suffering from minor to major diseases. Medicines also work towards preventing certain conditions. Although they are suitable for health in most cases, people must also look after the amount of medication they take. If the intake of medicine happens in high doses, it may have severe adverse effects that will be highly harmful to the consumer.
There are several types of drugs. Listed below are the kinds of classification of drugs:
Based on Chemical Action: This type of classification is based on the structural properties of the drugs. The drugs under this classification share similar properties and chemical actions due to the similarities in their structures.
Biological Macromolecules perform various functions in the body that are crucial for functioning. For example, enzymes that are proteins in the body that act as biological catalysts and receptors that help the communication process throughout the body are biological macromolecules. Listed below are some enzymes and receptors that interact with the drugs:
Antacids: Sometimes, the acids in the stomach excrete more juices than required. This way, the excessive acids form ulcers and other problems in the stomach. Until 1970 doctors used to prescribe antacids like sodium hydrogen carbonate to combat this problem. Antacids were effective to a certain extent, but too many antacids may cause the stomach to excrete more acids due to their alkaline nature. The solution to this obstacle is metal hydroxides that may replace them due to their insoluble nature.
Tranquilisers: Tranquillisers are neurologically active drugs. They heavily affect the communication process in the body. Tranquilisers generally cure diseases like stress, anxiety and hypertension by introducing a sense of relaxation in the brain. Due to this feature, tranquilisers often form an essential part of sleeping pills that help people sleep better by relaxing the body's nerves. Antidepressant pills also contain enzymes that degrade noradrenaline. Some tranquilisers like chlordiazepoxide and meprobamate are relatively weaker tranquilisers that relieve stress and tension.
Analgesics: These drugs help reduce the pain without harming the person. They are of two types: non-narcotic and narcotic drugs. Non-narcotics analgesics like aspirin and paracetamol help relieve diseases like arthritis, fever and other diseases. On the other hand, Narcotic Analgesics like morphine relieve pain and induce sleep. However, if taken in high doses, they cause a coma and sometimes lead to death.
Chemicals are often present in various food items for multiple reasons. Some of the reasons why food items have chemicals in them are: preserving them, adding nutritional value to them, and making them more attractive. In addition, chemicals are present in food colour, sweeteners, fat emulsifiers, antioxidants, preservatives etc.
Natural Sweeteners come in sucrose that act as sweetening agents but have calories in them. Therefore, people prefer artificial sweeteners like saccharin which appear to be harmless. It also helps diabetic people to lessen their carbohydrate intake. Other artificial sweeteners, including aspartame, sucralose and alitame, also act as sweetening agents and have the sweetness of sugarcane. However, some of them are only limited to enhancing soft drinks and cold food.
Antioxidants in food are necessary food additions. They prevent and limit the action of oxygen on food. This way, they also help in preserving the food. The two most commonly used antioxidants are Butylated Hydroxy Anisole and Bytulated Hydroxy Toluene. The addition of Butylated Hydroxy Toulene adds longevity to butter.
Food Preservation reduces bacterial and microbial growth. The most common preservatives include vegetable oils, salt, and C6H5COONa
Cleaning agents include detergents, soaps, and synthetic agents. These cleaning agents help eliminate fat that binds the materials to the body's fabric. Soaps are essentially used for cleaning. Soaps that contain sodium salts are created by fat heating. Listed below are the types of soaps:
Synthetic Agents are cleansing agents considered replacements for soaps, but they do not contain soap in them. Listed below are the three classifications of synthetic agents:
How is chemistry used in everyday life?
Chemistry is essential in all aspects of life. For example, chemistry can be used as cleaning agents, medicines to cure diseases, preservatives, sweetening agents, nutritional additives, and other aspects of life.
List the classification of drugs.
Drugs can be classified into several types:
Pharmacological Types: This type of drug classification is based on the pharmacological effect of drugs.
Chemical Structure: This type of drug classification is based on the chemical structure of the drugs. The chemical structures of many drugs are similar to each other and, therefore, exhibit similar properties.
Molecular Targets: This type of drug classification is based on the drugs interacting with biomolecules, including carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids. The classification is based on the molecular targets of the drugs.
Drug Action: This type of drug classification is based on the drug action on the biochemical process.
Name the types of soaps.
Types of soaps include transparent soap, laundry, soap, toilet soaps, soaps that float and shaving soaps.
Why do soaps not work in hard water?
Hard water consists of magnesium and calcium ions. These ions make the water insoluble and therefore make the soap insoluble. These insoluble agents separate the scum from the water and are practically useless as cleansing agents. Consequently, they do not exhibit many properties of cleansing agents like washing and cleaning. Moreover, they hamper the cleaning process and make the hair washing incredibly tedious due to the stickiness.
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