Department of Industrial Chemistry Brief History


Brief History Career Prospect Staff List Course Content Admission Requirements

Brief History Career Prospect Staff List Course Content Admission Requirements

Brief History Career Prospect Staff List Course Content Admission Requirements

Brief History Career Prospect Staff List Course Content Admission Requirements

Brief History Career Prospect Staff List Course Content Admission Requirements

Brief History Career Prospect Staff List Course Content Admission Requirements
Latest News
Image

Professor Joseph N. Afiukwa
(HOD)

All living matter including human beings, all other animals and vegetation (Plants Kingdom) are compounds of organic matter which, by their chemical constitution (CHO) are CARBOHYDRATE. Hydrate means water, chemically represented as H2O; and ‘carbo’ is the short form of elemental carbon with symbol, C. So, when any living matter is decomposed under heat (energy) it breaks down to carbon residue (ash referred to as animal or plant charcoal) and the water content is expelled in the form of steam (gas).

CHO C(S) + H2O(g) (Living things) (Heat) (Animal/plant charcoal) (Steam)

The above chemical equation shows that human beings are made of carbon skeleton fortified with earth materials (minerals), calcium and water to give it fleshy outlook. The life in humans and animals is sustained by the presence of oxygen(Divine Air) which is chemically bonded to hydrogen atoms in water. In plants, carbon with oxygen in the form of carbon dioxide, CO2, combines with water in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll in plants’ green leaves to produce food (carbohydrates)

6CO2 + 6H2O              chlorophyll     C6H12O6 + 6O2

 


sunlight

 

Convinced by this analysis of ‘who you are’ like every other animates, you should therefore be excited to study industrial chemistry in order to understand fully the place of chemistry in all life and non-life forms of nature (the rock minerals).
In addition, natural sciences as distinct from social sciences, arts and humanities are based on four core subject areas namely; Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics.

Biology is the science of living matter, its structure and behavior; Physics discusses the binding forces in nature (strength of matter); Mathematics is the computational science which deals with the rational reasoning and logic of arithmetic which produces digital solutions to problems. Chemistry (Industrial Chemistry) gives flesh to the skeleton of matter, sustains life in living matter and gives interpretation to the composition and structure of nature. Therefore, chemistry is a central subject that cannot be ignored in the study of all science-based disciplines listed in section 4.

THE PIVOTAL ROLE OF CHEMISTRY AND ITS LINKAGE WITH NATURAL SCIENCES

central to basic science subjects namely; biology, physics and mathematics. Chemistry gives meaning to Engineering/Physical sciences which is the link between mathematics and physics. Within the connection between physics and biology produces Biosciences and the linkage between biology and mathematics produces the Biometrics (Fig.1). Thus, all aspects of engineering science, medicine, health science, agriculture, computer, geology and environmental sciences revolve around chemistry..

Fig.1: Pivotal Role of Chemistry/Industrial Chemistry in all aspect of life