• Question: what are chemicals made of

    Asked by fifi to Anthea, Chloe, Kevin, Michel, Sean on 10 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Kevin Healy

      Kevin Healy answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Chemicals are made of stardust. All matter in the universe is made up of atoms (which are made up of other particles including electrons, neutrons and protons). These atoms were created in the centre of stars to make the 118 elements including hydrogen (H), Oxygen (O), Carbon (C) etc. When these stars exploded at the end of thier life they spread these elements throughout the universe until they started to form other things like more stars including the sun, plants including the earth and chemicals such as water (two hydrogens and an oxygen) and sugar (six carbons, twelve hydrogen and six oxygens). Eventualy over time all these elements which make up chemicals came together through evolution to make up you. So like chemical you are also made of stardust!

    • Photo: Michel Dugon

      Michel Dugon answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Another excellent question!

      Chemicals are microscopic “objects” made of a mixture / combination of molecules. Molecules themselves are an assemblage of atoms. Atoms are absolutely tiny things. To give you an idea, a single hair on your head is about 1,000,000 atoms wide! Depending on their size and weight, these atoms are known as elements (ever seen the periodic table?).

      Atoms form all the visible Matter of the universe. Our planet, the Sun, all stars, you and me, every bit of grass, every planet and every galaxy in the whole universe are made of atoms.

      When those atoms combine, they form chemical compounds. Chemical compounds are not all dangerous. Just like Kevin said, think about water (H2O) and sugar as chemical compounds…

      But check out the Science Guy… He knows his stuff!
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYBw2Ye0gYY

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