Education Resources

List of basic chemistry topics

Below is a list of basic topics in chemistry — topics which will help the beginner become familiar with the field of chemistry. For a comprehensive list, see List of chemistry topics.

Structured list :

• Atomic structure : Atom — Ion (physics) — Electron — Proton — Neutron — Atomic orbital — Molecular orbital — Chemical element — Valence — Atomic nucleus — Isotope
• Chemical reaction — Chemical formula — Structural formula — Mole — Stoichiometry — Chemical nomenclature — Chemical equilibrium — Reversible reaction — Electrophile — Nucleophile — Redox
• Bonding : Chemical bond — Ionic bond — Covalent bond — Metallic bond — Hydrogen bond — Intermolecular force — Dipole
• Structure : Gas — Liquid — Molecule — Solid — Isomer — Allotropy — Crystal — Complex (chemistry) — Ligand — Chemical compound — Stereochemistry
• Mixtures and Solutions: Concentration — Vapour pressure — Raoult’s law — Partial pressure — solvation

• Chemical techniques : Titration — Distillation — Chromatography — Reflux — Buffer solution — Filtration — Hydrolysis — Condensation reaction
• Properties : pH — electronegativity
• Apparatus : Bunsen burner — Calorimeter — Colorimeter — Burette — Thermometer
• Branches of chemistry
  • Analytical chemistry :
    • Electrochemistry : Electrochemical cell — Oxidation — Reduction — Electrode potential — Oxidation number — Electrolysis — Electrolytic cell — Electrolyte — Nernst equation
    • Spectroscopy : atomic absorption spectroscopy — Auger electron spectroscopy — electromagnetic spectroscopy — fluorescence spectroscopy — infrared spectroscopy — mass spectrometer — Mossbauer spectroscopy — nuclear magnetic resonance — neutron activation analysis — Raman spectroscopy — UV/Vis spectrophotometry — X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy –
  • Inorganic chemistry : Acid — Base (chemistry) — Alkali — Salt — pH
    • Solid state chemistry
  • Organic chemistry : Functional group — Hydrocarbon — Alkane — Alkene — Halogenoalkane - Alcohol — Ether — Aldehyde — Ketone - Carboxylic acid — Ester — Alicyclic compound — Amine — Amide — Amino acid — Polymer — Polymerization — Organic nomenclature — Arene — Phenol — Peptide
    • Stereochemistry : Optical isomerism — Chirality
  • Physical chemistry :
    • Kinetics: Catalyst — Enzyme — Arrhenius equation
    • Thermochemistry : Enthalpy — Activation energy — Entropy
    • Computational chemistry : Molecular modeling — Molecular dynamics — Molecular mechanics — Quantum methods — Combinatorial chemistry — Cheminformatics — Bioinformatics
    • Quantum chemistry : Slater determinant - Self-consistent field — Hartree-Fock — Moller-Plesset - Electron correlation - Semiempirical methods
  • Biochemistry : Protein — Carbohydrate — Fat — Nucleic Acid
• Periodic table : Periodicity — Group 1 elements — Group 2 elements — Transition metal — Group 5 elements — Group 6 elements — Halogen — Noble gas — s block — d block — p block — f block
• Famous chemists : Marie Curie — Dmitriy Mendeleyev — Louis Pasteur — Karl Ziegler — Humphry Davy — Michael Faraday — John Dalton — Wilhelm Ostwald — Linus Pauling — Joseph Priestley
• Important Chemical substances: Water — Ammonia — Benzene — Phenol

See also

List of chemistry topics