If chemistry were compared to a sport, then the study of atomic and
molecular properties, along with learning about the elements and how
they relate on the periodic table, would be like going to practice.
Learning about chemical reactions, which includes observing them and
sometimes producing them in a laboratory situation, is like stepping out
onto the field for the game itself. Just as every sport has its
"vocabulary"—the concepts of offense and defense, as well as various rules and strategies—the
study of chemical reactions involves a large set of terms. Some aspects
of reactions may seem rather abstract, but the effects are not. Every
day, we witness evidence of chemical reactions—for
instance, when a fire burns, or metal rusts. To an even greater extent,
we are surrounded by the products of chemical reactions: the colors in
the clothes we wear, or artificial materials such as polymers, used in
everything from nylon running jackets to plastic milk containers.
