Ask A Scientist Chemistry Archive

Question:  Do scientists use store bought chemistry sets or do they
use their own liquids that they make up?  Erinn Noble

Answer:
That depends on what the chemist needs.  If I wanted to make a certain
chemical, I would buy all the raw materials needed to make it.  Sometimes
it may be cheaper to look in a catalog and order something already made,
too.  There are a lot of companies that supply thousands of ready-made
chemicals so the chemist can save time by using them instead of making
them himself.  A goal of a lot of chemists is to make new compounds.
They'll buy the 'pieces' they need from the supply companies then react
them to form new chemicals.  That's called research.  New drugs to fight
cancer and other diseases are made this way.
-Joe Schultz