There appear to exist at least two definitions of what a chemical is, a popular society definition and a scientific one. This study investigated the pervasiveness of these views among students enrolled in a freshman level college general chemistry course. It was found that only 30 percent of the students in second semester held a scientific definition of a chemical, while another 30 percent held a popular definition. The remaining 40 percent held views intermediate between these. A correlation may exist between the amount of television students watched as they grew up and the type of views they hold about chemicals.
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