<p>Can anyone explain the differences between chemistry and chemical engineering? I am not very familiar with chemical engineering, what are the types of jobs that chemical engineers have and what do they do?</p>
<p>Is chemical engineering extremely broad? Can chemists do the same work as chemical engineers?</p>
<p>I was in a very similar situation a month ago. I am trying to decide between ChemE and Chem and have compiled a lot of information about both. Here’s some of what I have so far: </p>
<p>ChemE deals with chemistry on an industrial scale. Chemical engineers perform a variety of functions such as figuring out how to optimize a process to drive down cost, making a process more efficient, or designing a chemical plant. It definitely pays better than Chemistry. It can also be a so-called “terminal” degree. While you can go back to school for an MS in engineering, you only need your BSE to enter the workforce as a full-fledged chemical engineer. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Chemistry deals with processes at the singular level. Chemists work on the bench to try to invent a new drug or chemical that serves a practical use. They do this without regard to how much the new chemical would cost to produce or how they would mass produce it (that’s for chemical engineers). </p>
<p>In my opinion, you can’t do much with a BA in Chemistry - it would serve you better to return to school for a PhD - while you can do a lot with a BSE in ChemE. Anybody correct me if I’m incorrect and feel free to add to this. I hope I helped!</p>
<p>How do you mean “terminal?” I was under the impression that a terminal degree was a degree that sort of dead-ended, without qualifying you for the next level, or a the highest level, no?</p>
<p>I have heard of tons of chemEs getting PhDs.</p>
<p>I put “terminal” in quotes because I was using it to mean a degree with which you don’t have to have any higher qualifications to do the job. You can certainly get a PhD in ChemE but you don’t need one to do the normal jobs a chemical engineer does. Those who pursue PhD’s generally either perform engineering research or teach (or, as is most likely, a combination of both). Sorry for any misunderstanding!</p>
<p>When I was first entering college, I had the exact same question. I mean, chemical engineering has “chem” in it right? Surprisingly, they are vastly different majors. I am currently entering my last year as a chemical engineering degree and have certainly learned a lot along the way.</p>
<p>So to put it simply, chemistry deals with the small while chemical engineering deals with the large. As a chemistry major, you explore into the vast world of atoms and why they do what they do. You take classes in areas of analytical, physical, organic, and inorganic chemistry. Analytical focuses on how to make quantitative measurements of features related to molecules and atoms. Physical deals with the energy, phase equilibrium, and quantum aspects of molecules and atoms. Organic deals with the chemistry of life and how the atoms of C, H, N, O, etc interact to form those chemicals typically associated with biological processes. And lastly inorganic deals with metals and metalloids and their various properties. So as you can see from these subjects, the focus is on a very small unit. (Disclaimer: there are more classes in chemistry than just this, but most deal with instrumental techniques)</p>
<p>Now as for chemical engineering it is a little different, well a lot different. We focus on things in bulk. Classes you take here are material and energy balances, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer operations, thermodynamics, process control and design, chemical reaction engineering, numerical analysis. Material and energy balance focuses on the principle that matter and energy and matter entering a system must be the same amount of energy and matter exiting. So it’s looking at the bulk quantity of material or energy entering instead of focusing on small quantities. Fluid mechanics focuses on how fluids move through a system and helps to quantify multiple dynamic qualities of the fluid. Heat and mass transfer operations looks at how energy and mass can move from one point to another depending on qualities of the material that is moving and that is being moved through. Thermodynamics observes overall systems and quantifies energy characteristics while also looking into phase equilibria and quantifying species concentrations. Process control and design focuses on actual chemical processes and brings all of this coursework together into understanding how when you put something into a big reactor, what is happening and what are you going to get out. This is where chemical engineers really tend to focus on. Lastly there is numerical analysis which basically gives mathematical methods to analyze these processes. From these classes you can see that chemical engineers really focus on the big picture. They are much more interested in what do I need to put in to a reactor and what product will I get out. Chemists are looking at what is actually happening during that reaction process.</p>
<p>So there is a very simple overview of both subjects, believe me there is a lot more to them. I have taken enough extra chemistry classes to basically also have a chemistry degree. I would suggest to read wikipedia on both chemistry and chemical engineering if you want a very basic overview of them. What I have given you is basically what you will focus on in the major. Hopefully this can help you a little bit in your decision.</p>