Chemistry or Chemical Engineering?

Abunai

I wanted to know what the real difference is between a major in chemistry and a major in chemical engineering. I know that Chemical Engineering would be focusing mostly on synthesis and creating new materials while a Chemistry major would be much more broad and could be analytical as well as creative instead of just creative with chemical engineering. Is material science related to these too or is that something completely different?

Most answers I get to these questions are extremely vague and i really want to understand this

SbF5

Chemists do things generally on a bench scale, working up some reaction to the 1 gram of reactant range could be a big deal. Or, they spend alot of time in front of an instrument running analytical tests for things after doing several hours or a few days of prep to get everything ready for the instrument.

A Chemical engineer is going to be concerned about things on an industrial scale. Ramping up drug production, running a paper mill, things like that.

Engineers in general will manage projects. As a BS or even MS Chemist, you will be the one being managed unless you are the rare consultant or sales person who is given more freedom.

Engineers will have a better understanding of math and thermodynamics. Chemists will know more about the actual guts of chemistry: inorganic, organic, analytical and physical.

You can be creative in either discipline. My advice is don't be a chemistry major unless you plan on getting a PhD or going on to a professional school. Having an ABET accreditted engineering degree opens alot of doors that a straight chemistry degree won't. Where I work, chemists make minimum 20K less per year than the engineers and get treated like the hired help.

Abunai

Thanks so much!
that helps a lot and I think that I will continue studying (im only a sophmore in High school) chemistry before I make a decision

gabriels-horn

Depends on what you want to do. As a chemistry major, your focus could be synthesis as well. A chemistry major can branch into analytical, organic, inorganic, biochem, physical chem, etc. depending on what you find an interest in. A chemical engineer is an engineer first and a chemist second but has the advantage of being both. If you do go chemistry, make sure you get an ACS degree.

SbF5

Good luck with your studies. I'd try as many different things as you can while you have the chance. Maybe you could check with local schools where you live and see what the difference between a Chemistry and Chem E. major is; they probably have course lists.

Acut

Once I went to a Chemistry Training for High-school students and they said something like "If you really like chemistry, you shouldn't do Chemical Engineering. The amount of chemistry a Chemical Engineer studies is significantly less than what a Chemist learns. However, a Chemical Engineer will have lessons on management, which are usually lacking in most Chemistry courses".

In essence, a Chemist will work with discovering new things, new reactions and techniques (some of them also take a teaching career). A Chemical Engineer will be more concerned with management and how to keep a industry working properly. Also, the salary is very different (at least where I live).
It might be different in the country you study - as someone has previously said, get the course lists. It's also a good idea to talk with other students who have already finished the course in the university you want.

lewdtenant

I would also like to point out that it is relatively easy for a Chemical Engineering student to take additional courses in Chemistry, whereas the opposite may not necessarily be true.

kmbailey947

I was an undergraduate chemistry major and later received advanced degrees in chemical engineering. My opinion of the differences .... For a BS:
- a chemist takes 4 years of chemistry and a couple of years of math
- a chemical engineer takes a couple of years of chemistry and a lot of math
With a BS, the chemist has exposure to a lot of different areas of chemistry, but to become truly an expert and potentially lead a group ... they probably need to have an advanced degree. The BS chemical engineer has less exposure to chemistry, but a lot more exposure to heat and mass transfer and reaction modeling. Knowledge of these topics is used (as said above) in scaling up processes. That is, how do you go from something made in a test tube (or other small scale) to something done at large scale (giant reactor).

SbF5

A year late to the party km. I bet you don't regret being an engineer.

Zach B

I'm a little confused about this thread. I'm a Chemical and Biological Engineering student in my senior year. An earlier post said chemistry majors do more analytical, organic, inorganic, and P-chem than we do, but I disagree. At least at my university the ChemE department requires me to take applied data analysis, organic chemistry 1 & 2, inorganic chemistry (this one is actually for my chemistry minor, but most ChemE's take it as a technical elective), biochem 1 & 2, and physical chemistry. I have not had to take any sort of management course. I think it's most important to note that the industrial scale techniques we learn are completely reliant on the classes some have been suggesting we don't have to take. We can't model a distillation column or a plug flow reactor without knowing the actual chemistry that makes them work. I don't know what it's like at the universities others have been suggesting, but where I go ChemE IS chemistry with the additional engineering courses tagged on.

ikihi

Talk about self absorbed snobs at your work place. A chemistry major requires just as much hard work as a Chem E major.

SbF5

Being a chemistry major does require hard work as does being a talented Chemist. The problem is Chemists are dealing with smaller scale issues compared to Engineers. Plus, anyone can be called a Chemist no matter what their background is...you just need a little science background. It doesn't work that way for Engineers, especially those with a PE.

TLDR: Old Post but never stop with a BS Chem, Chem E is better if you don't want to go on in school or work in a lab all day.

ikihi

I disagree that anyone can be called a chemist. To be called a "chemist" one needs at least a B.S. chemistry degree from an accredited college.

SbF5

Good for you. I worked with plenty of people with degrees in Biology, Animal Sciences, etc. that were still called 'Chemists' because they took Gen and O Chem and could run a test. This won't be the case with engineers.

ikihi

I'd call them chemical technicians at best.
It's good that you think so highly of yourself, engineer.