what is inorganic chemistry to answer this question we need to delve deeper into its precise definition while organic chemistry is centered around carbon-based compounds inorganic chemistry focuses on non-carbon based compounds however this definition can be a bit confusing because certain compounds such as carbon dioxide are considered inorganic despite containing carbon to avoid this confusion a more accurate definition is that inorganic chemistry is the chemistry of all non-hydrocarbon based elements molecules or compounds therefore we can classify compounds like methane and glucose as organic while water and carbon dioxide fall into the category of inorganic compounds now let's take a look at the periodic table to better understand the scope of inorganic chemistry carbon being a non-metal predominantly forms bonds with other non-metals like oxygen nitrogen and other carbon atoms this is why organic chemistry primarily focuses on this specific region of the periodic table in contrast inorganic chemistry encompasses the entire periodic table including non-metals and metals in this sense inorganic chemistry serves as an expansion of organic chemistry broadening its scope to Encompass all elements as a consequence inorganic chemistry becomes increasingly complex due to its inclusion of all the elements and their distinct properties this results in the realm of inorganic chemistry having many fascinating subfields of study such as organometallic compounds and coordination complexes so inorganic chemists end up finding employment across a wide range of industries from mining to microchips as mentioned before inorganic chemistry is not solely concerned with studying elements and compounds it also explores physical principles so you might be wondering what do these compounds do how do they behave and what are the underlying principles governing their behavior these essential questions will hopefully be answered in the next videos in the following section the basic concepts of atoms will be outlined providing a fundamental understanding of inorganic chemistry it is assumed that you have some familiarity with both General and organic chemistry as these fields intersect and overlap with inorganic chemistry