Chemistry is the science of matter, its properties, and changes. In your classroom work in chemistry, you will learn a great deal of the information that has been gathered by scientists about matter. But, chemistry is not just information. It is also a process for finding out more about matter and its changes. Laboratory activities are the primary means that chemists use to learn more about matter. The activities in the Laboratory' Manual require that you form and test hypotheses, measure and record data and observations, analyze those data, and draw conclusions based on those data and your knowledge of chemistry. These processes are the same as those used by professional chemists and all other scientists.