The study of inorganic chemistry involves interpreting, correlating, and predicting the properties and
structures of an enormous range of materials. Sulfuric acid is the chemical produced in the largest tonnage
of any compound. A greater number of tons of concrete is produced, but it is a mixture rather
than a single compound. Accordingly, sulfuric acid is an inorganic compound of enormous importance.
On the other hand, inorganic chemists study compounds such as hexaaminecobalt(III) chloride,
[Co(NH 3 ) 6 ]Cl 3 , and Zeise’s salt, K[Pt(C 2 H 4 )Cl 3 ]. Such compounds are known as coordination
compounds or coordination complexes. Inorganic chemistry also includes areas of study such as nonaqueous
solvents and acid-base chemistry. Organometallic compounds, structures and properties of
solids, and the chemistry of elements other than carbon are areas of inorganic chemistry. However,
even many compounds of carbon (e.g., CO 2 and Na 2 CO 3 ) are also inorganic compounds. The range
of materials studied in inorganic chemistry is enormous, and a great many of the compounds and
processes are of industrial importance. Moreover, inorganic chemistry is a body of knowledge that is
expanding at a very rapid rate, and a knowledge of the behavior of inorganic materials is fundamental
to the study of the other areas of chemistry.