Crude Oil and Fractional Distillation

THE FORMATION OF CRUDE OIL

• CRUDE OIL is a type of FOSSIL FUEL formed from ancient biological materials like PLANKTON which were buried in mud and subjected to high pressures and temperatures for millions of years.
• It can now be found in rocks and which can be drilled to extract it.

• It is considered a FINITE RESOURCE (NON-RENEWABLE FUEL) because it takes over MILLIONS OF YEARS to form.
• Crude oil is a MIXTURE of many different compounds, most of which are HYDROCARBONS.

• Hydrocarbons are COMPOUNDS made of HYDROGEN and CARBON atoms ONLY.
• The components in the crude oil can be separated using FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION.