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One of the ways we can extract oil which is trapped underground is by drilling from an oil rig.

Chemistry - Crude Oil (AQA)

Crude oil is a fossil fuel mixture. In GCSE Chemistry you learn how it is separated into useful fuels and why burning them affects the environment.

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Fascinating Fact:

Burning fuels can release sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulates which cause acid rain and health problems.

In GCSE Science (Chemistry), you explore how crude oil is formed, how fractional distillation separates it into useful fuels, and how burning these fuels affects air quality and climate.

Key Terms

Crude oil: A natural mixture of many different hydrocarbons, formed from ancient buried organisms over millions of years.
Fractional distillation: A process that separates crude oil into fractions using different boiling points of the hydrocarbons.
Hydrocarbon: A compound made only of hydrogen and carbon atoms, found in fuels like petrol, diesel and LPG.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What is crude oil in GCSE Chemistry?

In GCSE Chemistry, crude oil is described as a thick, dark liquid made from a mixture of hydrocarbons, formed from dead sea organisms trapped and heated over millions of years.

How does fractional distillation separate crude oil?

Fractional distillation heats crude oil so vapours rise up a tall column. Different hydrocarbons condense at different heights, where the temperature matches their boiling point, forming useful fractions.

What are the main pollution problems from burning fossil fuels?

Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, which contributes to climate change, and harmful pollutants like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that damage lungs and can lead to acid rain.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Crude oil is a mixture of what?

Two or more elements or compounds not chemically combined together

Two or more elements or compounds chemically combined together

Hydrocarbons combined together with water and gas

Mainly alkanes

The chemical properties of each substance in the mixture are unchanged. It is possible to separate the substances in a mixture by physical methods

2 .

What are hydrocarbons?

Long chain molecules made from water and carbon

Short chain molecules made from water and carbon

Chemicals made from hydrogen and carbon chemically joined together

A food group that provides energy

The hydrogen and carbon are covalently bonded. The carbon can be a single atom (for example, methane) or can be arranged as a chain (for example, octane has eight carbon atoms joined together in a chain)

3 .

Which of the following best describes most of the hydrocarbons in crude oil?

Saturated

Soaked

Soggy

Unsaturated

Saturated means that there are no double bonds in the molecule

4 .

Which of the following best describes the saturated hydrocarbons in oil?

Alcohols

Aldehydes

Alkenes

Alkanes

You should be able to recognise alkanes from their formulae (drawn or written) but you only need to know the names of the first four - methane, ethane, propane and butane - for the exam

5 .

The formula of any alkane can be worked out from which of the following?

C_nH_2n

C_nH_3n

C_nH_2n+2

C_nH_n

The letter 'n' represents the number of carbon atoms so an alkane with 20 carbon atoms would have 42 hydrogen atoms

6 .

How are the different hydrocarbons separated from crude oil?

Filtering

Centrifuging

Fractional distillation

Separating funnel

This is so-called because the crude oil is separated into fractions

7 .

Which of the following lists contains the words missing from the following passage in the correct order?

The many __________ in crude oil may be separated into fractions by ___________ the oil and allowing it to condense at a number of different ___________. This process is ___________ distillation.

temperatures, evaporating, hydrocarbons, fractional

hydrocarbons, evaporating, temperatures, fractional

chemicals, evaporating, hydrocarbons, fractional

fuels, heating, places, evaporating

This is the first step to converting crude oil into useful products

8 .

Which of the following best describes the smaller hydrocarbons when compared to large hydrocarbons?

The smaller hydrocarbons are more viscous

The smaller hydrocarbons are less flammable

The smaller hydrocarbons are more volatile

The smaller hydrocarbons produce more soot when they burn

The smallest molecules from fractional distillation of crude oil are so volatile that they are gases at ordinary temperatures

9 .

The process of breaking down of the larger hydrocarbons to smaller, more useful chemicals is called what?

Smashing

Cracking

Splitting

Breaking

Cracking is carried out using heat and a catalyst

10 .

Crude oil is made from alkanes. During cracking what other type of hydrocarbon is produced and how is it different from the alkanes?

Ethene is produced and it is colourless

Alkyne is produced and it is odourless.

Alcohol is produced and it is inflammable

Alkene is produced and it has a double covalent bond

Cracking of a long chain alkane produces a shorter chain alkane and an alkene. The characteristic of an alkene is that it has at least one double bond between two adjacent carbon atoms

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Crude oil, hydrocarbons and alkanes - AQA

Author: Kev Woodward (PGCE, Science & Chemistry Teacher, Quiz Writer)