Crude oil and hydrocarbons

• Hydrocarbon


  Compound that contains hydrogen and carbon only
• Compound


  Substance formed by the chemical union of two or more elements
• Atom


  Smallest part of an element that can exist
• Crude oil


  Mixture of hydrocarbons, mainly alkanes, formed over millions of years from the remains of ancient dead marine organisms
• Crude oil


  • Finite resource found in the Earth's crust
  • Remains of organisms that lived and died millions of years ago, mainly plankton buried in mud
  • Complex mixture of hydrocarbons with carbon atoms joined in chains and rings
• Fuel


  Material used to produce heat, like coal, oil or gas
• Feedstock


  Raw material used to provide reactants for an industrial reaction
• Petrochemical


  Substance made from crude oil using chemical reactions
• Substances made from compounds in crude oil

  • Ethene
  • Solvents
  • Lubricants
  • Detergents
• Crude oil is an important source of fuels and feedstock for the petrochemical industry