Question

Coal and petroleum are called fossil fuels.
A. True
B. False
C. Ambiguous
D. Data insufficient

Answer 1

Hint:Recall the basics of fossil fuels such as definition of fossil fuels, their formation, where they are found, why are they called fossil fuels, etc. Check which fuels are called the fossil fuels and check whether coal and petroleum fits in the criteria for a fuel to be termed as a fossil fuel.

Complete answer:
The fossils are the materials formed from the dead and decaying matters like remnants of plants and animals which lived thousands of years ago.These remnants undergo decomposition under large amounts of pressure and temperature beneath the Earth’s crust and turn into fossils.The coal is formed from the remnants of the plants when the undergo fossilization.

The petroleum is formed in the form of a yellowish liquid mainly containing hydrocarbons and various types of organic compounds from the decomposition of the organisms like algae and zooplanktons when exposed to high temperature and pressure under the surface of the Earth.

In such a way, we can see that the coal and petroleum are formed from the decomposition of plants and organisms under the Earth. Hence, coal and petroleum are fossils.Since coal and petroleum are used as fuels, they are called fossil fuels.Therefore, the statement coal and petroleum are called fossil fuels is true.

Hence, the correct option is A.

Note: The students may get confused that the coal is formed from the wood we burn in everyday life. So, it should not be a fossil. But it is charcoal and the real coal which is a fossil and used as fuel in railway engines and many more purposes is formed from the remnants of the plants which are compressed under different layers of the Earth and undergo fossilization at high pressure and temperature of the Earth.