Question

Petroleum is a mixture of:
(A) Petrol
(B) Petroleum gas
(C) Diesel
(D) All of these

Answer 1

Hint: Petroleum is a naturally occurring fluid extracted from the earth’s surface. It is the source of many fuels that we use in our daily lives. Components of petrol are separated by many processes such as fractional distillation.

Complete step by step answer:
- The word Petroleum is derived from Latin words ‘Petr’ - meaning rock and ‘Oleum’ meaning oil.
- Petroleum is a mixture of hydrocarbons and is formed from compressed organic matter. It is a fossil fuel formed by degradation of many organisms and compounds for over a million years. Hence, it is obtained as a dark coloured oily liquid from beneath the rocks. It is also known as ‘rock oil’ or ‘black gold’.
- Refining petroleum gives many products such as - petroleum gas, petrol, diesel, kerosene, paraffin wax, lubricating oil, etc.
Therefore, the answer is – option (d) – All of these.

Additional Information: We often use the term crude oil and petrol interchangeably. However, petroleum is a broader term which includes both oil and petroleum.

Note: Fractional distillation is a process which is used to separate different constituents of petroleum on the basis of difference between boiling points of the respective constituents by distillation (i.e. boiling and then condensing). This is done using a fractionating column.