Crude oil → also known as petroleum → contains mixture of hydrocarbons. Crude oil reservoirs → found beneath land and ocean floors.
- obtained by digging into these underground reservoirs.
Extracted crude oil → contains many diff types of hydrocarbons with diff properties.
the crude oil needs to be separated into diff groups of hydrocarbons before each group can be used. diff. hydrocarbons burn at diff temp.
- hydrocarbons that burn under similar conditions can be grouped together
some hydrocarbons can be burnt to produce energy. other groups of hydrocarbons are used as common starting materials for the synthesis of valuable chemicals such as plastics.
Important
crude oil is not only made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms