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Crude oil: GCSE Chemistry Definition

Philippa Platt

Written by: Philippa Platt

Reviewed by: Richard Boole

Published

Read time

2 minutes

Contents

  1. 1. What is crude oil?
  2. 2. How is crude oil formed? 
  3. 3. What is crude oil used for?
  4. 4. Crude oil Revision Resources to Ace Your Exams

What is crude oil?

Crude oil is a resource found in the Earth's crust. It is a complex mixture of different hydrocarbon compounds of different sizes. 

How is crude oil formed? 

It takes millions of years to form crude oil. High pressure and temperature act on the remains of plants and animals (biomass). The main component forming crude oil is plankton that was buried in mud.

Diagram illustrating an offshore oil rig above the sea, with layers labelled sea, rock, crude oil, and sea bed. Fossil shows crude oil formation.
Crude oil found under the sea

What is crude oil used for?

Crude oil is a finite resource because it is being used up faster than it is being formed. Crude oil is separated into useful fractions through a process called fractional distillation. Each fraction has different boiling points and is used for different purposes, such as:

  • Petrol for vehicles

  • Kerosene for aircraft fuel

  • Bitumen for road surfaces

Additionally, crude oil serves as the starting point for the production of plastics and other petrochemicals, making it essential in modern life.

Crude oil Revision Resources to Ace Your Exams

To find out more about crude oil, you should check out the revision notes on crude oil, hydrocarbons & alkanes. You can practise our exam questions for success. Flashcards on hydrocarbons, fuel & feedstock are also a great way to revise the wider topic of hydrocarbons before an exam.

Explore our GCSE Chemistry Revision Resources.

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Philippa Platt

Author: Philippa Platt

Expertise: Chemistry

Philippa has worked as a GCSE and A level chemistry teacher and tutor for over thirteen years. She studied chemistry and sport science at Loughborough University graduating in 2007 having also completed her PGCE in science. Throughout her time as a teacher she was incharge of a boarding house for five years and coached many teams in a variety of sports. When not producing resources with the chemistry team, Philippa enjoys being active outside with her young family and is a very keen gardener

Richard Boole

Author: Richard Boole

Expertise: Chemistry

Richard has taught Chemistry for over 15 years as well as working as a science tutor, examiner, content creator and author. He wasn’t the greatest at exams and only discovered how to revise in his final year at university. That knowledge made him want to help students learn how to revise, challenge them to think about what they actually know and hopefully succeed; so here he is, happily, at SME.

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