Question

What is petroleum? What principle is used to refine it? Write names of any two of its useful compounds.

Answer 1

Petroleum: Petroleum is a naturally occurring fuel obtained from the Earth's surface. Petroleum is formed from the organic matter that decomposed millions of years ago.

Principle: The principle used to refine petroleum is called fractional distillation, also called refining. The fractional distillation is based on the fact that different compounds of petroleum have different boiling points.

Examples: The two compounds that are obtained from petroleum are paraffin wax and bitumen.