Crude oil is a mixture of many different components. The extraction of crude oil from the Earth is important, but its refinement into different substances is a key piece to obtaining as many uses as possible from the crude oil. Using the diagram, justify the source of data used to develop the technology for refining the crude oil.

Question

A Different fuel components have different densities, allowing them to be separated.Different fuel components have different densities, allowing them to be separated.
B Different fuel components have different melting points, allowing them to be separated.Different fuel components have different melting points, allowing them to be separated.
C Different fuel components boil at different temperatures, allowing them to be separated.Different fuel components boil at different temperatures, allowing them to be separated.
D Different fuel components combust at different temperatures, allowing them to be separated.

Answer 1

The most appropriate justification for the source of data used to develop the technology for refining crude oil is:

C: Different fuel components boil at different temperatures, allowing them to be separated.

This option is correct because the primary method used in the refining of crude oil is distillation, which takes advantage of the varying boiling points of the components in the crude oil mixture. During the distillation process, crude oil is heated, and as it vaporizes, different fractions of hydrocarbons are separated based on their boiling points, which allows for the collection of various products such as gasoline, diesel, and other petrochemicals. This method is grounded in the understanding of the physical properties of the different components, particularly their boiling point differences.