Test: Coal & Petroleum- 2 - UPSC MCQ

Petroleum is often called 'black gold' due to its significant commercial importance and value as a natural resource.

• Natural Resource - Air: Air is a mixture of gases that surrounds the Earth and is vital for survival. It is naturally occurring and essential for respiration in living organisms.
• Natural Resource - Soil: Soil forms naturally and supports plant life, making it a crucial natural resource.
• Man-made Resource - Plastic: Plastic is created artificially through industrial processes, making it a man-made resource.
• Natural Resource - Water: Water exists naturally in various forms like lakes and rivers and is essential for life.

Statements (i), (iii), and (iv) are correct. Inexhaustible natural resources, such as sunlight and air, are present in unlimited quantities and cannot be exhausted by human activities. Exhaustible natural resources, like coal and petroleum, can be depleted by human use. Water, although renewable, is not limitless and can be exhausted in specific contexts.

Answer: Option B

Coal is mainly composed of carbon, which is the primary element in coal due to the conversion of dead vegetation into coal through the process of carbonization. The high pressure and high temperature conditions during formation led to the predominance of carbon in coal.

• Assertion (A) is correct. Coal is indeed considered a fossil fuel because it was formed from the remains of vegetation that underwent carbonisation over millions of years.
• Reason (R) is also correct. The slow process of conversion of dead vegetation into coal is termed carbonisation, a key factor in the formation of coal.
• However, If both Assertion and Reason are true and Reason is the correct explanation of Assertion

• Fractional distillation:
  • The method used to separate petrol from crude oil is fractional distillation.
  • It is used to separate the components of miscible liquids on the basis of the difference in the boiling point.

Option C: (c) Inexhaustible Natural Resources - Air
This is correct because air is an inexhaustible natural resource. It is present in unlimited quantity in nature and is not likely to be exhausted by human activities.

• Option A: (a) Coal Tar - Used in the manufacture of steel: This option is incorrect. Coal tar is not used in the manufacture of steel. Coal tar is a black, thick liquid with an unpleasant smell, used as a starting material for manufacturing various substances such as synthetic dyes, drugs, explosives, and roofing materials.
• Option B: (b) Coke - Used as a fuel in street lighting: This option is incorrect. Coke is not used as a fuel in street lighting. Coke is a tough, porous, and black substance that is an almost pure form of carbon. It is used in the manufacture of steel and in the extraction of many metals.
• Option C: (c) Coal Gas - Used in the extraction of metals: This option is incorrect. Coal gas is not used in the extraction of metals. Coal gas is obtained during the processing of coal to get coke and is used as a source of heat in various industries, not for extracting metals.
• Option D: (d) Bitumen - Used for metalling the roads: This option is correct. Bitumen, a petroleum product, is indeed used in place of coal-tar for metalling the roads.

• Option A: Coke - Product of Petroleum
• Option B: Paraffin Wax - Refining of Petroleum
• Option C: Diesel - Product of Coal
• Option D: Coal Gas - Refining of Petroleum

Thus, the correctly matched pair is Option B: Paraffin Wax - Refining of Petroleum.