Oil
Anoilis anynonpolarchemical substancethat is composed primarily ofhydrocarbonsand ishydrophobic(does not mix withwater) andlipophilic(mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable andsurface active.Most oils are unsaturatedlipidsthat are liquid at room temperature.
The general definition of oil includes classes of chemical compounds that may be otherwise unrelated in structure, properties, and uses. Oils may beanimal,vegetable,orpetrochemicalin origin, and may bevolatileor non-volatile.[1]They are used for food (e.g.,olive oil), fuel (e.g.,heating oil), medical purposes (e.g.,mineral oil),lubrication(e.g.motor oil), and the manufacture of many types of paints, plastics, and other materials. Specially prepared oils are used in some religious ceremonies and rituals as purifying agents.
Etymology
First attested in English 1176, the wordoilcomes fromOld Frenchoile,fromLatinoleum,[2]which in turn comes from theGreekἔλαιον(elaion), "olive oil, oil"[3]and that fromἐλαία(elaia), "olivetree "," olive fruit ".[4][5]The earliest attested forms of the word are theMycenaean Greek𐀁𐀨𐀺,e-ra-woand𐀁𐁉𐀺,e-rai-wo,written in theLinear Bsyllabic script.[6]
Types
Organic oils
Organic oils are produced in remarkable diversity by plants, animals, and other organisms through naturalmetabolicprocesses.Lipidis the scientific term for thefatty acids,steroidsand similar chemicals often found in the oils produced by living things, while oil refers to an overall mixture of chemicals. Organic oils may also contain chemicals other than lipids, includingproteins,waxes(class of compounds with oil-like properties that are solid at common temperatures) andalkaloids.
Lipids can be classified by the way that they are made by an organism, their chemical structure and their limitedsolubilityin water compared to oils. They have a highcarbonandhydrogencontent and are considerably lacking inoxygencompared to other organic compounds and minerals; they tend to be relativelynonpolarmolecules, but may include both polar and nonpolar regions as in the case ofphospholipidsand steroids.[7]
Mineral oils
Crude oil, orpetroleum,and its refined components, collectively termedpetrochemicals,are crucial resources in the modern economy. Crude oil originates from ancientfossilizedorganic materials,such aszooplanktonandalgae,whichgeochemicalprocesses convert into oil.[8]The name "mineral oil" is amisnomer,in that minerals are not the source of the oil—ancient plants and animals are. Mineral oil is organic. However, it is classified as "mineral oil" instead of as "organic oil" because its organic origin is remote (and was unknown at the time of its discovery), and because it is obtained in the vicinity of rocks, underground traps, and sands.Mineral oilalso refers to several specific distillates of crude oil.[citation needed]
Applications
Cooking
Several edible vegetable and animal oils, and alsofats,are used for various purposes in cooking and food preparation. In particular, many foods are fried in oil much hotter than boiling water. Oils are also used for flavoring and for modifying the texture of foods (e.g.stir fry). Cooking oils are derived either from animal fat, asbutter,lardand other types, or plant oils fromolive,maize,sunflowerand many other species.[9]
Cosmetics
Oils are applied to hair to give it a lustrous look, to prevent tangles and roughness and to stabilize the hair to promote growth. Seehair conditioner.[citation needed]
Religion
Oil has been used throughout history as a religious medium. It is often considered a spiritually purifying agent and is used foranointingpurposes. As a particular example,holy anointing oilhas been an important ritual liquid forJudaism[10]andChristianity.[11]
Health
Oils have been consumed since ancient times. Oils hold lots of fats and medical properties. A good example is olive oil. Olive oil holds a lot of fats within it which is why it was also used in lighting in ancient Greece and Rome. So people would use it to bulk out food so they would have more energy to burn through the day. Olive oil was also used to clean the body in this time as it would trap the moisture in the skin while pulling the grime to the surface. It was used as an ancient form of unsophisticated soap. It was applied on the skin then scrubbed off with a wooden stick pulling off the excess grime and creating a layer where new grime could form but be easily washed off in the water as oil is hydrophobic.[12]Fish oils hold the Omega -3 fatty acid. This fatty acid helps with inflammation and reduces fat in the bloodstream.[citation needed]
Painting
Colorpigmentsare easilysuspendedin oil, making it suitable as a supporting medium forpaints.The oldest known extant oil paintings date from 650 AD.[13]
Heat transfer
Oils are used as coolants inoil cooling,for instance in electrictransformers.Heat transfer oils are used both ascoolants(seeoil cooling), for heating (e.g. inoil heaters) and in other applications of heat transfer.[citation needed]
Lubrication
Given that they are non-polar, oils do not easily adhere to other substances. This makes them useful aslubricantsfor various engineering purposes. Mineral oils are more commonly used as machine lubricants than biological oils are.Whale oilis preferred for lubricating clocks, because it does not evaporate, leaving dust, although its use was banned in the US in 1980.[14]
It is a long-running myth thatspermacetifrom whales has still been used in NASA projects such as theHubble Space Telescopeand theVoyagerprobe because of its extremely low freezing temperature. Spermaceti is not actually an oil, but a mixture mostly of wax esters, and there is no evidence that NASA has used whale oil.[15]
Fuel
Some oilsburnin liquid oraerosolform, generatinglight,andheatwhich can be used directly or converted into other forms of energy such as electricity or mechanical work. In order to obtain many fuel oils,crude oilis pumped from the ground and is shipped viaoil tankeror apipelineto anoil refinery.There, it is converted from crude oil todiesel fuel(petrodiesel),ethane(and other short-chainalkanes),fuel oils(heaviest of commercial fuels, used in ships/furnaces),gasoline(petrol),jet fuel,kerosene,benzene(historically), andliquefied petroleum gas.A 42-US-gallon (35 imp gal; 160 L) barrel of crude oil produces approximately 10 US gallons (8.3 imp gal; 38 L) of diesel, 4 US gallons (3.3 imp gal; 15 L) of jet fuel, 19 US gallons (16 imp gal; 72 L) of gasoline, 7 US gallons (5.8 imp gal; 26 L) of other products, 3 US gallons (2.5 imp gal; 11 L) split between heavy fuel oil and liquified petroleum gases,[16]and 2 US gallons (1.7 imp gal; 7.6 L) of heating oil. The total production of a barrel of crude into various products results in an increase to 45 US gallons (37 imp gal; 170 L).[16]
In the 18th and 19th centuries,whale oilwas commonly used for lamps, which was replaced with natural gas and then electricity.[17]
Chemical feedstock
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification.(November 2017) |
Crude oil can be refined into a wide variety of componenthydrocarbons.Petrochemicalsare the refinedcomponents of crude oil[18]and the chemical products made from them. They are used asdetergents,fertilizers,medicines,paints,plastics,synthetic fibers,andsynthetic rubber.
Organic oils are another important chemical feedstock, especially ingreen chemistry.
See also
- Emulsifier,a chemical which allows oil and water to mix
References
- ^"oil".Oxford English Dictionary(Online ed.).Oxford University Press.(Subscription orparticipating institution membershiprequired.)
- ^oleum.Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short.A Latin DictionaryonPerseus Project.
- ^ἔλαιον.Liddell, Henry George;Scott, Robert;A Greek–English Lexiconat thePerseus Project.
- ^ἐλαίαinLiddellandScott.
- ^Harper, Douglas."oil".Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^"The Linear B word e-ra-wo".Palaeolexicon. Word study tool of ancient languages."e-ra3-wo".Archived fromthe originalon 2016-03-21.Retrieved2014-03-22.Raymoure, K.A."e-ra-wo".Minoan Linear A & Mycenaean Linear B.Deaditerranean. Archived fromthe originalon 2016-03-20.Retrieved2014-03-22.
- ^Alberts, Bruce; Johnson, Alexander; Lewis, Julian; Raff, Martin; Roberts, Keith; Walter, Peter.Molecular Biology of the Cell.New York: Garland Science, 2002, pp. 62, 118-119.
- ^ Kvenvolden, Keith A. (2006)."Organic geochemistry – A retrospective of its first 70 years".Organic Geochemistry.37(1): 1.Bibcode:2006OrGeo..37....1K.doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2005.09.001.S2CID95305299.
- ^Brown, Jessica."Which cooking oil is the healthiest?".bbc.BBC.Retrieved18 May2021.
- ^Chesnutt, Randall D. (January 2005)."Perceptions of Oil in Early Judaism and the Meal Formula in Joseph and Aseneth".Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha.14(2): 113–132.doi:10.1177/0951820705051955.ISSN0951-8207.S2CID161240989.
- ^Sahagun, Louis (2008-10-11)."Armenian priests journey for jars of holy oil".Los Angeles Times.
- ^Ilak Peršurić, Anita Silvana; Težak Damijanić, Ana (January 2021)."Connections between Healthy Behaviour, Perception of Olive Oil Health Benefits, and Olive Oil Consumption Motives".Sustainability.13(14): 7630.doi:10.3390/su13147630.ISSN2071-1050.
- ^"Oldest Oil Paintings Found in Afghanistan",Rosella Lorenzi, Discovery News. February 19, 2008.ArchivedJune 3, 2011, at theWayback Machine
- ^"Bavarian Clock Haus and Frankenmuth Clock Company".Frankenmuth Clock Company & Bavarian Clock Haus.
- ^"Troubled waters: Who Would Believe NASA Used Whale Oil on Voyager and Hubble?".Knight Science Journalism at MIT.Archivedfrom the original on 2015-02-15.Retrieved2015-02-15.
- ^abU.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)Archived2018-05-02 at theWayback Machine— Retrieved 2011-10-02.
- ^"Whale Oil".petroleumhistory.org.
- ^Kostianoy, Andrey G.; Lavrova, Olga Yu (2014-07-08).Oil Pollution in the Baltic Sea.Springer.ISBN9783642384769.
External links
Media related toOilat Wikimedia Commons
