Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff Works dot com
Speaker 1: where smart Happens. Hi Am Marshall Brain with today's question,
Speaker 1: what is the difference between gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel and
Speaker 1: so on? The crude oil pumped out of the ground
Speaker 1: is a black liquid called petroleum. This liquid contains aliphatic hydrocarbons,
Speaker 1: or hydrocarbons, composed of nothing but hydrogen and carbon, the
Speaker 1: carbon atoms linked together in chains of different links. It
Speaker 1: turns out that hydrocarbon molecules of different links have different
Speaker 1: properties and behaviors. For example, a chain with just one
Speaker 1: carbon atom in it is the lightest chain, known as methane.
Speaker 1: Meth Sane is a gas so light that it floats
Speaker 1: like helium. As the chains get longer, they get heavier.
Speaker 1: The first four chains, methane with one carbon, ethane with
Speaker 1: two carbons, propane with three carbons, and butane with four
Speaker 1: carbons are all gases. The chains and the C five,
Speaker 1: C six, and C seven range are all very light.
Speaker 1: Easily vaporized clear liquids called napthas. They are used as solvents.
Speaker 1: Dry cleaning fluids can be made from these liquids, as
Speaker 1: well as paint solvents and other quick drying products. The
Speaker 1: chains from C seven through C eleven are blended together
Speaker 1: and used for gasoline. All of them vaporize at temperatures
Speaker 1: below the boiling point of water. That's why if you
Speaker 1: spill gasoline on the ground, it evaporates very quickly. Next
Speaker 1: is kerosene in the C twelve to C fifteen range,
Speaker 1: followed by diesel fuel and heavier fuel oils like heating
Speaker 1: oil for houses. Next come the lubricating oils. These oils
Speaker 1: no longer vay prize in any way at normal temperatures.
Speaker 1: For example, engine oil can run all day at two
Speaker 1: degrees fahrenheit without vaporizing at all. Oils go from very
Speaker 1: light like three and one oil, through various thicknesses of
Speaker 1: motor oil, through very thick gear oils, and then semi
Speaker 1: solid greases. Petroleum jelly falls in there as well. Chains
Speaker 1: above the C twenty range form solids, starting with paraffin wax,
Speaker 1: then tar, and finally asphaltic bitumn, which is used to
Speaker 1: make asphalt roads. All these different substances come from crude oil.
Speaker 1: The only difference is the length of the carbon chains.
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