Oil
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The word oil is used for many different kinds of liquids. Oil usually does not mix with water.
Some oils are made from plants and used in foods and for cooking. Some kinds of plant oils that people use are African oil palm, maize (corn), olive, peanut, soy, and sunflower.
Other kinds of oil are made from crude oil (petroleum) which comes from under the ground. People use large oil wells to bring the oil to the top of the ground. The oil is sent in special ships called tankers or in pipelines to factories called refineries where it is distilled into LPG, gasoline (petrol), diesel oil, and bitumen. Plastics are also normally made from crude oil. Oils from crude oil are also used as fuels for engines or to make the parts of machines work together without sticking or stopping.
Different kinds of oils are also used for many other things, for example to make cosmetics, medicines, paints, and detergents, like washing up liquids. Soaps are similar to detergents, but they are generally made from animal fats rather than oils.
There is also synthetic oil.
