Industry
10 questions tagged Industry — spanning every one of the seven Ws.
What Is a Catalyst?
A catalyst is a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction without being permanently consumed, by lowering the activation energy needed for the reaction to proceed.
How Is Natural Rubber Made?
Natural rubber comes from latex, a milky sap tapped from rubber trees, which is coagulated, dried and often vulcanised with sulphur.
How Is Sugar Made?
Sugar is extracted as juice from sugar cane or sugar beet, then purified, boiled down and crystallised into the sugar we buy.
Whose invention was the first successful practical steam engine?
James Watt. His improvements to the steam engine in the 1760s and 1770s made it far more efficient and useful.
How does the Haber process make ammonia?
The Haber process combines nitrogen and hydrogen under high pressure and temperature in the presence of an iron catalyst. It is the main industrial method for making ammonia, first developed in the early 1900s.
Why does a catalyst speed up a chemical reaction?
A catalyst provides an easier reaction pathway with lower activation energy. It is not used up, so it can keep helping the reaction proceed faster.
Why does aluminum have a very high energy cost to produce?
Aluminum is hard to make from ore because it is tightly bound to oxygen in bauxite and must be separated using lots of electricity. Industrial production relies on the Hall-Héroult process, developed in 1886.
Where is argon most commonly used on Earth?
Argon is used widely on Earth as a shielding gas in welding and in some light bulbs and insulated windows. It is obtained mainly from the atmosphere by air separation.
Where is aluminium extracted from before it becomes metal?
Aluminium is extracted from bauxite ore, which is mined in places such as Australia, Guinea, and Brazil. The metal is then refined using the Bayer process and Hall-Héroult process.
Which tree species is the most iconic for producing paper?
Fast-growing eucalyptus species are among the most important trees for paper production. They are widely planted in managed forests for pulp.