Oil Definition and 576 Threads

An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is a viscous liquid at ambient temperatures and is both hydrophobic (does not mix with water, literally "water fearing") and lipophilic (mixes with other oils, literally "fat loving"). Oils have a high carbon and hydrogen content and are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated lipids that 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 be animal, vegetable, or petrochemical in origin, and may be volatile or non-volatile. 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.

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  1. Ranger Mike

    Why does crude oil seep out of the ground on this beautiful Caribbean Island?

  2. D

    Engineering Thermal expansion of oil overflowing from a tank

    Just wanted to know if I was barking up the wrong bush or not with my working out if anyone could help?
  3. L

    Pressure, Density: Water & Oil in Glass Tube

  4. abdulbadii

    Oil emulsification by way of the put-off water

    How is the correct work to be done on white mineral oil emulsified as O/W but most of the water is to be deferred / put off later by indefinite amount of time? At the time water is added/mixed that mixture just become exactly the same as the emulsification mixture being done at once
  5. Yash19Shah

    DEP Oil Substitute for Incense Stick Applications

    What is a phthalate-free substitute for DEP oil for agarbatti/incense stick manufacturing? As phthalate is harmful to humans and Incense stick smoke is around us regularly to avoid such dangerous problem we are looking for Phthalate free for DEP Oil.
  6. D

    Dissolving Particles in Oil (but Water resistant)

    Hello Everybody, I have a superoleophobic surfaces which shows high contact angle for Water, Oil, Hexadecane... I am looking for a kind of particles which are attached to the surface and once I touch them with a droplet of oil are dissolving in that oil droplet. If I then remove the droplet...
  7. W

    I Why Doesn't the McLaren Oil in Water Engine Work?

    Here we have an oil engine. Oil is fed in at the bottom of a column of water, rises up and collects at the top of the column, it overflows into an adjacent column which could be of larger diameter, and is fed back into the column of water. I know it won't work but can someone please explain why not?
  8. K

    Using compressed air through a venturi pump to suck oil?

    Hello, was wondering if I could pass compressed air through a venturi pump to pull floating oil from a tank? If yes, how do I control the eventual mixing of oil with the air from the outlet end? The requirement is given to me by one of my clients who wants an easy, and low-cost solution to...
  9. E

    MHB Oil Spill - Differential Equations

    Hello everyone. I hope anyone can help me with this problem. I will greatly appreciate it. Willing to compensate anybody to answer this problem correctly for me.
  10. S

    Calculate the charge on an oil droplet

    The book gives an answer of Q = 3.2 x 10^-19C I get an answer of 6.67 x 10^-19C. Workings below:
  11. O

    Chemistry Can Sulphonated Neatsfoot Oil Be Made Using Turkish Red Oil Method?

    I am thinking a Mol to Mol ratio is what is needed. Is this correct?
  12. N

    Why and How Ethanol + Water + Raw Material contain Essential Oil

    Dear everyone. I wish you all happy and healthy after this Covid pandemic.Last week i used ethanol mixed with raw materials, got the solution ( suppose ethanol + oil + wax +etc ). And I add water to that Ethanol Solution above with ratio 1/1...inside the mixing solution it formed a resin ( slime...
  13. Iwanttolearnphysics

    About KE and PE of a stone falling down a tube filled with oil

    This question does not have numbers, so I'm stumped. Here's my thinking. (I), the gain in KE is less than the loss in GPE is correct according to the key, but I think I don't understand this conceptually. Can you ask me questions to make me think about this a bit more? I can't even form...
  14. S

    Automotive How long does engine oil really stay good?

    I though engine lubrication oil needs to be changed every few months or every 3 to 6 months, or every 3000 to 4000 miles, no matter what. Last time I had oil change was more than four years ago, and I have not driven the car for more than just a few miles per week, and not more than maybe two...
  15. abdulbadii

    What is the difference in cooking oil before and after frying heavily?

    What's actually details in difference of any cooking oil (vegetable, palm oil, etc) before and after exhaustive/heavy cooking ? As only heard not clear or reliable folks' says, the many unsaturated bonds turns to be saturated afterward.. The need arose as it's quite affirmed that the former is...
  16. hartmais

    A Can Raoult's Law Determine Boiling Points of Fuel Oil?

    Fuel oil like heavy fuel oil consists of multiple different Carbon and Hydrogen molecule strains. This means that there are a multiple of different boiling points with in the same oil. Cavitation in pumps and valves happen when due to the acceleration of the fluid the pressure drop causing the...
  17. R

    Refraction of light question -- Flintglass submerged in oil

    Hello, hopefully the question made sense, it was hard to translate. i attached a photo about the question. I started with n1=1.4, sinΘ1=37◦ and n2=1.62 1.4(sin(37◦))=1.62sinΘ2 1.4(sin(37◦))/1.62=sinΘ2 arcsin(0.52)=31.34◦ Is it calculated correctly?
  18. nomadreid

    Conflicting interpretations of rosemary oil study

    The journal in question is the International Journal of Neuroscience, which appears to be a respectable peer-reviewed journal. I give a link to a reproduction in a secondary source, with a note that I am not addressing the more subjective "mood" part of the paper...
  19. H

    Calculating Velocity in the Millikan Oil Drop Experiment

    Hi, I try to find the velocity for a oil drop. I found the forces. ##F=ma => m\frac{dv}{dt} = \frac{4\pi a^3(\rho - \rho_1)g}{3} - 6\pi n a v## with v on the right side, I don't see how to get the solution. I found the solution on few websites, but without the path to find the solution from...
  20. brotherbobby

    Brake mechanism in a car and pressurised oil

    (I must confess I couldn't get far, owing mostly to the term "an average distance (of 12 cm) from the axis". Axis of the (peached coloured) wheel at the center with the arrow pointing down? Is the arrow the location of the "axis" of the wheel? Let me see.) Objective : To find the oil pressure...
  21. L

    What Are the Results of the Millikan Oil Drop Experiment?

    mass: 1.57x10^-19 kg voltages: 400, 457, 384, 369, 400, 355, 369, 436, 384, 369 distance: 0.1m gravity: 9.81 m/s^2
  22. sagigever

    Finding Percent of Water & Oil in a Mixture from Surface Tension

    I was looking for on the internet for a while without a success. If I know that the surface tension of pure oil is ##\gamma_o=A## and I know that the surface tension of pure water is ##\gamma_w=B## so if I have a mixture of water and oil with surface tension ##\gamma_m=C## am I able to know...
  23. Anon_Miner

    What Are Economical Methods to Cool Down Mineral Oil in Server Tanks?

    Hello friendly people of PF So I have a tank with about 250 litres of mineral oil in it. and computer servers are immersed in it. the oil keeps the servers cool but get's hot in return. What different (economic) ways are there to cool the oil down? The best way I could think of was Oil-water...
  24. BillTre

    Banning Palm Oil: An Earth Day Proposal for Climate Change

    Here is my not particularly well thought out Earth Day Proposal for your collective consideration. The building of palm oil plantations is often cited as a driver of tropical rainforest deforestration (which is thought to contribute to climate change in a variety of ways (I'm not providing...
  25. Jarvis323

    I guess soybean oil might not be so great to eat?

    I'm not one to typically go down the rabbit hole of figuring out what is bad for you on the internet, but I browse Eureka Alert. And I don't like to be an alarmist, but apparently there is new research to suggest there is potential for some pretty scary side effects of consuming soybean oil...
  26. B

    Estimating oil molecule diameter

    Can anyone help me in what assumptions I can make and how to justify them for when working out diameter of the molecule in part b) of this question? You can see the method that I have used in my workings but how would I explain it in words? I obtained the diameter to be 0.13 nano metres which...
  27. D

    CBD Hemp Oil for Anxiety: Benefits & Side Effects

    It has been suggested by a pharmacist I know that cbd oil, in particular hemp oil, has benefited those who suffer from anxiety. I am not prescribed to any anti-anxiety medication, nor do I use any drugs or alcohol. But I have tried hemp oil recently at night for anxiety and I must say it does...
  28. Majorana

    Smokeless (sootless) combustion of vegetable oil

    Hello :oldsmile: I need to design a little burner, fed with vegetable oils like olive, soybean, sunflower and corn (alone or as a mixture). The fundamental requisite of the burner is that it must not generate any soot (smoke): since "zero" is something hardly attainable in technology, "very...
  29. wolram

    What do we do when the oil runs low

    I guess this may have been discused before, but may be a review might be needed, for a start I have 2070 as the time when oil will not be easily accesable, so what do we do do when oil is so expensive no one can afford it, do we go down the path of mass transport? what about plastic it will be a...
  30. S

    Need Help with Free Body Diagram of Oil & Gas Packer Tool

    Has anyone created a thread on Free Body Diagram on assembly having many components ? For example a Casing having premium threads in both end and a set packer within it. What would be the FBD equations to determine various forces and reaction forces
  31. N

    Understanding the Risks of Overfilled Engine Oil and How to Test for Damage

    It is said that if you overfill the engine oil. It can damage the engine. Why is that and is there a way to test if there is already damage?
  32. M

    Fluid Mechanics problem: Oil pressure calculations in pipe flow

    Problem Statement: An oil with density 900 kg/m3 and viscosity 0.18 Ns/m2 flows through a circular pipe which inclines upwards at 40° to the horizontal. The length of the pipe is 10 m and the diameter is 6 cm. The fluid pressure at the lower end of the pipe is 350 kPa and the pressure at the...
  33. Sophrosyne

    Medical Why doesn't soap or oil destroy your skin's epidermis?

    Cell membranes are made of a bilayer of amphiphilic phospholipids, where the lipophilic portions of the molecules face toward each other, and the hydrophilic portions face outwards towards the cytoplasm or the external cellular environment which is aqueous and therefore orients those...
  34. L

    Lifetime of an oil filter compressor

    Hi,I'm doing an internship about mechanical maintenance. I have come to a problem that is a bit over my head. The problem was also discussed by a few process engineers but they did not come with a good solution. So, the oil filter is part of a biogas compressor. The biogas comes from the...
  35. I

    Coal vs Oil Formation: What's the Difference?

    So I'm learning in a class that coal is made when land plants (in swamps) die and then get buried in sediments, and with the Earth's pressure/temperature the plants become coal. Then I learned that when ocean plants (like algae and plankton) die, they also get buried in sediments in the sea...
  36. Scargo

    Auto/Motor Where to best increase car engine oil pressure if intervention is needed?

    Subaru flat fours (a boxer engine design) are notorious for losing oil pressure under high lateral G's. The usual solution is using a dry sump. Dry sumps are expensive and complicated. They are, based on currently available remedies, unnecessary until you exceed 1.5 G's. I am at that threshold...
  37. astroman707

    Do petroleum engineers struggle with ethical dilemmas?

    Petroleum engineers are smart, educated individuals. Therefore, I’d assume they’re well aware of the environmental impacts caused by the work they do. Do they ever struggle with any ethical issues regarding the matter? Is it the money? Is it the possibility of making oil drilling processes more...
  38. Abimotek

    Automotive Honda EU generator -- which is the best oil temperature range rating?

    Please below attached which is best oil in my 4 stroke gen set Honda EU 10i, weather temperature attached in my area. I all so have two oil grades > 4T 10w-30 and Coastal Synthetic Blend 5W-30, please advice which will help the life of the gen set
  39. Dave Burch

    Frozen Olive Oil compared to frozen water

    Would frozen Olive oil stay as cold for as long as frozen water. I am making a small Stainless Steel tank that I will put in freezer and freeze to aprox -10 c . I don’t want to use water because it expands when frozen and will push my tank out of shape. I read that vegetable oil doesn’t expand...
  40. Spinnor

    B Phase change or not: oil in the refrigerator

    Cooked some french fries last night using oil saved in the refrigerator. The oil appears to have undergone a phase change, after some time in the refrigerator instead of being a yellowish transparent liquid it was a semi-solid soft whitish non-transparent stuff when I took it out of the...
  41. S

    I Adhesive force between cutting oil and metal chips?

    I am working on a project to remove cutting oil from waste metal chips. I need to know the retationship between viscous force of oil and centrifugal force required to remove oil from chips, so that I can calculate the RPM P.S Design is attached
  42. R

    Oil-Water-Salt - What's the force at work here?

    Hi, This is something I observed in the kitchen when I was cooking something. I had put some water in a vessel, to which, I added couple of spoons of oil. The oil formed large droplets on water surface. I then sprinkled normal table salt crystals on to the water surface and they sank to the...
  43. Abimotek

    Automotive Oil types and viscosities -- advice requested please

    Hello house, nice to be here, advices on oil type,I have below oil picture can in work in my Honda crv 2000 with oil specification 5w 30, I use the vehicle in Africa, but below picture is 10w 30
  44. T

    How to calculate price of artificial oil

    I was watching this video about a company that has a device which sucks CO2 out of air, mixes carbon with hydrogen from water and makes fuel for cars They say that it can power cars even better that gasoline you get from crude oil and that it costs the same, but is there a way I can do some...
  45. Frankenstein19

    Fluid Mechanics: resultant force of oil and water on a door

    Homework Statement Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution [/B] My questions: 1. By resultant force, does that mean the force exerted on the side of the water + force exerted on side of the oil? Because I'd think that the force on the side of the water would be different than the...
  46. Krushnaraj Pandya

    What is the viscous force acting on an oil drop in Millikan's experiment?

    Homework Statement In Millikan's oil drop experiment on applying a vertically upward electric field an oil drop (of mass m) moves vertically downward with certain terminal speed. On applying double the electric field in horizontal direction, the drop moves making 45 degrees with the vertical...
  47. S

    Can Seismology Sensors Replace Air-Gun Blasting in Oil Exploration?

    Having just read Scientific America's article on the Cascade fault, I wonder if Seismology/Earthquake monitoring sensors could be used to detect fossil fuel reserves and eliminate the use of air-gun blasting that is wreaking havoc on ocean life. Can the oil companies not use naturally occurring...
  48. TheSlovakEngineer

    Storing Energy as Heat in Vegetable Oil

    Hello, I am writing a blog article about storing solar energy as heat. Can someone credible check this? I calculated I need 185.4 liters of vegetable oil to substitute a 6.4kWh battery if I had the same energy conversion (Tesla says 90%) and energy loss over time (no idea about this value) as...
  49. V

    Can we accurately model transformer oil degradation with mathematical equations?

    As the major contribution to degradation is due to the oxidation of oil which adds more polar constituents to the oil and thus increase the effective dielectric constant of the mixture.Can we assess the oil degradation just by looking at the effective dielectric constant changes over time? TIA
  50. Manav

    Calculating Charge Of Electron (Millikan Oil Drop Experiment

    Homework Statement I was doing the Milikan Oil Drop Experiment from a simulation this site: http://scienceclub.ucoz.com/index/0-109. I tried calculating the charge of the electron but it was from the real value. Oil Density: 920 (kg/m^3) Viscosity of Air: 1.81×10−5 kg/(m*s) Distance: 0.0025 m...
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