Production of Materials

Question 1

Paper and board are made from Cellulose fibres

Answer 1

Trees are cut down, then stripped of bark, before being turned into pulp, washed;pressed and bleached to make paper

These fibres can come from plants and grasses, that need no debarking

Corrugated cardboard needs an extra step, the lamination of the final board

Question 2

Wood is cut for timber

Answer 2

Trees are cut down
The bark is removed, and the trunk is cut up. This effects the planks, how they look, and how likley they are to bend or warp
The wood can be air-dried or kiln-dried. Air drying is where the planks are left in a shed to dry naturally, kiln drying is where it is dryed in a big oven, which is faster, but can damage the wood
Seasoned wood can be converted into different useful forms.
Wood can be manufactured into timbers

Question 3

MDF (medium density fibreboard)

Answer 3

Uses wood that has been turned into celluose fibres.

Chipboard uses wood shavings and then both are glued to make the boards

Question 4

Plywood

Answer 4

Uses wood that has been softened, and stacked into piles with different grains. This is then dried and glued before being pressed into a board.

Question 5

Metals come from Rocks in the Ground

Answer 5

Metals are mined from rocks and metal ores.
It can be extracted either by crushing and melting the metal, or by electrolysis
Sometimes the ores need to be prepaired like Bauxite (aluminium) is pressed under high temperatures to extract aluminum oxide
These ores will contain impuirities once they have been extracted, these can be removed by refining
The molten metal is often cast and allowed to cool

Question 6

Metals and their refining process

Answer 6

Iron: ore-Haematite extracted by furnace Can have added limestone to prevent impurities
Aluminium ore- Bauxite extracted by electrolysis Gases pumped through the moltern metal to remove impurities
Zinc: ore-Sphalerite extractef by furnace or electrolysis fractional distilation removes impurities
Copper ore-Chalcopyrite extracted by furnace Electrolysis used to reomve impurities
Tin ore- Cassiterite extracted by furnace Heating tin can cause reactions in the impurities so theycan be removed.

Question 7

Plastics are made from oil

Answer 7

Crude oil is extracted and taken to a refinery
There it is fractionally distilled, and fractions are taken to form polymers.
Other fractions are cracked into smaller molecules and then turned into polymers
The plastics are then ready to be used.