How oil is formed

Diamonds and graphite

The hardest minerals in the world—diamonds—are made from one of the most common element: pure carbon. But here’s the strange thing. Graphite—one of the softest minerals in the world—is also made of pure carbon. What makes diamonds and graphite different is the way the carbon atoms are arranged. The carbon in graphite is arranged in micro-thin sheets, making the dark gray graphite so soft that it leaves a mark when dragged across a surface. (That’s why graphite is used to make pencil lead). Diamonds, however, are formed under intense pressure hundreds of miles below Earth’s surface. The powerful bonds forged by their carbon atoms have a cubic crystal structure. That structure keeps diamonds stable and solid while hot magma is being formed into igneous rock around them.

Materials in a car

About trees...

Why We Need and Fear Mercury

Mercury, which usually appears as a thick silvery fluid, is the only metal that’s liquid at room temperature. Its elemental symbol is Hg, which comes from the Greek word “hydrargyrum,” meaning “liquid silver.” In fact, it’s also called quicksilver.
We use mercury in a wide range of products, from thermometers and barometers to batteries and pesticides. But mercury is extremely poisonous, and we can absorb it by touch, inhalation, or consumption. It builds up in the body with each exposure and is very difficult to remove. If you get too much in you, you can suffer from mercury poisoning, which is both unpleasant and potentially fatal.
That’s why you have to be careful not to break a mercury thermometer or a compact fluorescent lightbulb. It’s also why people are concerned about mercury in industrial waste and pesticides flowing into rivers and oceans and being absorbed by fish … which are then eaten by people.
 

But where does mercury come from, and how do we get it?
Most mercury is mined from a mineral called cinnabar, which can contain up to 86 percent mercury. People have been extracting mercury from cinnabar since at least Roman times. Veins of the red-to-brownish mineral are usually found in rocks such as slate, limestone, shale, and sandstone. A rarer form of cinnabar appears as striking deep red crystals embedded in other rocks.
How do we get the mercury out? Cinnabar is crushed into small pieces and heated in a kiln. When the temperature hits 675 degrees Fahrenheit, the liquid mercury becomes a vapor. As that vapor cools, the mercury condenses into a pure liquid that can be collected.
Cinnabar is mined all around the world, including Spain, Austria, Hungary, and Serbia. The United States has a number of cinnabar mines, including several in California, Texas, and Nevada.

How is Glass Made?

Glass is made from a mixture of sand, lime and soda. When these ingredients are heated together, they form a liquid glass. This liquid glass is made into sheets by cooling and flattening. To make objects like vases, craftsmen blow into a glob of liquid glass with the help of a long tube.

Watch this video to find out how glass is made, the processes and methods involved.

Elasticity of Rubber

Watch this interesting video teaching you why rubber is so...oooo elastic. 

Plastic fantastic

You're looking at one of the most widely used materials on the planet, although you may not recognize it.
This almost alien-like landscape is a 1750x magnified view of a polyurethane, a polymer used in everything from mattresses and trainers to airport seats. Like any polymer, polyurethanes are made up of repetitive individual units. If you change these building blocks you can vary the properties of the final product: from liquid, through flexible foam, to solid plastic.
Pictured here is an open cell foam that is only 3 per cent polymer.
Invented by German chemist Dr Otto Bayer back in the 1930s, polyurethanes were first widely used during World War II, commonly as a replacement for rubber, or as coatings on aircraft. 

The Periodic Table Of Elements

Did you know that the potassium, present in fruits and vegetables, is a soft metal and is a compound of the gunpowder?
Learn lots of things about all the elements in nature

The 3 R's

Getting into your minds, into the mind of the youth is the most effective way to inspire and achieve positive change.



The history of glass

The history of glass stretches back over 3500 years, spanning the globe and embracing different cultures along the way. Today glass serves so many essential functions that a world without it is hard to imagine but how did it evolve from the early glass objects of the Bronze Age to the highly advanced and multifunctional material we know today?


An infographic timeline showing the history of glass by Kingfisher Windows

Inside a GoreTex jacket

GoreTex clothing is a favourite among hikers because it keeps Mather Mature at bay. Unlike nylon, which is waterproof but traps sweat, GoreTex is a “breathable” fabric. It has all to do with a thin membrane embedded in the garment where there are 1.4 billion pores per square centimeter. As each pore is larger than a water vapour molecule, sweat is able to escape through the fabric. These tiny pores also massively reduce the amount of wind that can get in.
This doesn't stop it being waterproof, however. Even though each pore is bigger than a water vapour molecule, it is smaller than a liquid water molecule, so rain is unable to get through to your body. 

What happens to the plastic you throw away?

We’ve all been told that we should recycle plastic bottles and containers.

But what actually happens to the plastic if we just throw it away? Let´s learn the life cycles of three different plastic bottles, shedding light on the dangers these disposables present to our world.

Plastics

We are now literally swimming in a sea of plastics!
But have you ever wondered what those funny little numbers on the bottom of plastic objects stand for?

(Click on the image to enlarge it)

Forest products

Do you know the products that forest provides us? And that many of the more than 5000 byproducts from forests can be found in our homes? Here you are a few of the more common byproducts and how they are used.
 

Forest products from Isabelop

Paper is Value

Did you know paper is natural, recyclable, precious and essential?
91% of the raw materials are from Europe, 70% is recycled in Europe, forests have grown by 30% since 1950 and CO2 use has reduced by 40% per tonne of paper produced in the last 20 years.

The blast furnace in 1709

Up to 1709, furnaces could only use charcoal to produce iron. However, wood (which is what charcoal is made from) was becoming more expensive, as forests were being cleared for farmland and timber.
Coal was a possible alternative to wood, but although it was cheap and plentiful, it wasn't a feasible fuel for making iron, because it contained sulphur, and this made the iron too brittle to be of any use.
However, in 1709, a man called Abraham Darby finally succeeded in smelting iron using coke  as fuel.
In this animation you can realize the process of obtaining steel.

Recycling

You can learn  more about materials. Learn about recycling metals, paper, plastics or glass.

Materials classroom

Use the Scan-bot to search the house for different materials.

History of glass

This video explains the discovery and developments of glass blowing through history.

You can use the subtitles