Oil Shale

Oil shale is a sedimentary rock that contains solid organic material that is released as a liquid similar to petroleum when the rock is heated in the absence of oxygen.
Oil shale forms, over millions of years, from the deposition of organic material in lakes and oceans that is later compressed and heated. This process is similar to the process that forms oil but the temperature and pressures is not as great as that needed in the formation of oil.

Unlike petroleum, the organic matter in oil shale is in a solid form and hence cannot be pumped out of the ground but must be mined. The rock is further chemically treated to recover the petroleum, in a process which makes the mining of oil shale very expensive.

 

A geologist found a deposit of oil shale. A small sample was taken to determine the amount of oil contained in the rock.

The sample was weighed, as shown on the right.

 
It's volume was also determined using a eureka can, the amount of water displaces is shown on the right.

 

 

The graph on the right shows the relationship between the amount of oil (petroleum) per ton that can be obtained from a rock and its density.

Click to see a larger image of the graph and one that will enable your to read from the graph more accurately.

 
1) Calculate the density of the oil shale  
2) Describe how the density of the rock and the amount of oil that can be obtained are related. Give a possible explanation for this relationship.
3) What is the amount of oil, in gallons per ton, that can be obtained from this sample of oil shale?
4) What is the amount of oil that theoretically can be produced from 80.0 tons of the this oil shale?
5) Another rock sample was brought back from the same mountain as the oil shale, mentioned above, was collected. The scientist, however, forgot to label the exact position on the mountain that this rock was collected from
The mass of this rock sample is shown.
The volume of water that this rock displaces is shown.
Three sites, deep below the mountain surface, from where samples were collected were marked on a map by the scientist. Locate the site where this rock sample could have been collected from and give a reason.
Solution.