π Planet Earth π Rocks and minerals
Coal
π In short
Coal is a black or brown rock that burns and gives off a lot of heat. People have long used it for heating and cooking, in factories and to make electricity. But it's no ordinary rock: long, long ago it was green forests!
π€© Did you know?
- Coal is a fossil fuel, like oil and gas.
- Some kinds of coal contain less than 1% sulfur.
- Diamond and coal are both made of carbon!
- Miners used to take a canary with them to warn them if the air went bad.
π Find out more
π From forest to rock
Millions of years ago there were vast forests and swamps. When their plants died they were covered with water and mud, and with pressure, heat and millions of years they turned into coal.
π How is it mined?
Workers dig deep underground mines with long tunnels, or big open pits if the coal is near the surface, using huge machines.
π‘ Trains and ships
In the past, steam trains and ships burned coal to heat water and make the steam that drove them, and coal was the fuel of the Industrial Revolution.
π― Lots of smoke
When coal burns it gives off smoke and gases that pollute the air and warm the Earth. So today people are trying to use cleaner energy like sunshine and wind.
πΈ More pictures
𧩠Test yourself
1 What did coal form from?
2 Why are people trying to burn less coal?
3 Which picture shows βCoalβ?
π Discover more
π· Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons
- Amcyrus2012 Β· CC BY 4.0
- Petar MiloΕ‘eviΔ Β· CC BY-SA 4.0
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