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Chemistry · Glossary

What is Raw material and ore?

Also known as: raw material · ore

Definition 7.3 School Chemistry — Grades 1 to 12 · Chapter 7 — From Raw Materials to Recycling

A raw material is a substance taken from nature to make materials and objects: trees, sand, rocks, crude oil, cotton, wool. A rock from which a metal is extracted is called an ore.

Bauxite, the ore of aluminium, around a core of unweathered rock. Photo: Werner Schellmann, CC BY-SA 2.5.
A quarry: rock is dug out to be used as a raw material.
Natural raw materials from living things: wool from sheep, cotton from the cotton plant.
Natural raw materials from living things: wool from sheep, cotton from the cotton plant.

Examples

Example 7.4 (Where materials come from)

  • wood and paper come from trees;
  • glass comes from sand, heated very strongly with soda and limestone;
  • iron and steel come from iron ore, a reddish rock;
  • aluminium comes from bauxite, another ore;
  • most plastics come from crude oil, pumped out of the ground;
  • cotton comes from a plant, wool from sheep.
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