In GCSE Science students will look at crude oil and other fuels but they will also look at plant oils. This quiz is all about vegetable oils and their different uses, such as food, fuel and other products.
Many plants produce useful oils that have many uses. They can be converted into various things including processed foods like margarine, fuels like biodiesel, cosmetics and cleaning products. The oils themselves are frequently used in emulsions like salad dressings. But one of the main uses of vegetable oils is in cooking. They have much higher boiling points than water and so can be used to cook foods at higher temperatures than by boiling. Food can therefore be cooked faster than it would have been by cooking in water and different flavours are developed. The drawback to this is that it increases the energy that the food releases when it is eaten so eating too many foods that have been fried or deep fried can have negative consequences for your health.