Mikhail Lomonosov, the famous Russian scientist 18century, even in those ancient times gave a definition of how this mineral arose in nature. Namely: from the remains of plants, like peat, there was also coal. His education, according to Lomonosov, was due to several factors. First, the remnants of vegetation decomposed without the participation of "free air" (that is, without free access of oxygen). Secondly, there was a fairly high temperature. And thirdly, “roofing”, that is, the increased pressure of the rock, played its role. It happened in time immemorial, when humanity did not exist on planet Earth.
In any case, the history of the formation of coal- the matter of such distant days that modern scientists can only speculate and speculate, explaining the process. But today it is studied quite accurately. And the mechanisms of how coal appears (its formation from preliminary raw materials) are known to science.
Waste higher plants gradually turn intopeat masses that accumulate in the marshlands and overgrow with other plants, gradually going into the depths. Being at depth, peatlands constantly change their chemical composition (more complex compounds are transformed into simpler ones, they disintegrate). Some of them are dissolved in water and washed away, and some goes into a gaseous state. So there is methane and carbon dioxide in the swamps, giving the characteristic smell of air in these deserted places. An important function in this process is performed by fungi and bacteria, which contribute to the further decomposition of the tissue of dead plants.
Over time, in the process of ongoing changesThe most stable hydrocarbon compounds accumulate in peatlands. And since all this saturation of peat masses with hydrocarbon is carried out practically without access to oxygen for them, carbon does not turn into gas and does not evaporate. Isolation from air access and simultaneous saturation occurs when the pressure increases: coals arise from peat. Its formation lasts hundreds of millennia, this process is not so fast! According to scientists, most of the current reserves and coal seams originated in the Paleozoic, that is, more than 300 million years ago.
Nature decreed that anthracite itselfmost dense coal with the highest carbon content (95 percent and above) is not the final stage of transformations that occur with plant residues in the environment. Shungite is a substance that is formed from coal under even more severe conditions. Graphite occurs at high temperatures from the same material. And if you add a super-high pressure, then diamond is formed, the most durable substance that has both industrial and artistic value for all of humanity.
But it must be remembered: oddly enough, all these, at first glance, various substances - from plants to diamonds - are made up of carbon matter, only with a different structure at the molecular level!
It is impossible to overestimate the value of coal fordevelopment of industry and in general for all human culture on Earth. And the area of its application is very wide. Not to mention that coal is an excellent fuel used for heating homes, heating furnaces in industry, generating electricity, and from coal there are also a lot of substances that people need. Sulfur and vanadium, zinc and lead, germanium - all this gives mankind this mineral.
Coal is used to melt metal, steel,cast iron. Coal combustion products - in the production of some building materials. When special processing of minerals from it get benzene, which is used in the manufacture of varnishes and solvents, such a building material as linoleum. Liquid fuel for machinery comes out of liquefied coal by special technologies. Coal is the raw material for the production of graphite and industrial diamonds, and more than four hundred products for industry and the service industry are manufactured on the basis of this natural material.
For children with the passage of the topic inmiddle classes it is recommended to tell in an accessible form about the formation of coal in nature. It should be reported on how long this process takes. Describing the formation of coal briefly, it is necessary to focus on its importance for the development of industry and progress in modern and historical conditions, to make a message plan that students will do on their own.
