Mineral-based Industries — Part 2: Petrochemicals and electronics: visual lesson, ICSE Class 10 Geography (H.C.G. Paper 2)

Lesson

From oil wells to mobile phones

Part 2 — the plastic bucket, the polyester shirt, the tyre on a bus, and the mobile phone in your pocket are products of two modern industries: petrochemicals and electronics.

In this lesson you will

Name petrochemical products and key centres of the industry
Explain the importance of petrochemicals in modern life
Name key electronics centres such as Bengaluru and explain the factors behind their growth

Table of the petrochemical and electronics industries with inputs and products
Industry	Raw material or input	Typical products
Petrochemicals	Crude oil, natural gas	Plastics, synthetic fibres, rubber, detergents
Electronics	Components, skilled engineers	Phones, computers, TVs, telecom and defence equipment

Concept

What petrochemicals are

Petrochemicals are chemicals made from crude oil and natural gas. At a refinery and cracker, oil fractions such as naphtha, or natural gas, are broken down into basic building blocks such as ethylene, propylene and benzene. These are joined into long chains (polymers) and other compounds to make plastics (polyethylene, PVC), synthetic fibres (polyester, nylon, acrylic), synthetic rubber, detergents, paints, solvents, dyes, and raw materials for fertilisers and medicines.

Diagram

The petrochemical tree

The illustrative tree shows how one imagined complex divides its 1200 thousand tonnes of yearly output: plastics (polymers) 600 (50%), synthetic fibres 240 (20%), synthetic rubber 120 (10%), other chemicals 240 (20%). Share = output of a group ÷ total × 100. Plastics form the largest group, which is typical of the industry.

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