<p>None. It does not take any coal to generate oil. Oil is not made from coal. The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/standard/chemistry/materialsfromoil/how_crude_oil_was_formed/revision/2/" rel="noreferrer">formation process for oil</a> is a different process to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z27thyc/revision" rel="noreferrer">that of coal</a></p>

<p>Oil is formed from marine organisms. Coal is formed from a peaty mix of dead plants.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-24T10:45:54.383Z
2016-06-24T10:45:54.383Z
410 gone
<p>I'm going to be doing a presentation for grade school children, and I'd like them to get a feel for how much source rock it takes to make oil. </p>

<p>It takes about a 10 foot layer of swamp debris to make a 1 foot layer of coal; how thick a layer of oil would that 1 foot of coal make when it converts to oil? (Think of the oil as a pure layer on top of the ground, not absorbed into some porous rock.)</p>

<p>I realize it's not that simplistic, but I'm talking to 6 year olds, so I don't need it exact just the order of magnitude.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-24T00:50:54.397Z
You should express it in carbon equivalents or energy production.
f.thorpe
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-24T05:01:44.403Z
Please avoid confusing children. You imply that oil is made from coal, which, of course, is incorrect.
Gordon Stanger
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-24T11:15:35.147Z
I edited your post for clarity; if I didn't get it right, please edit it again to correct it. (Or, if you did mean the "coal transformed into oil" implication, then perhaps edit it to remove the coal references and just go for "swamp into oil".)
Daniel Griscom
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-24T14:10:31.447Z
The only way to convert coal to oil is [artificially] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_fuel).
Fred
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-24T22:09:55.860Z
Please don't teach kids bad science. It takes soooo much more effort to relearn something that was originally learned incorrectly than to learn it correctly in the first place. Don't simplify stuff. Just tell them how it really works.
Antonio
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-28T10:28:36.680Z
Coal is compressed ancient plant material, oil is hydrocarbonated ancient animal life. Though I'm sure it's at least theoretically possible to convert one to the other as they're mostly just carbon, oil is not 'made' from coal...
Logan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-19T04:23:59.367Z
Ok, how about we go down the road of their quote "it takes a 10' layer of swamp debris to make a 1' layer of coal".  How many pounds of animal life would it generally take to make a pound of oil?
JeopardyTempest
<geology><geochemistry>
How much coal does it take to generate oil?
user6200
# How much coal does it take to generate oil?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-06-24)

I'm going to be doing a presentation for grade school children, and I'd like them to get a feel for how much source rock it takes to make oil.

It takes about a 10 foot layer of swamp debris to make a 1 foot layer of coal; how thick a layer of oil would that 1 foot of coal make when it converts to oil? (Think of the oil as a pure layer on top of the ground, not absorbed into some porous rock.)

I realize it's not that simplistic, but I'm talking to 6 year olds, so I don't need it exact just the order of magnitude.

**Tags:** geology, geochemistry

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You should express it in carbon equivalents or energy production.  
> **username_2**: Please avoid confusing children. You imply that oil is made from coal, which, of course, is incorrect.  
> **username_3**: I edited your post for clarity; if I didn't get it right, please edit it again to correct it. (Or, if you did mean the "coal transformed into oil" implication, then perhaps edit it to remove the coal references and just go for "swamp into oil".)  
> **username_4**: The only way to convert coal to oil is [artificially] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_fuel).  
> **username_5**: Please don't teach kids bad science. It takes soooo much more effort to relearn something that was originally learned incorrectly than to learn it correctly in the first place. Don't simplify stuff. Just tell them how it really works.  
> **username_6**: Coal is compressed ancient plant material, oil is hydrocarbonated ancient animal life. Though I'm sure it's at least theoretically possible to convert one to the other as they're mostly just carbon, oil is not 'made' from coal...  
> **username_7**: Ok, how about we go down the road of their quote "it takes a 10' layer of swamp debris to make a 1' layer of coal".  How many pounds of animal life would it generally take to make a pound of oil?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_8 on 2016-06-24. Score: 5

None. It does not take any coal to generate oil. Oil is not made from coal. The [formation process for oil](http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/standard/chemistry/materialsfromoil/how_crude_oil_was_formed/revision/2/) is a different process to [that of coal](http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z27thyc/revision)

Oil is formed from marine organisms. Coal is formed from a peaty mix of dead plants.


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