Question

_____ is a foul smelling liquid mined from the earth.
A) Coal
B) Natural gas
C) Petroleum
D) Iron ore

Answer 1

The foul smelling liquid that is mined from earth is also known as crude oil or simply oil. It naturally occurs as the yellowish black coloured liquid.

Complete answer:
Petroleum is a foul smelling liquid that is found within the earth crust. It is further used as a fuel after refining. We use fractional distillation to separate the various components of the petroleum. Fractional distillation is a technique which is used to separate the liquids which differ in boiling point. There are many organic compounds that are present in petroleum along with the hydrocarbon chain. Petroleum is termed as the fossil fuel that means the fuels that are formed after decomposition of organisms and rocks over years or a very long period of time.
Coal is a solid fuel. It is also a fossil fuel. The major percentage of coal is formed of carbon. Along with carbon it contains hydrogen, sulphur, oxygen and nitrogen.
Natural gas is commonly used for various purposes such as cooking, energy production and as a fuel. It is also known as methane. It is a non renewable source of energy.
Iron ore is usually made up of iron oxide. An ore is the mineral through which the metal can be extracted by implying various processes.

Hence, the correct option is (C).

Note:
India is the top exporter of petroleum. The top consumers of petroleum in the world include the United states, China, Japan, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Germany, Canada etc. The environmental harm caused by the uses of petroleum is global warming, oil spills, global warming.