Natural resources are derived from the environment and are essential for our survival. These include coal, crude oil, and natural gas, which give us energy. There are many resources in the Earth’s crust; drinking water and cultivable land are also examples of natural resources. Ores, precious stones, salt, lime, and quartz sand are some of the natural resources that are used to make various products useful for our day-to-day existence. 



HOW IS SALT OBTAINED ?

Salt can be extracted from the sea or from underground salt deposits.The mineral-rich sea water is evaporated in flat basins to get salt. Usually,the heat energy of the sun is adequate for this. The hard rock salt,stored deep inside the surface of the Earth, is either blasted from rocks or is washed out from the rock. For washing it out from the rocks. the deposit is drilled several times and water is pumped in at some places. This water gets enriched with the salt present in the rocks and forms a salty solution called brine. The brine is pumped out to the surface where the water gets evaporated and what remains behind is pure common salt.





How is glass manufactured ?


Glass mainly consists of lime, soda, and quartz sand. These three components are milled together finely, mixed with one another, and melted at about 16oo C in a furnace. when the molten glass is cooled to 1ooo°c. It can be shaped into different objects. Depending on the intended use, the glass objects are shaped by pressing or drawing the molten glass. The used glass that we collect is also a valuable raw material, as it can be processed to make new glass objects.



# The glass maker must pour about 25 kg of liquid of glass at a temperature of 1400 c in a mould for manufacturing  a glass table plate.



What is porcelain made of ?


Porcelain is made of three raw materials: china clay, feldspar, and quartz. They are mixed in a proper ratio to make porcelain mass which is then poured in moulds or processed to make vessels on turntables. The objects are then heated at 900°C for almost 2o hours. Porcelain gets the shiny glaze from alumina, silica, or calcia slurry, and is heated again at 13oo°C. This makes porcelain very hard and durable.


DID YOU KNOW THAT.....

1. It is believed that the first glass bottles were made in 15oo BC

2. India's independence movement was begun by Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha. a non-violent protest against the British salt tax in 1930