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Lime is a general term for calcium
Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the earth's Crust ....
-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonate
Carbonate

In chemistry, a carbonate is a salt or ester of carbonic acid....
s, oxide
Oxide

An oxide is a chemical compound contaning at least one oxygen atom as well as at least one other element. Most of the Earth's crust consists of oxides....
s and hydroxide
Hydroxide

In chemistry, hydroxide is the name for the Diatomic molecule anion OH-, consisting of oxygen and hydrogen atoms, usually derived from the Dissociation of a base ....
s predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide
Calcium oxide

Calcium oxide , commonly known as burnt lime, Lime or quicklime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, Caustic and alkaline crystalline solid at room temperature....
 or calcium hydroxide
Calcium hydroxide

Calcium hydroxide, traditionally called slaked lime, hydrated lime, or pickling lime, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula Calcium2....
. It is also the name for a single mineral (native lime) of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely. The word 'lime' originates with its earliest use as building mortar and has the sense of 'sticking or adhering'. Lime can also refer to a sticky substance (birdlime
Birdlime

Birdlime is a viscid, adhesive substance used in Animal trapping birds. It is spread on a branch or twig, upon which a bird may land and be caught....
) smeared on branches to catch small birds.

These materials are still used in large quantities as building and engineering materials (including limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 products, concrete
Concrete

Concrete is a construction material composed of cement as well as other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, construction aggregate , water , and Chemistry admixtures....
 and mortar
Mortar (masonry)

Mortar is a workable paste formed by mixture of cement, water and fine aggregate masonry to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them....
) and as chemical feedstocks, among other uses.






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Encyclopedia


Lime is a general term for calcium
Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the earth's Crust ....
-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonate
Carbonate

In chemistry, a carbonate is a salt or ester of carbonic acid....
s, oxide
Oxide

An oxide is a chemical compound contaning at least one oxygen atom as well as at least one other element. Most of the Earth's crust consists of oxides....
s and hydroxide
Hydroxide

In chemistry, hydroxide is the name for the Diatomic molecule anion OH-, consisting of oxygen and hydrogen atoms, usually derived from the Dissociation of a base ....
s predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide
Calcium oxide

Calcium oxide , commonly known as burnt lime, Lime or quicklime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, Caustic and alkaline crystalline solid at room temperature....
 or calcium hydroxide
Calcium hydroxide

Calcium hydroxide, traditionally called slaked lime, hydrated lime, or pickling lime, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula Calcium2....
. It is also the name for a single mineral (native lime) of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely. The word 'lime' originates with its earliest use as building mortar and has the sense of 'sticking or adhering'. Lime can also refer to a sticky substance (birdlime
Birdlime

Birdlime is a viscid, adhesive substance used in Animal trapping birds. It is spread on a branch or twig, upon which a bird may land and be caught....
) smeared on branches to catch small birds.

These materials are still used in large quantities as building and engineering materials (including limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 products, concrete
Concrete

Concrete is a construction material composed of cement as well as other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, construction aggregate , water , and Chemistry admixtures....
 and mortar
Mortar (masonry)

Mortar is a workable paste formed by mixture of cement, water and fine aggregate masonry to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them....
) and as chemical feedstocks, among other uses. Lime industries and the use of many of the resulting products date from prehistoric periods in both the Old World
Old World

The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans, Asians, and Africans in the 15th century....
 and the New World
New World

The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and Australasia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia, and Africa ....
.

The rocks and minerals from which these materials are derived, typically limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 or chalk
Chalk

Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. It forms under relatively deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
, are composed primarily of calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate

Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CalciumCarbonOxygen3. It is a common substance found as Rock in all parts of the world, and is the main component of seashells, snails, and eggshells....
. They may be cut, crushed or pulverized and chemically altered. "Burning" (calcination
Calcination

Calcination is a thermal treatment process applied to ores and other solid materials in order to bring about a thermal decomposition, phase transition, or removal of a volatile fraction....
) converts them into the highly caustic
Caustic

Caustic may refer to:* Corrosive, the property of a substance that causes corrosion** Sodium hydroxide, sometimes called caustic soda** Potassium hydroxide, sometimes called caustic potash...
 material quicklime (calcium oxide, CaO) and, through subsequent addition of water, into the less caustic
Caustic

Caustic may refer to:* Corrosive, the property of a substance that causes corrosion** Sodium hydroxide, sometimes called caustic soda** Potassium hydroxide, sometimes called caustic potash...
 (but still strongly alkaline) slaked lime or hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2), the process of which is called slaking of lime.

When the term is encountered in an agricultural context, it probably refers to agricultural lime
Agricultural lime

Agricultural lime, also called garden lime or liming , is a soil additive made from pulverized limestone or chalk. The primary active component is calcium carbonate....
. Otherwise it most commonly means slaked lime, as the more dangerous form is usually described more specifically as quicklime or burnt lime.

Lime production process

  • Limestone
    Limestone

    File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
     is extracted from quarries or mines.
  • Part of the extracted stone, selected according to its chemical composition and granulometry, is calcinated at about 1000°C in different types of kiln, fired by such fuels as natural gas, coal, fuel oil, lignite, etc.
Quicklime is produced according to the reaction: CaCO3 + heat --> CaO + CO2
  • Quicklime can be hydrated, i.e., combined with water.
Hydrated lime is produced according to the reaction: CaO + H2O --> Ca(OH)2


See also

  • calcium oxide
    Calcium oxide

    Calcium oxide , commonly known as burnt lime, Lime or quicklime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, Caustic and alkaline crystalline solid at room temperature....
    , the main component of dry mineral lime.
  • calcium hydroxide
    Calcium hydroxide

    Calcium hydroxide, traditionally called slaked lime, hydrated lime, or pickling lime, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula Calcium2....
    , the hydrated form.
  • gypsum
    Gypsum

    Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula calciumsulfuroxygen4?2water....
    : a similar mineral.
  • sascab
    Sascab

    Sascab is a naturally occurring mineral material described variously as "decomposed limestone", as "breccia", and as "the lime gravel mixture the Maya civilization used as mortar." It has been used as a building and paving material in Mesoamerica since antiquity....
    : a building and paving material (Central America
    Central America

    Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
    ).
  • hydraulic lime
    Hydraulic lime

    Hydraulic lime is a variety of slaked lime used to make lime mortar. 'Hydraulicity' is the ability of lime to set under water. Hydraulic lime is produced by heating calcining limestone that contains clay and other impurities....


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