Papermaking

Paper is made from the tiny fibres in wood. Trees are cut and stripped of bark, the trunks are chipped, the chips are cooked with water and chemicals into a soft pulp, the pulp is bleached white, spread thin on a moving screen, then pressed and dried by hot rollers. Starch, chalk, colour or a plastic coating are added to make different kinds of paper. Chipping and drying are physical changes; cooking and bleaching are chemical ones.

Depth 1 · Foundation

You can put the steps from tree to paper in order, say which are physical and which chemical changes, and say why starch, chalk or a coating is added to paper.

Depths of understanding

1
Foundation
You can put the steps from tree to paper in order, say which are physical and which chemical changes, and say why starch, chalk or a coating is added to paper.
Opens after
Natural and synthetic materialsPaper is a synthetic material made from a natural one, wood.Physical and chemical changeSome steps of papermaking change only the shape of the wood, others make new stuff.

Your path here

What's still between you and Papermaking, depth 1, in the order you can learn it.

Where it fits

Builds on

Natural and synthetic materials Physical and chemical changeChemical Reactions

This concept

PapermakingMatter and Its Properties

Builds onThis conceptNatural and synthetic materials Physical and chemical changeChemical Reactions PapermakingMatter and Its Properties

Makes these deeper

Once you know Papermaking, come back to these — they'll mean more.

Sorting rubbish and recyclingDepth 2Paper is recycled by turning it back into pulp, so first see how pulp becomes paper.