Paraffin may refer to:

Substances

Paraffin wax Paraffin wax (or petroleum wax) is a soft colorless solid derived from petroleum, coal, or oil shale that consists of a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules containing between 20 and 40 carbon atoms. It is solid at room temperature and begins to ...

, a white or colorless soft solid that is used as a lubricant and for other applications *

Liquid paraffin (drug) Liquid paraffin, also known as ''paraffinum liquidum'', paraffin oil, liquid paraffin oil or Russian mineral oil, is a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and medicine. Cosmetic or medicinal liquid paraffin should not be confused w ...

, a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for medical purposes *

Alkane In organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms tha ...

, a saturated hydrocarbon *

Kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning " wax", and was reg ...

, a fuel that is also known as paraffin *

Mineral oil Mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum, as distinct from usually edible vegetable oils. The name 'mineral oil' by itself is imprecise, ...

, any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of alkanes in the C15 to C40 range from a non-vegetable (mineral) source, particularly a distillate of petroleum *

Petroleum jelly Petroleum jelly, petrolatum, white petrolatum, soft paraffin, or multi-hydrocarbon, CAS number 8009-03-8, is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons (with carbon numbers mainly higher than 25), originally promoted as a topical ointment for its h ...

, also called soft paraffin *

Tractor vaporizing oil Tractor vaporising oil (TVO) is a fuel for petrol-paraffin engines. It is seldom made or used today. In the United Kingdom and Australia, after the Second World War, it was commonly used for tractors until diesel engines became commonplace, es ...

, a fuel for petrol-paraffin engines

Other uses

* "Paraffin" (song) the first single off the 1995 album ''Salt Peter'' by Ruby * Paraffin - WiX command-line tool, a free software toolset that builds Windows Installer (MSI) packages from an XML document * ''Paraffin'' (album)

Substances

Other uses

See also