Lime (mineral)

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Lime is a general term for various naturally occurring minerals and materials derived from them, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides of calcium predominate.

These materials are used in large quantities as building and engineering materials (including limestone products, concrete and mortar) 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 and the New World.

The rocks and minerals from which these materials are derived, typically limestone or chalk, are composed primarily of calcium carbonate. They may be cut, crushed or pulverized and/or chemically altered. 'Burning' (calcination) converts them into the highly caustic material quicklime (calcium oxide, CaO) and through subsequent addition of water, into the less caustic (but still strongly alkaline) slaked lime or hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)₂), which process is called slaking of lime.

When the term is encountered in an agricultural context, it probably refers to agricultural lime. Otherwise it most commonly means slaked lime, as the more dangerous form is usually described more specifically as quicklime or burnt lime.