What is the difference between natural, human and man-made resources?

Question

What is the difference between natural, human and man-made resources?

Answer 1

natural resources are raw materials and land.

human resources are entrepreneurs and labor.

man made resources are refined raw materials that need additional value added work to become finished goods, such as raw steel, aluminum, and other commodities that are not simply taken directly out of the ground.

some might argue that capital is also a man made resource; being the plant and equipment used in the production process.

by adding capital to the equation, we have an explanation of all three scarce economic resources: land, labor and capital.

Answer 2

Hello,

(ANS) this is a complex question to answer really well as there are differences of scale involved.

a) For example: - you could call a pine forest a natural resource i.e. it contains timber.

b) coal, oil or wind or water are all natural resources.

THE DIFFERENCE, is in how humans take these natural resources and process them into products or energy or other raw materials.

c) Raw crude Oil has to be highly processed in order to modify (convert it) it into petrol or other petroleum products such as kerosene for jet aircraft.

d) Raw Iron ore has to be smelted down before it can be used in steel making, etc.

Ivan.

Answer 3

Well to start human and man-made resources are the same thing, natural resources are naturally occurring substances whereas man-made are things that we produce using natural resources. So for example oil is a natural resource but we use it many every day things, we make it into petrol for our cars therefore man-made.

Answer 4

natural resources occur in nature, like things that grow or minerals from earth. man made things are made by people, and I'm not sure about human, is that the same as man made?