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Chapter 17 vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Energy | The ability to do work or cause a change |
| Kinetic energy | the energy that an object has due to its motion |
| Potential energy | energy that an object has because of its position or shape |
| Combustion | the process in which a fuel burns because it rapidly combinds with oxygen |
| energy efficiency | an expression of how much energy put into a system actually does useful work |
| renewable energy | resources humans can use at a replenishable rate |
| nonrenewable energy | resources humans use that cant be replenished at a rate we use it |
| Electricity | energy made avalibility by the flow of electrical charge |
| strip mining | Mining in strips for resources |
| subsurface mining | typically the practice of digging shafts deep into the ground to find and remove a mineral |
| petrolium/oil | dark liquid fossil fuel made up of mostly hydrocarbons |
| Petrochemicals | chemical compounds that are derived from oil and used to make products |
| oil sands | deposits ofmoist sands and clay contains bitumen |
| oil shale | rock filled with a mixture of hydrocarbons |
| Methane hydrate | an ice like solid that consists of molecules of methane within a crystal network of water molecules |
| Acid drainage | occurs when sulfide minerals in exposed rock surfaces react with oxygen and rainwater to produce sulfuric acid. |
| energy conservation | the practice of reducing energy use to meet those goals. |
| nuclear energy | the energy that holds these particles together in the nucleus |
| nuclear fission | the splitting of an atoms nucluis into two smaller nuclei |
| nuclear reactor | generates electricity by controlled fission reactions |
| meltdown | fuel rods produce so much heat that they melted |
| nuclear waste | radioactive material left over from the production of energy and other processes |
| nuclear fusion | small nuclei of lightweight elements are forced together to form a heavier nucleus . |