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ch 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 fuel burns because it combines rapidly with oxygen. |
| Energy efficiency | An expression of how much energy is put into a system actually does useful work. |
| Renewable energy | Always available can be replaced |
| Nonrenewable energy | Available but cannot be replaced |
| Electricity | Energy made available by the flow of an electric charge. |
| Strip mining | The extraction of a mineral by removing a strip of layers of soil of rock on top of the mineral deposit. |
| Subsurface mning | The practice of digging shafts deep into the ground to find the removal of a mineral. |
| Petroleum | A dark, liquid fossil fuel made up mostly of hydrocarbons. |
| Petrochemicals | Chemical compounds that are derived from oil and used to make products. |
| Oil sands | Deposits of moist sand and clay containing bitumen. |
| Oil shale | Rock filled with a mixture of hydrocarbons. |
| Methane hydrate | An ice like solid that consists of molecules and methane within a crystal network of water molecules. |
| Acid drainage | When sulfide minerals in exposed rock surfaces react with oxygen. |
| Energy conservation | The practice of reducing energy to meet goals. |
| Nuclear energy | The energy that holds these particles together in the nucleus. |
| Nuclear fission | The splitting of an atoms nucleus into two smaller nuclei |
| Nuclear reactor | Generates electricity by controlled fission reactions. |
| Meltdown | Production of so much heat an object melts. |
| 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. |
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