click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
CH 17 VOCAB
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Energy | is the ability to do work or cause a change. |
| Kinetic Energy | is the energy that an object had due to its motion |
| Potential Energy | is energy that an object has because of its position or shape |
| Combustion | is the process in which a fuel burns because it combines rapidly with oxygen |
| Energy efficiency | is an expression of how much of the energy put into a system actually does useful work |
| Renewable Energy | are nearly always available somewhere on Earth's surface, or they are replaced in a relatively short time |
| Nonrenewable Energy | Nonrenewable energy resources include coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear energy. |
| Electricity | is energy made available by the flow of an electric charge, is considered a secondary source of energy because it must be produced using a primary energy resource |
| Strip mining | is the extraction of a mineral by removing a strip of layers of soil and rock on top of the mineral deposit |
| Subsurface mining | is typically the practice of digging shafts deep into the ground to find and remove a mineral |
| Petroleum | oil and petroleum is a dark liquid fossil fuel made up mostly of hydrocarbons |
| Petrochemicals | are chemical compounds that are derived from oil and used to make products. |
| oil sands | are deposits of moist sand and clay containing bitumen |
| oil shale | is rock filled with a mixture of hydrocarbons |
| Methane hydrate | is 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 | is the practice of reducing energy use to meet those goals |
| Nuclear energy | is the energy that holds these particles together in the nucleus |
| Nuclear fission | is the splitting of an atom's nucleus into two smaller nuclei |
| Nuclear reactor | generates electricity by controlled fission reactions |
| Meltdown | a severe nuclear reactor accident where the reactor's core overheats, causing the fuel rods to melt. |
| Nuclear waste | is radioactive material left over from the production of energy and other processes |
| Nuclear fussion | small nuclei of lightweight elements are forced together to form a heavier nucleus |