| A | B |
|---|
| energy | the ability to do work or cause a change |
| kinetic energy | the energy produced by motion |
| potential energy | the energy that an object has because of its position or shape |
| combustion | burning; the chemical reaction when fuel combines rapidly with oxygen |
| energy efficiency | an expression of how much of the energy put into a system actually does useful work |
| renewable energy | an energy resource that is readily available or that can be replacedin a relatively short time, includes wind, moving water, sunlight, and wood. |
| electricity | the energy produced by the flow and interaction of electrons |
| strip mining | a type of mining in which layers of surface soil and rock are removed from large areas to expose resource |
| subsurface mining | a type of mining in which vertical shafts are dug deep into the ground and networks of horizontal tunnels are dug or blasted out to follow deposits of a resource |
| petroleum | a liquid fossil fuel made up mostly of hydrocarbons; the primary source of gasoline. |
| petrochemical | a chemical compound derived from oil that is used to make plastics, detergents, and other products. |
| oil sands | a deposit of moist sand and clay that can be mined to extraxt bitumen, and oil rich hydrocarbon |
| oil shale | rock that contains hydrocarbons; can be burned directly or processed to extract liquid petroleum |
| methane hydrate | an icelike solid that consists of molecules of methane within a crystal network of water molecules; can be burned to release energy. |
| electricity | the energy produced by the flow and interaction of electrons |
| acid drainage | a type of mining pollution that occurs when oxygen and rainwater react with newly exposed rock that contains iron sulfide, forming sulfuric acid that removes metals from rocks and leaches into groundwater or enters water bodies as runoff |
| energy conservation | reducing energy use to prolong the supply of fossil fuels |
| nuclear energy | the energy that holds protons and neutrons together in the nucleus of an atom |
| nuclear fission | the conversion of energy within an atom's nucleus to usable thermal energy by splitting apart atomic nuclei |
| nuclear reactor | a facility within a nuclear power plant that generates electricity through controlled nuclear fission |
| meltdown | the accidental melting of the uranium fuel rods inside the core of a nuclear reactor, cauing the release of radiation. |
| nuclear waste | the radioactive material left over from the production of energy and other processes in a nuclear power plant. |
| nuclear fusion | the conversion of the enrgy within an atom's nucleus to usable thermal energy by forcing together the small nuclei of light weight elements under high temperature and pressure. |
