Natural Resources Ch 1
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- How did fossil fuels form?
- they formed hundreds of millions of years ago from the remains of dead plants and animals
- What are the three main fossil fuels?
- coal, oil, and natural gas
- What are hydrocarbons?
- substances that contain the elements hydrogen and carbon
- What is combustion?
- the burning of fossil fuels at high temperatures. Heat and light energy are released
- Name the four types/stages of coal in order
- peat, lignite, bituminous, and anthracite
- Tell me about peat
- soft. gives off lots of smoke but not much heat
- Tell me about lignite
- called brown coal. has a woody texture
- Tell me about bituminous coal
- dark brown or black. also called soft coal. the most abudant kind
- anthracite
- hard coal. it is brittle. it is almost pure carbon
- Liquid fossil fuel is called....
- oil or petroleum
- Why are natural gas deposits usually located above oil deposits?
- becuase natural gas is less dense
- Where did fossil fuels form?
- where there used to be water
- Fossil fuels are the main source of energy for:
- industry, transportation, and homes
- What are Petrochemicals?
- useful substances that come from oil and natural gas. They make plastics and medicines.
- Energy from the sun is called
- solar energy
- Where do plants get their energy?
- from the sun
- What are examples of passive solar heating?
- windows that get sunlight, window shades. passive solar heating absorbs the sunlight
- What is active solar heating?
- heating that collect the sun's energy in a solar collector
- What are photovoltaic cells
- solar cells that convert sunlight directly into electricity
- Give the history of wind energy
- see pages 24-25
- Are wind an water direct or indirect forms of solar energy?
- indirect
- What is hydroelectric power?
- using running water to make electricity
- explain how hydroelectric power works
- the water spins a turbine...the turbine turns electromagnets...the electromagnets produce electricity
- what is the nucleus?
- the tiny center of the atom
- what is nuclear energy?
- energy that comes from splitting the atom
- what is nuclar fisson?
- the splitting of an atomic nucleus into two smaller nuclei (and energy is released when that happens)
- What is a chain reaction?
- when the splitting of one nucleus cuases the splitting of another one
- what are some of the concerns about nuclear power?
- nuclear meltdown...what to do with the wastes...what if terroists get it....and they are expensive
- what is nuclear fusion?
- the combining of two atomic nuclei to produce one larger nucleus (and produces energy)
- what produces more energy? nuclear fusion or nuclar fission
- nuclar fusion
- why would nuclear fusion solve all of our energy needs....and why aren't we doing it?
- it would solve our problems because it would only use the hydrogen from water...but we aren't doing it beucase we can't control the fusion reaction
- how much energy comes from alternative sources?
- 10%
- Name four alternate sources of energy
- geothermal, tidal, biomass, and hydrogen power
- what is geothermal energy?
- energy produced from the heat within the earth
- Geysers and hot spots are examples of
- geotehermal energy
- What is one disadvantage of geothermal energy?
- you have to be near a hot spot...and not very many places are
- What is biomass and what can you do with it?
- materials that come from living things. Biomass can be burned directly as a fuel or converted into other fuels
- Give an example of direct burning of biomass
- burning firewood
- What is gasohol
- a mixture of gas and alcohol. Ethanol is the most commonly used gasohol
- What has hydrogen been called?
- the fuel of the future
- What is the problem with hydrogen power?
- It takes more energy to break down the water to get the hydrogen then the hydrogen makes
- What is tidal energy?
- energy from waves
- Why is the use of tidal power as an energy source limited?
- there aren't many places where you can build tidal power plants