Chapter 3 Flashcards
Natural law
Description of what scientists find happening in nature repeatedly in the same way, without known exception.
Inputs
Matter, energy, or information entering a system.
Throughputs
Rate of flow of matter, energy, or information through a system.
Outputs
Matter, energy, or information leaving a system.
Feedback loop
Circuit of sensing, evaluating, and reacting to changes in environmental conditions as a result of information fed back into a system; it occurs when one change leads to some other change, which eventually reinforces or slows the original change.
Synergy
Interaction of two or more factors or processes so that the combined effect is greater than the sum of their separate effects.
Elements
Chemical such as hydrogen (H), iron (Fe), sodium (Na), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), or oxygen (O), whose distinctly different atoms serve as the basic building blocks of all matter. Two or more elements combine to form compounds that make up most of the world’s matter.
Compounds
Combination of atoms, or oppositely charged ions, of two or more different elements held together by attractive forces called chemical bonds.
Atom
Minute unit made of subatomic particles that is the basic building block of all chemical elements and thus all matter; the smallest unit of an element that can exist and still have the unique characteristics of that element.
Ion
Atom or group of atoms with one or more positive (+) or negative (-) electrical charges.
Molecule
Combination of two or more atoms of the same chemical element (such as O2) or different chemical elements (such as H2O) held together by chemical bonds.
Inorganic compounds
All compounds not classified as organic compounds.
Matter quality
Measure of how useful a matter resource is, based on its availability and concentration.
Energy
Capacity to do work by performing mechanical, physical, chemical, or electrical tasks or to cause a heat transfer between two objects at different temperatures.
Kinetic energy
Energy that matter has because of its mass and speed or velocity.
Potential energy
Energy stored in an object because of its position or the position of its parts.
Electromagnetic radiation
Forms of kinetic energy traveling as electromagnetic waves. Examples are radio waves, TV waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X rays, and gamma rays.
ionizing radiation
Fast-moving alpha or beta particles or high-energy radiation (gamma rays) emitted by radioisotopes. They have enough energy to dislodge one or more electrons from atoms they hit, forming charged ions in tissue that can react with and damage living tissue.
Degradable polluants
Potentially polluting chemical that is broken down completely or reduced to acceptable levels by natural physical, chemical, and biological processes.
Biodegradable polluants
Material that can be broken down into simpler substances (elements and compounds) by bacteria or other decomposers. Paper and most organic wastes such as animal manure are biodegradable but can take decades to biodegrade in modern landfills.
