Chapter 8 Flashcards
How does the burning of fossil fuel work
it converts chemical potential energy into thermal energy, which is then converted into other useful forms like electricity
What does it mean to use energy
to transform energy from one form to another
When electric current travels through power lines how much of it is converted into thermal energy
10%
What are the three fossil fuels
Coal, petroleum, and natural gas
How are fossil fuels formed
Fossil fuels are formed from the decay of ancient plant and animal life from millions of years under pressure and heat
What happens in a combustion reaction
Carbon and hydrogen atoms combine with oxygen in the air to form carbon dioxide and water
list natural gas, wood, coal, and petroleum by which one has the most energy content
Natural gas, Petroleum, coal, wood
What is Petroleum
a flammable liquid formed from the decay of ancient organisms, such as microscopic plankton and algae
What is Petroleum made of
a mixture of thousands of chemical compounds. Most of these compounds are hydro-carbon
What is the process the separates different hydrocarbons found in petroleum
Fractional distillation
How does fractional distillation separate the different compounds in petroleum
Fraction distillation happens in a distillation tower where the petroleum at the bottom is heated up and the materials with the lowest boiling points rise to the top of the tower and the ones with higher boiling points are drained from the bottom.
What are some ways petroleum is used
plastics, synthetic fibers, transportation fuels, wax-based products, asphalt, and medicines
The chemical processes that produce petroleum are the same that produce natural gas the only difference is what?
that to form natural gas there must be more pressure and heat.
what is natural gas
a fossil fuel composed mostly of the gas methane but also contains propane and butane
what fossil fuel burns the cleanest
Natural gas
Cars and buses are powered by what
natural gas
The main use of natural gas
cooking and heating
What is the main use of coal today
to be burned at power plants to make electricity
How was coal formed
as a swampy plant material, buried beneath sediments, decayed and compacted into peat.
What converted peat to coal
Millions of years of heat and pressure
Why does coal produce more pollution
cause coal contains more chemical impurities like sulfur and nitrogen-based compounds
What fossil fuel is the most abundant
coal
Fossil fuels account for how much of electricity production in the US
70%
What is the efficiency of power plants at producing electricity
35%
describe the process in which fossil fuel power plants burn fossil fuels to produce electricity
Fossil fuels burn, Thermal energy is made, H2O is made into steam, the steam is piped into a turbine, turbine spins, Generator spins, and Electricity produced
List the 2 substances that are released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned
small particulates and carbon dioxide
Nuclear Fusion
combines Nuclei
Nuclear fission
splits nuclei
what happens in both Nuclear fusion and fission
mass turns into energy
Which produces more energy Nuclear fusion or fission
fusion
What are the reactants of nuclear fusion
Hydrogen atoms and million degrees C
What are the products of nuclear fusion
Helium, energy, and one neutron
What are the reactants of nuclear fission
U-235 and 1 neutron
What are the products of nuclear fission
Kryton, Barium, 3 neutrons, and energy
What is the control rod made out of and what does it do
Cadmium and Boron and absorbs neutrons
