Energy

Question 1

Active collection

Answer 1

The use of devices, such as solar panels, to collect, focus, transport, or store solar energy

Question 2

Anthracite

Answer 2

The cleanest-burning coal; almost pure carbon

Question 3

Barrels

Answer 3

The unit used to describe the volume of fossil fuels

Question 4

Bituminous

Answer 4

The second purest form of coal

Question 5

Breeder Reactor

Answer 5

A nuclear reactor that generates more fissionable material than it consumes

Question 6

Crude Oil

Answer 6

The form pertroleum takes when in the ground

Question 7

Energy

Answer 7

The capacity to do work

Question 8

Fission

Answer 8

A nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus, especially a heavy nucleus such as an isotope of uranium, splits into fragments, usually two fragments of comparable mass, releasing from 100 million to several hundred million electron volts of energy

Question 9

Fossil Fuel

Answer 9

A hydrocarbon deposit, such a petroleum, coal, or natural gas, derived from living matter of a previous geologic time and used for fuel

Question 10

First Law of Thermodynamics

Answer 10

The law that states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transferred and transformed

Question 11

Fly Ash

Answer 11

A waste product produced by the burning of coal

Question 12

Half-life

Answer 12

The amount of time it takes for half of a radioactive sample to degrade

Question 13

HUbbert peak (peak oil)

Answer 13

An influential theory that concerns the long-term rate of conventional oil (and other fossil fuel) extraction and depletion; it predicts that future world oil production will soon reach a peak and then rapidly decline

Question 14

Hydroelectric Power

Answer 14

Power generated using water

Question 15

Kinetic Energy

Answer 15

The energy of motion

Question 16

lignite

Answer 16

The least pure coal

Question 17

Nuclear Fission

Answer 17

A nuclear reaction in which two nuclei are fused to form one or more different atomic nuclei (and subatomic particles)

Question 18

Overburden

Answer 18

The rocks and Earth that are removed when strip mining for a commercially valuable mineral resource

Question 19

Passive Solar Energy Collection

Answer 19

The use of building materials, building placement, and design to passively collect solar energy that can be used to keep a building warm or cool

Question 20

Pea Oil

Answer 20

Hubbert Oil

Question 21

Petroleum

Answer 21

Oil; a hydrocarbon that forms as sediments are buried and pressurized

Question 22

Photovoltaic Cell (PV cell)

Answer 22

A semiconductor device that converts the energy of sunlight into electrical energy

Question 23

Potential Energy

Answer 23

Energy at rest, or stored energy

Question 24

Proven Reserve

Answer 24

An estimate of the amount of fossil fuel that can be obtained from reserve

Question 25

Radiant Energy

Answer 25

Sunlight

Question 26

Radioactive

Answer 26

Material that underoes radioactive decay, a process by whcih unstable nuclei emit energy over time as particles or photons

Question 27

Scrubbers

Answer 27

Devices containing alkaline substances that precipitate out much of the sulfur dioxide from industrial plants’ air effluent

Question 28

Second Law of Thermodynamics

Answer 28

The law that states that the entropy (disorder) of the universe is increasing; one corollary of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is the concept that, in most energy transformations, a significant fraction of energy is lost to the universe as heat

Question 29

Strip Mining

Answer 29

Involves the removal of Earth’s surface all the way down to the level of the mineral seam

Question 30

Subbituminous

Answer 30

The third purest form of coal

Question 31

Underground Mining

Answer 31

Involves the sinking of shafts to reach underground deposits; in this type of mining, networks of tunnels are dug or blasted, and humans enter these tunnels in order to manually retrieve the coal

Question 32

Wind Farm

Answer 32

A group of modern turbines