natural resources Flashcards
natural resources
any material that is used by humans, such as water, petroleum, minerals, forests, and animals
renewable resource
a natural resource that can be replaced at the same rate at which the resource is consumed
nonrenewable resource
a resource that forms at a rate that is much slower than the rate at which it is consumed
recycling
the process of recovering valuable or useful materials from waste or scrap and the process of reusing some items
fossil fuel
a nonrenewable energy resource formed from the remains of organisms that lived a long time ago and examples include oil, coal, and natural gas
petroleum
a liquid mixture of complex hydrocarbon compounds and is used widely as a fuel sources
natural gas
a mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons located under the surface of the earth and is often near petroleum deposits and used as a fuel
coal
a fossil fuel that forms underground from partially decomposed plant material
acid precipitation
precipitation, such as rain, sleet, or snow, that contains a high concentration of acids and often because of the pollution of the atmosphere
smog
photo chemical haze that forms when sunlight acts on industrial pollutants and burning fuels
nuclear energy
the energy released by a fission or fusion reaction and the binding energy of the atomic nucleus
chemical energy
the energy released when a chemical compound reacts to produce new compounds
solar energy
the energy received by the earth from the sun in the form of radiation
wind power
the use of a windmill to drive an electric generator
hydroelectric energy
electrical energy produced by falling water
