Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources

Question 1

Water table

Answer 1

Area at the top of the zone of saturation where water rises and falls according to the weather and human intervention

Question 2

Reservoir

Answer 2

Artificial lake created when a river is dammed.

Question 3

Desalination

Answer 3

Process of removing salt from ocean water or brackish (slightly salty) water in aquifers or lakes.

Question 4

Gray water

Answer 4

Wastewater from showers, sinks, dishwashers, and washing machines that can be reused for some purposes such as watering lawns or washing cars.

Question 5

Wastewater

Answer 5

Water that contains sewage and other wastes from homes and industries

Question 6

Eutrophication

Answer 6

Process by which a body of water gains nutrients.

Question 7

Water pollution

Answer 7

Any change in water quality that can harm living organisms or make water unfit for human uses such as drinking, irrigation, and recreation.

Question 8

Mineral

Answer 8

Chemical element or inorganic compound that exists as a solid with a regularly repeating internal structure. See mineral resource.

Question 9

Rare earth metal

Answer 9

Mineral with superior or unique properties that make it extremely useful in technology products.

Question 10

Strip mining

Answer 10

Any form of mining involving the extraction of mineral deposits that lie in large horizontal beds close to Earth’s surface. See mountaintop removal, open-pit mining, surface mining. Compare subsurface mining.

Question 11

Surface mining

Answer 11

Removing vegetation, soil, and rock to extract a mineral deposit in Earth’s surface. See mountaintop removal, open-pit mining, strip mining. Compare subsurface mining.

Question 12

Smelting

Answer 12

Process in which a mineral ore is heated in order to separate a desired metal from the other elements in the ore.

Question 13

Nanotechnology

Answer 13

Use of science and engineering to manipulate and create materials out of atoms and molecules at the ultra-small scale of less than 100 nanometers.

Question 14

Crude oil

Answer 14

Gooey liquid consisting of hydrocarbon compounds and other compounds, formed from the remains of ancient organisms over the course of millions of years. Extracted from underground deposits, crude oil is sent to oil refineries, where it is heated to separate it into various fuels and other components.

Question 15

Refining

Answer 15

Complex process of heating crude oil to separate it into various fuels and other components with different boiling points.

Question 16

Coal

Answer 16

Fossil fuel formed from the remains of land plants that were buried and exposed to intense heat and pressure for 300 to 400 million years.

Question 17

Natural gas

Answer 17

Underground deposits of gases consisting of 50–90% methane and smaller amounts of heavier gaseous hydrocarbon compounds such as propane and butane.

Question 18

Nuclear fusion

Answer 18

Method of producing nuclear power in which the nuclei of two isotopes of a light element are forced together at extremely high temperatures until they fuse to form a heavier nucleus, which releases energy in the process. Compare nuclear fission.

Question 19

Nuclear fission

Answer 19

Method of producing nuclear power by splitting a large nucleus into two or more smaller nuclei. The release of neutrons results in a chain reaction that releases an enormous amount of energy. Compare nuclear fusion.

Question 20

Biofuel

Answer 20

Fuel, such as ethyl alcohol or biodiesel, made from plant material (biomass).

Question 21

Biomass

Answer 21

Organic matter produced by plants that can be burned in either solid or gaseous form to produce energy.

Question 22

Energy efficiency

Answer 22

Measure of how much useful work can be extracted from each unit of energy used. See net energy.

Question 23

Hydropower

Answer 23

Technology that uses the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water to produce electricity.

Question 24

Geothermal energy

Answer 24

Heat stored in soil, underground rocks, and fluids in the Earth’s mantle. It is used to heat and cool buildings and water and to produce electricity.

Question 25

Decarbonization

Answer 25

Global transition away from fossil fuels.

Question 26

Fossil fuel

Answer 26

Coal, oil, natural gas, and other fuels that are ancient remains of plants and animals.

Question 27

Renewable resource

Answer 27

Resource that can be replenished rapidly (in hours to centuries) through natural processes as long as it is not used up faster than it is replaced. Examples include forests, grasslands, wildlife, fertile topsoil, clean air, and fresh water. Compare nonrenewable resource, inexhaustible resource. See also environmental degradation.

Question 28

Nonrenewable resource

Answer 28

Resource that exists in a fixed amount and takes millions to billions of years to form, so it will be used more quickly than it can be replaced. Examples include copper, aluminum, coal, oil, salt, and sand. Compare inexhaustible resource, renewable resource.