Earth's Energy and Mineral Test
Bituminious
Compact coal that is black and brittle.
Hydroelectric Energy
Electricity produced by waterpower.
Metallic Mineral Resources
Metals obtained from Earth materials.
Smelting
One method of refining ore. It's a chemical process that removes unwanted elements from the metal that is being processed.
__ can be used as building stone.
Rock
Lignite
Soft, brown coal with much less moisture.
___ is derived from halite, a nonmetallic mineral resource.
Table salt
Drift Mining
The removal of coal that is not close to Earth's surface through a horizontal opening in the side of a hill or mountain.
Wind Farm
When a large number of windmills are placed in one area for the purpose of generating electricity.
Give disadvantages of hydroelectric energy.
When dams are built, upstream lakes fill with sediment and downstream erosion increases. Land above the dam is flooded and wildlife habitats are damaged.
What is a sedimentary rock containing hydrocarbons?
coal
___ biomass fuels are more efficient and have more uses than the solid biomass fuels do.
fluid
During ___ materials of low mass are fused together to form a substance of higher mass.
fusion
Give 2 examples of metallic ores.
hematite and bauxite
What does nuclear waste from power plants consist of?
highly radioactive elements formed by the fission process
What is used to heat buildings and is a source of sulfur?
natural gas
Mineral resources are ___.
nonrenewable
What energy source is NOTa fossil fuel?
nuclear
Oil and gases are removed by ___.
pumping them out of the ground
If the end product is not ___, storing nuclear waste is not a problem.
radioactive
Name the 4 basic stages of coal formation.
(PLBA - people like bowling alleys) Dead plant material accumulates and forms a layer of peat. Over time, heat and pressure change the peat into lignite coal then bituminous coal, and then anthracite coal forms.
Nuclear waste must be stored must be stored safely and contained for at least ___ years before entering the environment.
10,000
How is electricity generated from water running in a river?
A dam is built to retain water, a lake is formed behind the dam, and as water is released, its force turns turbines at the base of the dam. The turbines turn generators that make electricity.
Mineral Resource
A deposit of useful minerals.
Nuclear Energy
Alternate energy source produced from atomic reactions.
Slope Mining
An angled opening and air shaft are made in the side of a mountain to remove coal.
Nonmetallic Mineral Resources
Any mineral resources not used as fuels or as sources of metals.
Compare industrial minerals to building materials.
Both are nonmetallic mineral resources. Industrial minerals are used either for their useful physical properties or to obtain chemicals such as table salt from them. Building materials include a wide variety of mineral resources but are all used in some part of the building process.
Aggregate
Composed of crushed stone or mixture of gravel and sand (has many uses in the building industry)
Anthracite
Contains the highest amount of carbon of all forms of coal. It is the cleanest burning of all coals.
Ores
Deposits in which a mineral or minerals exist in large enough amounts to be mined at a profit.
Biomass Energy
Energy derived from burning organic material such as wood, alcohol, and garbage.
Geothermal Energy
Energy obtained by using hot magma or hot, dry rocks inside Earth.
Nonrenewable Energy Resources
Energy resources that are being used faster than natural Earth processes can replace them.
Renewable Energy Resources
Energy resources that can be replaced in nature or by humans within a relatively short period of time.
___ is used more widely today than any other type of biomass fuel.
Firewood
How are fossil fuels formed?
Fossil fuels from the alteration of the remains of living organisms over long periods of time.
Fossil Fuels
Fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas that form the remains of plants and other organisms that were buried and altered over millions of years.
Using wood as a biomass fuel has its problems. What are they?
Gases and small particles are released when wood is burned and these materials can pollute the air.
What is obtained by using hot magma?
Geothermal Energy
What happens when garbage is burned?
Heat is produces, which turns water to steam. The steam turns turbines that run generators to produce electricity.
Where is oil and natural gases found?
In layers of rock that have become tilted or folded.
What causes the dead plankton to change to oil and gas after they have been buried deeply by sediment?
Increased heat
Give disadvantages of wind.
It blows to hard or can blow too weak and an area must have consistent wind.
Give benefits of wind.
It is nonpolluting and free, does little harm to the environment, and produces no waste.
What is the advantage of burning garbage as a cheap source of energy?
It reduces the amount of material that must be dumped into landfills.
Refining
Produced a pure or nearly pure substance from ore.
Methane Hydrates
Stable molecules found hundreds of meters below sea level in ocean floor sediments. They form under relatively low temperatures and high pressures.
How is coal excavated?
Strip mining (aka open-pit mining) and underground mining
Energy
The ability to cause change.
Reserve
The amount of a fossil fuel that can be extracted at a profit using current technology.
When is a mineral deposit considered an ore?
The mineral must be in demand and must be fairly easy to separate the mineral from the material in which it is found.
Reservior Rock
The rock layer beneath the shale in which the petrolum and natural gas accumulate.
Nuclear Fission
The splitting of heavy elements to produce energy.
Give some disadvantages of solar energy.
They work less effectively on cloudy days and you can't store large amounts of energy in batteries.
Oil
Thick, black liquid formed from the buried remains of microscopic marine organisms.
Recycling
Using old materials to make new ones. It reduces the demand for new mineral resources.
Where is a new source of methane located?
beneath the sea floor
Biomass energy is derived from ___.
burning organic material
What are synthetic fuels created from?
coal
What generates electricity?
coal
What is a rock that contains at least 50% plant remains?
coal
What is a rock that is composed of at least 50% plant remains?
coal
What is the most abundant fossil fuel?
coal
The process of extracting a useful substance from an ore involves what 2 operations?
concentrating and refining
Aggregates can be mixed with cement to form ___.
concrete
Abrasives are made from __.
corundum and garnet (both are hard and able to scratch other materials they come into contact with)
If more garbage were used for fuel, human dependence of fossil fuels would ___.
decrease
Name the 2 types of underground coal mines.
drift and slope
"Geo" means ___.
earth
A resource is not classified as a reserve unless the fuel can be extracted ___.
economically
Solar Energy
energy from the sun
During distillation, biomass fuel, such as corn, is changed to an alcohol such as ___.
ethanol (Mrs.R's Ford Focus can run on this!)
Gasohol
ethanol combined with gas
Some useful industrial minerals are processed to make ___ for farms and gardens.
fertilizers
What are a few examples of solar energy.
global winds and ocean currents
Name the 2 groups nonmetallic metals can be divided into.
industrial minerals and building minerals
Scientists estimate that more carbon is contained in ___ than in all current fossil fuel deposits combined.
methane hydrates
What produces gasoline and other fuels, acts as a lubricant, and makes plastics, shingles, and other products?
oil
What 2 things are hydrocarbons?
oil and natural gas
An ___ must be mined at a profit.
ore
Generally, the term ___ is used for metallic deposits.
ore
What actively collect energy from the sun and transform it into electricity?
solar cells
What act as passive solar collectors, warming exposed rooms?
south-facing windows
Geothermal power plants use ___ from the reservoirs to produce electricity.
steam
What are extracted from solid organic material?
synthetic fuels
How can you avoid wasting fossil fuels?
turning off lights, tightly shut doors and windows in cold weather, run air as little as possible
Because they are less dense than water, oil and gas are forced ___.
upward
What element is nonrenewable?
uranium
Nuclear energy from fission is considered to be a nrenewable energy resource because it uses ___ as fuel.
uranium-235 (and a limited amount is available for use)
Hydro means ___.
water
Burning ___ is releasing stored solar energy as heat energy.
wood