Coal and Petroleum - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions from the Coal and Petroleum chapter.

Inexhaustible natural resources

Resources present in unlimited quantities in nature and not likely to be exhausted by human activities (e.g., sunlight, air).

Exhaustible natural resources

Resources that are finite in nature and can be exhausted by human activities (e.g., forests, minerals, coal, petroleum, natural gas).

Fossil fuels

Fuels formed from the dead remains of living organisms over millions of years (coal, petroleum, natural gas).

Coal

A hard, black fossil fuel rich in carbon; formed from dead vegetation under high pressure and temperature; used for cooking, steam in engines, and electricity; yields coke, coal tar, and coal gas when processed.

Carbonisation

The slow process of converting dead vegetation into coal under high pressure and temperature.

Coke

An almost pure form of carbon obtained from coal; used in steelmaking and metal extraction.

Coal gas

Gas produced during coal processing; historically used for street lighting and now mainly used as a heat source.

Coal tar

A black, thick liquid from coal containing about 200 substances; used to make dyes, drugs, plastics, and other products; napthalene balls are derived from coal tar.

Naphthalene balls

A substance derived from coal tar used to repel moths and other insects.

Bitumen

A petroleum product used for road surfacing; increasingly used instead of coal tar for road metalling.

Petroleum

A dark oily liquid formed from marine organisms; refined into petrol, diesel, LPG, kerosene, lubricating oil, paraffin wax, etc.; also called black gold.

Refining

The process of separating the different constituents/fractions of petroleum in a refinery.

Petrochemicals

Substances obtained from petroleum and natural gas used to make detergents, fibres, plastics, and other materials.

Natural gas

A fossil fuel that is easy to transport via pipelines; stored as compressed natural gas (CNG); used for power generation and as a chemical feedstock; relatively less polluting.

CNG (Compressed Natural Gas)

Natural gas stored under high pressure and used as a fuel for transport and can be supplied through pipelines to homes and factories.

LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas)

Petroleum gas in liquid form used as fuel for homes and industry.

Petroleum refinery

A facility where crude petroleum is processed and separated into various fractions and products.

Fossil fuel formation

Fossil fuels were formed from dead organisms millions of years ago; their formation is slow and cannot be reproduced in a laboratory.

Black gold

A popular nickname for petroleum due to its high economic value.

Oil well

The site where oil was first commercially extracted (first well drilled in 1859 in Pennsylvania); marks start of the modern petroleum industry.