Sociology of Energy Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts in physics, energy literacy principles, and energy sociology based on the provided lecture notes.

Sociology

The systematic study of society, social relationships, social institutions, and how people's behavior is shaped by the social world around them.

Sociology of Energy

The field of study that examines how energy systems and society influence one another.

Work (Physics)

The process that occurs when a force moves an object through a distance, defined as $\text{Work} = \text{Force} \times \text{Distance}$.

Energy

The ability or capacity to do work, which can be transferred or transformed but cannot be created or destroyed.

Power

The rate at which work is done, calculated as $\text{Power} = \text{Work} \div \text{Time}$.

Food Energy Density

The amount of energy contained in a given amount of food, usually expressed as kilocalories (kcal) per gram.

Energy Balance

The principle that energy entering a system must equal energy leaving plus energy stored, expressed as $E_{\text{in}} - E_{\text{out}} = E_{\text{stored}}$.

Waste Heat

Unusable thermal energy produced during energy transformations, preventing systems from converting energy into useful work with $100\%$ efficiency.

Energy Justice

A framework evaluating who receives the benefits of energy systems and who bears their environmental, health, and economic costs.

Distributive Justice

A dimension of energy justice concerning who receives the benefits and who suffers the harms of energy infrastructure and access.

Procedural Justice

A dimension of energy justice focused on who gets to participate in decision-making processes regarding energy infrastructure and policy.

Recognition Justice

A dimension of energy justice assessing whose needs, identities, histories, and vulnerabilities are acknowledged in energy development.

Sociological Imagination

C. Wright Mills' concept describing the ability to connect individual personal experiences and biographies with larger historical and social forces.

Electron-Flow Theory

A theory of electricity stating that electric current is the physical movement of electrons through a conductor.

Conventional Current

The historical convention treating electrical current as flowing from positive to negative, opposite to the physical movement of electrons.

Coulomb's Law

The law describing electrostatic force between two charges, expressed as $F = k \frac{q_1 q_2}{r^2}$.

Ohm

The unit of electrical resistance ($\Omega$), where one ohm means a potential difference of one volt produces one ampere of current.

Ohm's Law

The formula describing the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance in an electrical circuit, written as $V = I R$.

Electromagnetic Induction

The process discovered by Michael Faraday where moving a conductor through a magnetic field, or changing the magnetic field around it, induces an electrical current.

Temperature

A physical measurement of the average kinetic energy of particles in a substance.

Heat Flow

The spontaneous transfer of thermal energy from a higher-temperature system to a lower-temperature system.

Radioactivity

The spontaneous decay of unstable atomic nuclei accompanied by the release of radiation and energy.

Nuclear Transmutation

The conversion of one chemical element into another by altering the number of protons in its nucleus.

Betz Limit

The theoretical maximum kinetic energy that a wind turbine can capture from wind, equal to $59.3\%$.

Capacity Factor

The ratio of actual electricity produced by a power plant over time to its maximum theoretical output if operating continuously at full capacity.