Chemistry Definitions Ch.2 + 3
- Fuel: substance that is used, usually combusted, that has energy stored in its bonds
- Fossil fuel: natural fuel that is formed in the earth from plant or animal remains
- Coal: combustible fossil fuel formed by the partial decay of plant matter
- Petrodiesel: liquid hydrocarbon fossil fuel obtained from crude oil
- Natural gas: fossil fuel consisting largely of hydrocarbons
- Coal seam gas: natural gas sourced from coal deposits
- Greenhouse effect: process of the warming of the Earth’s lower atmosphere due to the increased quantities of gases, like carbon dioxide, water vapour and methane, in the air
- Non-renewable resource: resource that cannot be replenished as quickly as it is being consumed
- Biofuel: fuel sourced from organic matter
- Biogas: gaseous fuel produced by the anaerobic breakdown of organic matter
- Bioethanol: fuel produced by the fermentation of glucose in organic matter
- Biodiesel: fuel produced by the esterification of fats and oils in organic matter
- Carbon neutral: fuel which does not result in a net production of carbon dioxide from sourcing or consumption
- Fermentation: breakdown of a substance in the presence of microorganisms such as yeast
- Renewable: resource resource capable of being replenished by natural processes as quickly
or faster than it is being consumed
- Transesterification: reaction that produces biodiesel
- Triglyceride: fat or oil composed of three fatty acid tails and a glycerol backbone
- Yeast: variety of microorganism which converts glucose into ethanol
- Viscosity: resistance of a substance to flow
- Hygroscopicity: ability to absorb water
- Chemical energy: energy stored in the bonds of chemical compounds
- Exothermic: chemical reaction accompanied by the release of energy (in the form of heat)
- Endothermic: chemical reaction which absorbs energy (in the form of heat) from the surrounding environment
- Enthalpy: measurement of the internal energy of a system
- Complete combustion: reaction of a substance with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide
and water
- Incomplete combustion: partial burning of a substance to produce carbon monoxide (or solid carbon) and water
- Energy profile diagram: representation of the energy transformation of a chemical reaction
- Activation energy: minimum amount of energy required for a reaction to proceed
- Heat of combustion: amount of heat released by the complete combustion of a substance
- Specific heat capacity: c heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of a given substance by 1°C
- Thermochemical equation: balanced stoichiometric equation that includes the enthalpy change, ΔH, of the reaction
- Gas: state of matter with no fixed shape or volume and which fills the available space
- Ideal gas: substance assumed to be composed of molecules of negligible volume with no
intermolecular interactions
- Pressure: force a gas exerts on the walls of its container
- Standard Laboratory Conditions (SLC): set of conditions used as a standard for experiments (25°C and 100 kPa)
- Stoichiometry: study and calculations of mole ratios of substances involved in chemical reactions
- Hess's law: overall enthalpy change of a reaction is independent of the pathway between the initial and final stages
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