jueves, 28 de abril de 2011

Sources of Energy

Solar cell: 
A device that generates an electric current from sunlight.

biomass conversion:
Getting energy from plant and animal materials by changing them into high quality fuels.

nuclear fission:
The splitting of a nucleus with a large mass into two nuclei with smaller masses.

chain reaction: 
A reaction that is kept going by products of the reaction.

nuclear fusion: 
The merging of nuclei with smaller masses into a nucleus with a larger mass.

hydroelectricity: 
The use of flowing water to generate electricity.

Thermal pollution: 
The excess heating of the environment.

Temperature, Heat and Matter

Thermal expansion:
The expansion of matter when its temperature is raised.

Pressure: 

The force on each unit of area of a surface.


melting:



The change of a solid into a liquid.

vaporization:


The change of a liquid to a gas as molecules break free from each other.

Condensation:
The change of a gas into a liquid as molecules attract each other.

freezing: 
The change of a liquid into a solid.

boiling:
the formation of bubbles of vapor that scape from a liquid that is being heated.

evaporation: 
the vaporation of molecules from the surface of a liquid.



miércoles, 27 de abril de 2011

Chemical Changes



Compound:
A chemical combination of two or more elements.


Chemical bond:


A link that atoms or electrically charged particles can form with each other.

Chemical Formula:

A way of using letters and numbers to show how much of each element is in a substance.

ion: an electrically charged particle with unequal numbers of protons and electrons.
                    

Molecule: A group of bonded atoms that acts like a single particle.
 


Chemical property: A way of describing how a substance changes chemically with other substances.


exothermic: A reaction that gives off heat.

Endithermic:
                                  
                          A reaction that absorbs heat.

sábado, 9 de abril de 2011

Temperature and Heat

Kinetic energy: 
 the energy of a moving object.


Potential energy:
energy stored in an object or material.


Temperature:

The average kinetic energy of the molecules in a material


Heat: 


energy that flows between objects that have different temperatures.

Radiation: 


The transfer ofvenergy by electromagnetic waves.

Conduction:

 The transfer of energy by direct contact of molecules.

Convection: 
The transfer of energy by the flow of a liquid or a gas.


Insulation: 
prevents heat from flowing in or out of a material.


domingo, 20 de marzo de 2011

Elements and Atoms

element:a substance that cannot be broken down any further into anythyng simpler.














atom: the smallest particle of an element that has the same chemical properties as the element.
nucleus: an atom's dense center, where most of its mass is.
electron: a negatively charged particle that moves around an atom's nucleus.
proton: a positively charged particle inside an atom's nucleus.
neutron: a particle with no charge inside an atom's nucleus.
atomic number: the number of protons in an atom.
                              







metal: any of a group of elements that conduct heat and electricity, is shiny and bendable.

viernes, 18 de marzo de 2011

Physical Properties

1.matter: any solid, liquid or gas.


2. mass: a measure of how hard it its to push or pull an object.



3.volume: the amount of space an object takes up.


 
4. density: the amount of mass in a certain volume of material.

5.physcal properties: a property that can be observed without changing the identity of a substance.
6.physical change: a change in size, shape, or state without forming a new substance.

7.solution: a mixture one substance dissolved in another so that the properties are the same throughout.

8.chemical change: a change in matter that produces a new substance with different properties from the original.