lunes, 25 de abril de 2011

Sources of energy

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 spliting 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

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 vaporization of molecules from the surface of a liquid.





lunes, 11 de abril de 2011

Chemical changes

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 elctrons.



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



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



Exothermic: a reaction that gives off energy.



Endothermic: a reaction that absorbs heat. 


Temperature and Heat

Temperature and heat

Kinetic energy: the energy of a moving object.


Potential energy: energy that is 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 of energy 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 gas. 



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


jueves, 17 de marzo de 2011

Elements and Atoms

Elements and Atoms

Element:A substance that cannot be broken down any further into anything simpler.


Atom:The smallest particle that has the same chemical properties as the element.



Nucleus:An atom´s  dense center, where most of its mass.

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 group of elements that conduct heat and electricity, is shiny and bendable.


Physical Properties

Physical Properties

Matter:Any solid, liquid, or gas.

 Mass:Amount of matter in an object.
Volume:The amont of space an object takes up.


Density:The amount of mass in a certain volume of material.

Physical Property:A property that can be observed without changing the identity of a substance.

Physical Change:A change in size, shape, or state without forming a new substance.



Solution:A mixture of one substance dissolved in another so that the properties are the same throughout.


Chemical Change:A change in matter that produces a new substance with different proprties from the original.