AP Environment Exam
Terms
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- Ionizing Radiation
- Enough energy to knock electrons from atoms forming ions, capable of causing cancer (ex. gamma, X Rays, UV)
- High Quality Energy
- organized and concentrated, can perform useful work (ex. fossil fuel and nuclear energy)
- Low Quality Energy
- disorganized, dispersed (heat in the ocean or air wind, solar)
- First Law of Thermodynamics
- Energy is neither created nor destroyed, but ay be converted from one form to another
- Second Law of Thermodynamics
- When energy is changed from one form to another, some useful energy is always degraded into lower quality energy (usually heat)
- Natural radioactive decay
- Unstable radioisotopes decay releasing gamma rays, alpha & beta particles
- Half life
- The ttime it takes for 1/2 the mass fo a radioisotope to decay
- Estimate of how long radioactive isotope must be stored until it decays to a safe level?
- 10 half lives approximately
- Nuclear Fission
- nuclei of isotopes split apart when struck by neutrons
- Nuclear Fusion
- 2 isotopes of light elements (H) forced together at high temperatures till they fuse to form a heavier nucleus, Helium (He). Expensive break even point not reached yet. Tempterature needs to be about 100 million degrees.
- Ore
- a rock that contains a large enough concentration of a mineral making it profitable to mines
- MIneral Reserve
- Identified deposits currently profitable to extract
- Best solution to Energy shortage
- conservation and increase efficiency