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Energy Use Investigation
Glossary of Terms
Here you will find a list of terms and phrases explained in an easy to understand manner.
A - B | C - D | E - End | Energy - Externality
F - G | H - K | L - M | N | P | R - S | T - W
- First law of thermodynamics
- Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be converted from one
form into another. For example, the chemical energy in coal can be converted
into thermal energy.
- Fixture
- The parts of a lighting device that include the socket, shade, reflector,
internal wiring, and mounting components.
- Fuel
- Substances that are burned or consumed by some means to produce energy.
Examples of fuels include coal, food, natural gas, and fissionable uranium.
- Fuel oil
- A liquid fuel composed of a mixture of medium-sized or heavy hydrocarbons
and produced by refining crude oil. Lighter varieties of fuel oil include diesel
fuel, home-heating oil, kerosene, and jet fuel, while heavier fuel oils are used
by industries, ships, and electric power plants to generate heat and power.
- Furnace
- 1. A type of space heating system that heats air. The heated air is
circulated throughout a home or building using air ducts and registers. 2.
Equipment or enclosure used to convert energy in a fuel into heat for any
purpose; a combustion chamber.
- Gasoline
- A liquid fuel composed of a mixture of small, light hydrocarbons and
produced by refining crude oil. Gasoline is mainly used by automobiles, trucks,
and other motor vehicles.
- Generator
- A device or machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.
- Geothermal energy
- Energy from the heat inside the Earth, usually carried to the surface by
superheated water and steam.
- Global warming
- An enhanced greenhouse effect caused by an increase of human-generated
greenhouse gases resulting in more heat trapped by the atmosphere. A projected
climate change by some scientists. See Greenhouse
effect and Global climate change.
- Global climate change
- An interconnected chain of climatic events brought about by an increase in
trapped heat in the atmosphere. The trapped heat alters atmospheric processes
and their interaction with the oceans and the land. The climate--the product of
that interaction--changes as well, causing altered weather patterns that bring
unexpected rain or dry spells, sudden severe storms and temperature changes.
- Greenhouse effect
- The process by which Earth's atmosphere allows solar radiation to reach
Earth's surface and prevents heat radiated back from the surface from escaping
into space. Carbon dioxide and other gases in Earth's atmosphere are responsible
for causing the greenhouse effect.
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