Petroleum Vocabulary

A particle that serves as the basic building block of matter, the smallest piece of a pure element that you can get--any more cutting and it will no longer have the same physical properties.

The temperature at which a liquid changes to a gas.

Someone that wants to change the world and gathers the knowledge and resources to make that happen.

Burning; a chemical reaction where a material reacts with oxygen and gives off light and heat.

Using a resource.

A method of designing and manufacturing produces that mimics nature's cycles of matter; using natural, non-toxic, and reusable materials.

A bond that links one polymer chain to another

Purifying a liquid by heating a mixture until it begins to boil, capturing the steam, and cooling it back down to collect a pur liquid. (It works because different materials boil at different temperatures.)

A pure substance made from a single type of atom.

An energy resource that forms when dead plants and animals heat and change over millions of years. Coal, oil, and natural gas are types of fossil fuels