- Active Solar Energy Collection - A type of system that uses circulating pumps and fans to collect and distribute heat.
- Alternative Energy - Any source of energy other than fossil fuels that is used for constructive purposes.
- Ampere - The unit of electric current in the meter-kilogram-second system of units. Referred to as amp and symbolized as A.
- Conduction - The transfer of heat within an object or between objects by molecular activity, without any net external motion.
- Convection - Process by which, in a fluid being heated, the warmer part of the mass will rise and the cooler portions will sink.
- Current - The net transfer of electric charge (electron movement along a path) per unit of time.
- Electrical Energy - Energy caused by the movement of electrons.
- Electricity - The flow of electrical power or charge.
- Electromagnetic Energy - Energy caused by the movement of light waves.
- Electrolysis - The process separating the hydrogen-oxygen bond in water using an electrical current.
- Energy - The ability to do work.
- Entropy - The function of the state of a thermodynamic system whose change in any differential reversible process is equal to the heat absorbed by the system from its surroundings divided by the absolute temperature of the system.
- First Law of Thermodynamics - The law that heat is a form of energy, and the total amount of energy of all kinds in an isolated system is constant; it is an application of the principle of conservation of energy. Also known as conservation of energy.
- Fuel Cell Stack - Individual fuel cells that are combined in series.
- Heat - Energy in transit due to a temperature difference between the source from which the energy is coming and a sink toward which the energy is going.
- Kelvin - A unit of absolute temperature and symbolized as K. Formerly known as degree Kelvin.
- Line of Best Fit - A straight line that best represents all data points of a scatter plot. This line may pass through some, all, or none of the points displayed by the scatter plot. Also referred to as a Trend Line or Regression Line.
- Ohm - The unit of electric current in the meter-kilogram-second system of units. Symbolized as Ω.
- Ohm’s Law - States that the direct current flowing in an electric circuit is directly proportional to the voltage applied to the circuit.
- Passive Solar Energy Collection - Systems that do not make use of any externally powered, moving parts, such as circulation pumps, to move heated water or air.
- Product Development Lifecycle - Stages a product goes through from concept and use to eventual withdrawal from the market place.
- Radiation - The process by which energy is transmitted through a medium, including empty space, as electromagnetic waves. This energy travels at the speed of light. This is also referred to as electromagnetic radiation.
- Renewable Energy - A resource that can be replaced when needed.
- Resistance - The opposition that a device or material offers to the flow of direct current.
- R-value - The measure of resistance to heat flow.
- Second Law of Thermodynamics - A general statement of the idea that there is a preferred direction for any process.
- Temperature - A property of an object which determines the direction of heat flow when the object is placed in thermal contact with another object.
- Thermal Equilibrium - Refers to the property of a thermodynamic system in which all parts of the system have attained a uniform temperature which is the same as that of the system’s surroundings.
- Thermodynamic System - A part of the physical world as described by its thermodynamic properties such as temperature, volume, pressure, concentration, surface tension, and viscosity.
- Thermodynamics - The study of the effects of work, heat, and energy on a system.
- U-value - A measure of thermal transmittance through a material.
- Volt - The unit of potential difference symbolized as V.
- Voltage - The potential difference measured in volts. The amount of work to be done to move a charge from one point to another along an electric circuit.
- Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics - A law that if two systems are separately found to be in thermal equilibrium with a third system, the first two systems are in thermal equilibrium with each other; that is, all three systems are at the same temperature. Also known as thermodynamic equilibrium.