battery: A device that can convert chemical energy into electrical energy.
electricity: A flow of charge, usually from the movement of negatively charged particles, called electrons.
elevation: The height or altitude at which something exists.
engineer: A person who uses science and math to solve problems. As a verb, to engineer means to design a device, material or process that will solve some problem or unmet need.
excavate: (n. excavation) To dig something out of soil or rock (such as dinosaur bones); to remove the inner part of something to make a hole (cavity) within it.
force: Some outside influence that can change the motion of an object, hold objects close to one another, or produce motion or stress in a stationary object.
generator: A device used to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy.
gravity: The force that attracts anything with mass, or bulk, toward any other thing with mass. The more mass that something has, the greater its gravity.
grid: (in electricity) The interconnected system of electricity lines that transport electrical power over long distances. In North America, this grid connects electrical generating stations and local communities throughout most of the continent.
hydrogen: The lightest element in the universe. As a gas, it is colorless, odorless and highly flammable. It’s an integral part of many fuels, fats and chemicals that make up living tissues. It’s made of a single proton (which serves as its nucleus) orbited by a single electron.
kinetic energy: The energy held by an object due to its being in motion. The amount of this energy contained will depend on both the mass (usually weight) of the object and its speed.
mechanical engineer: Someone trained in a research field that uses physics to study motion and the properties of materials to design, build and/or test devices.
module: A set of standardized parts or independent units used to assemble a more complex structure. The module could be used to create a “prefabricated” home or furniture — or even a spacecraft.
moon: The natural satellite of any planet.
motor: A device that converts electricity into mechanical motion. (in biology) A term referring to movement.
network: A group of interconnected people or things. (v.) The act of connecting with other people who work in a given area or do similar thing (such as artists, business leaders or medical-support groups), often by going to gatherings where such people would be expected, and then chatting them up. (n. networking)
orbit: The curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a galaxy, star, planet or moon. One complete circuit around a celestial body.
physics: The scientific study of the nature and properties of matter and energy. Classical physics is an explanation of the nature and properties of matter and energy that relies on descriptions such as Newton’s laws of motion. Quantum physics, a field of study that emerged later, is a more accurate way of explaining the motions and behavior of matter. A scientist who works in such areas is known as a physicist.
piston: A cylinder inside a tube that has been designed to move up and down, compressing or expanding a liquid or gas (such as air). Internal combustion engines, such as those in most liquid-fueled cars and trucks, use them to drive motion. Pistons can also serve as a pump.
planet: A large celestial object that orbits a star but unlike a star does not generate any visible light.
potential energy: The energy held by an object due not to its motion but instead to its position or condition (such as being held motionless by a brake or suspended from a wire). Examples of objects possessing this type of energy include a compressed spring or a mass of snow on a hillside (think of its capacity to create an avalanche).
power plant: An industrial facility for generating electricity.
pressure: Force applied uniformly over a surface, measured as force per unit of area.
renewable: An adjective for resources that can be endlessly replaced (such as water, green plants, sunlight and wind). This is in contrast to non-renewable resources, for which there is a finite supply — one that can essentially be used up. These include petroleum (and other fossil fuels) or relatively rare elements and minerals.
reservoir: A large store of something — often a natural store of water, such as lakes or ponds. (in biology and medicine) People who study infections refer to the environment in which germs can survive safely (such as the bodies of birds or pigs) as living reservoirs.
solar: Having to do with the sun or the radiation it emits. It comes from sol, Latin for sun.
supplement: (verb) To add to something.
system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body’s circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation’s railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.
technology: The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry — or the devices, processes and systems that result from those efforts.
terrain: The land in a particular area and whatever covers it. The term might refer to anything from a smooth, flat and dry landscape to a mountainous region covered with boulders, bogs and forest cover.
transition: The boundary where one thing (paragraphs, ecosystems, life stage, state of matter) changes or converts into another.
turbine: A device with extended arm-like blades (often curved) to catch a moving fluid — anything from a gas or steam to water — and then convert the energy in that movement into rotary motion. Often that rotary motion will drive a system to generate electricity.
wave: A disturbance or variation that travels through space and matter in a regular, oscillating fashion.
winch: A mechanical device used to wind up or let out rope or wire. Increasing tension with a winch increases the force applied to the rope or wire. Among its potential uses: A winch can pull a sail up the side of a mast on a ship or increase the force applied to a material to test its strength.