Viscosity: thickness of fluid, how resistant a fluid is to movement through it Volatility: a measure of how readily a substance vaporises or transitions from a liquid phase to a gas phase Melting point: temperature at which matter changes from solid to liquid form Boiling point: temperature at which matter changes from liquid to gas form Fossil: preserved remains or traces of a living thing Fossil fuel: Substances that were formed from decaying animal and plant matter being submitted to high temperatures and pressure over millions of years. Rich deposits of hydrocarbon mixtures that formed from the remains of organisms Energy: The ability to do work Direct energy consumption: Energy we use, e.g. burning of fossil fuels for our car. Energy that people consume through their own activities. Includes lighting, heat, and fuel for transport Indirect energy consumption: Energy cost of an item associated with production. Includes electricity and energy used to grow food, manufacturing, etc Organic chemistry: Study of carbon and carbon based compounds. This excludes metallic carbonates, hydrogen carbonates, and oxides of carbon. Organic compound: a carbon based compound. Carbon always forms 4 covalent bonds Hydrocarbon: a compound that contains only carbon and hydrogen. Crude oil contains naturally occurring hydrocarbons Crude oil: a complex mixture of hydrocarbons formed by geological action on decayed aquatic plant and animal matter over millions of years. Hydrocarbons are separated from others through fractional distillation Fractional distillation: the first step in oil refinement. Since boiling points of molecules increase as molecule’s mass increases, separation is roughly in order of increasing numbers of carbon atoms per molecule. The crude oil mixture is heated, fractions turn into vapour, rise, condense, and the liquid is collected. Usually the fraction is still a mixture and requires further refining