Log out Go to App
Go to App

Learning Materials

Features

Discover

Chapter 8: Problem 12

If an average American is responsible for consuming a barrel \(^{80}\) of oil every 18 days, what power does this correspond to, in Watts?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Based on the given information, calculate the power consumption of an average American in watts, if they consume 80 barrels of oil every 18 days, and 1 barrel is equivalent to 6.1 × 10^9 Joules of energy.

Step by step solution

01

Write down the given information and the conversion factor

An average American consumes 80 barrels of oil every 18 days, and we know that 1 barrel of oil is equivalent to 6.1 × 10^9 Joules of energy.
02

Calculate the total energy consumed in 18 days

To find the total energy consumed, we simply multiply the number of barrels consumed with the energy per barrel: Total_energy = NumberOfBarrels × EnergyPerBarrel Total_energy = 80 × 6.1 × 10^9 J
03

Calculate the energy consumed per second

Next, we need to find out how much energy is being consumed per second. To do this, we will divide the total energy consumed by the number of seconds in 18 days: Seconds_in_18_days = 18 × 24 × 60 × 60 Energy_per_second = Total_energy / Seconds_in_18_days Energy_per_second = (80 × 6.1 × 10^9 J) / (18 × 24 × 60 × 60)
04

Convert the energy per second to Watts

Since power (in watts) is energy consumed per unit time, and we have already calculated the energy consumed per second, this value is equivalent to the power consumption in Watts: Power = Energy_per_second Power = (80 × 6.1 × 10^9 J) / (18 × 24 × 60 × 60)
05

Calculate the final answer

Now, we can compute the power consumption by plugging in the numbers and perform the calculations: Power = (80 × 6.1 × 10^9 J) / (18 × 24 × 60 × 60) ≈ 31067.13 W So, the power consumption of an average American corresponding to the given oil consumption is approximately 31,067.13 Watts.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Start your free trial

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

A number of attempts to estimate the energy investment in our food arrive at the conclusion that every kcal of food we eat took \(10 \mathrm{kcal}^{85}\) of fossil fuel input energy, so that we are effectively eating our fossil fuels! As a sanity check, what fraction of our fossil fuel energy would have to go into food production in the U.S. if diets are typically \(2,000 \mathrm{kcal} /\) day and we use fossil fuels at a rate of \(8,000 \mathrm{~W} ?^{86}\) Does the answer seem plausible?

One liter of gasoline \((1,000 \mathrm{~mL})\) has a mass of about \(750 \mathrm{~g}\) and contains about \(9.7 \mathrm{kWh}\) of energy. Meanwhile, a typical AA battery occupies \(7.4 \mathrm{~mL}\) of volume at a mass of \(23 \mathrm{~g}\), while holding about \(0.003 \mathrm{kWh}\) of energy. How much volume and how heavy would a collection of AA batteries be in order to match the energy in a liter of gasoline, and by what factors (in volume and mass) is gasoline superior?

Let's say that Earth was originally endowed with one million flerbits, \({ }^{87}\) and that we have already used up 400,000 of them. We currently extract 15,000 per year. How long does the \(\mathrm{R} / \mathrm{P}\) ratio suggest the resource will last?

A gallon of gasoline contains about \(37 \mathrm{kWh}\) of energy and costs about \(\$ 4\), while a typical AA battery holds about \(0.003 \mathrm{kWh}\) and costs about \(\$ 0.50\) each, in bulk. By what factor are batteries more expensive, for the same amount of energy?

Proven remaining reserves of oil, gas, and coal are 10,8, and \(20 \mathrm{ZJ},{ }^{88}\) while we have used 8,4, and \(8 \mathrm{ZJ}\) of each. What fraction of the original total fossil fuel resource have we already used, then?
See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Environmental Science Textbooks

Living Environment

Read Explanation

Energy Resources

Read Explanation

Physical Environment

Read Explanation

Sustainability

Read Explanation

Ecology Research

Read Explanation

Environmental Policy

Read Explanation
View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free