Unit 6 Test Study Guide
Energy Math Also review the Energy Math Practice Problems and powerpoint from before break.
1. A. Imagine that you had unlimited time and you needed to get from Washington, D.C., to Cleveland, Ohio. The distance is roughly 600 km (370 miles). For each mode of transportation in the data table below, calculate how many megajoules of energy you would use to make the trip.
Air plane – 2.1 MJ per passenger – kilometer Train – 1.1 MJ per passenger – kilometer
Car (driver only) – 3.6 MJ per passenger – kilometer Bus – 1.7 MJ per passenger – kilometer
1. B. If a gallon of gasoline contains 120 MJ, how many gallons of gasoline does it take to make the trip by car?
1. C. If you could carpool with three other people who needed to make the same trip, what would the energy expenditure be for each person? In that case, which form of transportation would be most efficient?
2. A power plant has a capacity of 500 MW. This is the maximum electrical output of the plant when it is operating. The plant has a 0.9 capacity factor, a measure of the actual time a plant operates. The capacity factor is a fraction of the total time that the plant could operate.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a typical home in the U.S. uses approximately 900 kWh of electricity per month.
How many homes can the power plant support?
3. An Energy Star air conditioner unit costs $300 while a standard unit costs $200. The two units have the same cooling capacity. The Energy Star unit costs 5 cents per hour less to run. If you buy the Energy Star unit and run it for 12 hours per day for 6 months of the year, how long does it take to recover the $100 extra cost?
4. You are about to invest in a 66-inch flat screen TV. These TVs come in both Energy Star and non-Energy Star models. The cost of electricity is $0.15 per kilowatt-hour, and you expect to watch TV an average of 4 hours per day. (too much J )
- The non-Energy Star model uses 0.5 kW (half a kilowatt). How much will it cost you per year for electricity to run this model?
- If the Energy Star model uses only 40 percent of the amount of electricity used by the non-Energy Star model, how much money would you save on your electric bill over 5 years by buying the efficient model?
V. ENERGY RESOURCES AND CONSUMPTION (10-15%)
A. Energy Concepts (Energy forms; power; units; conversions; Laws of Thermodynamics)
B. Energy Consumption
1. History (Industrial Revolution)
2. Present Global energy use
3. Future energy needs
C. Fossil Fuel Resources and Use (Formation of coal, oil and natural gas; extraction/purification methods; world reserves and global demands; synfuels; environmental advantages/ disadvantages of sources)
D. Nuclear Energy (Nuclear fission processes; nuclear fuel; electricity production; nuclear reactor types; environmental advantages/disadvantages; safety issues; radiation and human health; radioactive wastes; nuclear fission)
E. Hydroelectric Power (Dams; flood control; salmon; silting; other impacts)
F. Energy Conservation (Energy efficiency; CAFE standards; hybrid electric vehicles; mass transit)
G. Renewable Energy (Solar energy; solar electricity; hydrogen fuel cells; biomass; wind energy; small-scale hydroelectric; ocean waves and tidal energy; geothermal; environmental advantages/disadvantages)
Bozeman Review Videos
022 - Energy Concepts 025 - Nuclear Energy 027 - Energy Reduction
023 - Energy Consumption 026 - Hydroelectric Power 028 - Renewable Energy
024 - Fossil Fuel Resources
Nonrenewable Energy Review Questions
1. Describe the difference between energy efficiency and energy quality.
2. How do we determine the overall efficiency of energy used in a system?
3. What is the basic process by which the energy in a fuel is converted into electricity?
4. What are the major fuels that are used to generate electricity in the United States?
5. How are the different types of coal formed?
6. How is oil formed, and why does it need to be refined?
7. Explain the relationship between energy intensity and energy use per capita.
8. Describe the Hubbert curve and its significance.
9. What are the major considerations involved in the future of fossil fuels?
10. What are the major concerns about nuclear energy?
11. What are the promising aspects of nuclear energy?
Renewable Energy Review Questions
1. How do you know if an energy resource is nondepletable, potentially renewable, or nonrenewable?
2. What are the most important differences between renewable and nonrenewable energy resources?
3. How can we use less energy as individuals and as societies?
4. What is peak demand , and how does it relate to energy conservation?
5. How can building design contribute to energy conservation and efficiency?
6. Why is it important to find abundant sources of biomass energy? What are the advantages and disadvantages of
different forms of biomass energy?
7. What are the trade-offs associated with using hydroelectricity compared with biomass energy?
8. In what ways do humans capture solar energy for their use?
9. Why are active solar energy systems not feasible everywhere?
10. How do active and passive solar systems work? What are the advantages of each?
11. What are the main differences between types of energy extracted from underground and when is each type most
useful?
12. What are the most practical and feasible locations for wind farms?
13. How is wind used to generate electricity?
14. How do we obtain hydrogen for use in fuel cells? How does a fuel cell work?
15. Why is hydrogen useful as an alternative to fossil fuels?
16. What are the barriers to increasing our use of renewable energy sources? What are some of the ways we working to
overcome these barriers?