- 1. A home in the northern U.S. needs to be heated for the average winter. This heat is supplied by a natural gas furnace operating at 60 percent efficiency, and 1 ccf of natural gas supplies 1030 BTUs. How many MBTU can be generated from 1 ccf at this efficiency level? (0.001 MBTU = 1 BTU)
A) 1.72 MBTU
B) 1.03 MBTU
C) 0.618 MBTU
D) 4.12 MBTU
- 2. A typical home in the northern U.S. might require 120 MBTU of heat for one winter month. If 1 ccf of natural gas supplies 0.520 MBTUs and the electric company charges $0.90/ccf, how much will heat cost for the month?
A) $174.76
B) $59.33
C) $207.69
D) $230.77
- 3. Given that 1 kcal of heat is required to increase the temperature of 1 kg of water by 1°C, how many kcals would be required to heat 100 kg of water by 20°C for a bath?
A) 5 kcal
B) 200 kcal
C) 2000 kcal
D) 50 kcal
- 4. How many joules are in 2000 kcal? (1 Kcal = 1000 cal; 1cal = 4.184 J)
A) 4.78 x 10-2
B) 2.09 x 105
C) 7.93 x 102
D) 8.37 x 106
- 5. How many BTUs are in 8.37 x 106 joules? (1 BTU = 1055 J)
A) 1.98 x 102
B) 8.37 x 106
C) 3.32 x 107
D) 7.93 x 104
- 6. If your water heater can supply 40 kBTU/hr, how long will it take to heat a tank that requires 79.3 kBTUs?
A) 20 minutes
B) 120 minutes
C) 200 minutes
D) 60 minutes
- 7. Assume the lights in your kitchen use 300 watts. How much energy does it take to leave the lights on for one 24-hour day (in kWh)?
A) 7.2 kWh
B) 12.5 kWh
C) 18.0 kWh
D) 8.0 kWh
- 8. An average incandescent light bulb has a life expectancy of 1000 hours. How much energy would a typical 60 watt bulb use in a lifetime, assuming it lasts for 1000 hrs?
A) 1.67 kWh
B) 60 kWh
C) 6 kWh
D) 16.7 kWh
- 9. A compact fluorescent bulb uses 15 watts and has a life expectancy of 10,000 hours. How much energy would it take to use the compact fluorescent for 10,000 hours?
A) 15 kWh
B) 6.7 kWh
C) 150 kWh
D) 67 kWh
- 10. Assuming electricity is $0.04 per kWh, how much money do you spend to run a refrigerator rated at 1500 watts continuously for one month (30 days)?
A) $19.20
B) $27.00
C) $43.20
D) $83.33
- 11. A refrigerator rated at 1200 watts runs continuously for one month (30 days). If you assume that coal was used to produce the electricity for your fridge, how much coal (in tons) was burned to produce the electricity used? (1 ton coal = 2500 kWh)
A) 0.600 tons
B) 0.346 tons
C) 0.216 tons
D) 0.475 tons
- 12. A refrigerator rated at 1750 watts runs continuously for one month (30 days). How much CO2 (in pounds) was produced by the electricity used to run your fridge? (1.5 lb CO2 = 1 kWh)
A) 933 lbs
B) 1890 lbs
C) 210 lbs
D) 840 lbs
- 13. If your car gets 20 miles per gallon (MPG) and you drive an average of 15,000 miles each year, how many gallons of gas do you use each year?
A) 750 gallons
B) 133 gallons
C) 570 gallons
D) 300 gallons
- 14. Your car gets 25 miles per gallon (MPG) and you drive an average of 20,000 miles each year. At $3.00 a gallon, how much will you spend on gasoline for the year?
A) $3750
B) $2400
C) $1500
D) $2667
- 15. Your car gets 30 miles per gallon (MPG) and you drive an average of 10,000 miles each year. If the combustion of each gallon of gasoline produces 22 lbs of CO2, how much CO2 does your car produce each year?
A) 13636 lbs
B) 6600 lbs
C) 7333 lbs
D) 1515 lbs
- 16. Your car gets 20 miles per gallon (MPG) and you drive an average of 10,000 miles each year. Say you bought a car with improved gas mileage that got 25 miles per gallon. At $4.00 per gallon, how much money would you save in one year?
A) $500
B) $1250
C) $8000
D) $20000
- 17. How many BTUs were consumed in the United States in 2017 by consumers that used petroleum as a fuel source?
A) 36 quadrillion BTUs
B) 62 quadrillion BTUs
C) 97 quadrillion BTUs
D) 28 quadrillion BTUs
- 18. Burning one gallon of gasoline in a car releases approximately 20 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. One person drives 60,000 miles in a car that averages 30 miles per gallon (mpg), while another person drives 60,000 miles in a car that averages 20 mpg. Over the course of the 60,000 miles, how many fewer pounds of CO2 are released by the 30 mpg car than by the 20 mpg car?
A) 2,000 lbs
B) 8,000 lbs
C) 20,000 lbs
D) 80,000 lbs
- 19. In 1997 the World Resources Institute estimated the world’s proven oil reserves to be 1,000 billion barrels and the ultimately recoverable reserves to be 2,000 billion barrels. The table below shows the world consumption of oil from 1986 to 1997.
A) 50%
B) 20%
C) 80%
D) 10%
- 20. A home uses ten 100-watt lightbulbs for five hours per day. Approximately how many kilowatt-hours of electrical energy are consumed in one year by using the lightbulbs?
A) 1,825
B) 5,000
C) 365
D) 10,500
- 21. A sample of radioactive waste has a half-life of 10 years and an activity level of 2 curies. After how many years will the activity level of this sample be 0.25 curie?
A) 30 years
B) 20 years
C) 40 years
D) 10 years
- 22. The half-life of radon gas is approximately four days. Four weeks after the introduction of radon into a sealed room, the fraction of the original amount remaining is closest to
A) 1/ 32
B) 1/ 128
C) 1/ 8
D) 1/ 64
- 23. After 200 million years, only 1/16 of the original amount of a particular radioactive waste will remain. The half-life of this radioactive waste is how many million years?
A) 50
B) 75
C) 12.5
D) 25
- 24. A soil sample near Chernobyl was found to contain 187kBq/m2 of cesium-137 . If the half-life of cesium-137 is approximately 30 years, how much cesium-137 will remain in the sample after 90 years?
A) 1.58kBq/m2
B) 6.23kBq/m2
C) 93.50kBq/m2
D) 23.38kBq/m2
- 25. Natural gas is often priced in units of dollars per therm. One therm equals 100,000 BTUs . A certain family uses 600 therms of energy to heat its home annually using a natural gas furnace that is 80 percent efficient. The family is considering replacing its current furnace with one that is 96 percent efficient. Assuming the cost of a therm is $0.30 , which of the following would be the family's annual savings in the cost of home heating?
A) $138.24
B) $23.04
C) $172.80
D) $28.80
- 26. An individual has been driving a passenger vehicle to work, averaging 60 miles a week in a car that averages 22 miles per gallon. The individual plans to purchase a hybrid vehicle that averages 50 miles per gallon. If the individual drives to work 50 weeks a year, how much gas will they save if they switch to a hybrid vehicle for their commute?
A) 60 gallons
B) 107 gallons
C) 28 gallons
D) 76 gallons
- 27. The table shows regional electricity demands in 2016 and projected demands in 2040. Which of the following correctly pairs a region with its percent increase in electricity demand between 2016 and 2040?
A) United States; 0.17%
B) India; 227%
C) Africa; 61%
D) China; 158%
- 28. A family of four lives in a three-bedroom house and uses an average of 900kWh of electricity per month. The family cools their house for three months during the summer with two window-unit air conditioners that each use 350kWh of electricity per month. Which of the following is the percentage of the family’s total annual electricity that is used to run the two air conditioners for the three summer months?
A) 19.4%
B) 38.8%
C) 9.7%
D) 77.8%
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