Question

A human body performing light work generates about 650 BTUs of body heat per hour. If a room is being painted by 3 people in a 10 ft * 12 ft * 9 ft room, how many BTUs per cubic foot do they produce in 2 hours?

(A) 1.2 BTUs/ft³
(B) 1.8 BTUs/ft³
(C) 3.6 BTUs/ft³
(D) 7.2 BTUs/ft³

Answer 1

To calculate the BTUs per cubic foot produced by three people painting in a room over two hours, first determine the room's volume and then divide the total BTUs by this volume. This results in 3.6 BTUs per cubic foot.

Step-by-step explanation:

First, we need to calculate the total volume of the room. The volume (V) of a room is calculated using the formula V = length × width × height. In this case: V = 10 ft × 12 ft × 9 ft = 1080 cubic feet.

Next, we calculate the total BTUs produced by the three people over two hours. One person generates about 650 BTUs per hour, so three people would produce: 3 × 650 BTUs/hr × 2 hr = 3900 BTUs altogether.

Finally, we calculate the BTUs per cubic foot by dividing the total BTUs by the volume of the room. This gives us:

BTUs per cubic foot = Total BTUs / Volume
= 3900 BTUs / 1080 ft³
= 3.61 BTUs/ft³, which rounds to 3.6 BTUs/ft³. So the correct answer is (C) 3.6 BTUs/ft³.