Final answer:
The total heat energy produced by the coal-burning power plant with an efficiency of 32% in one year is 9.360 × 10¹⁶ joules.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the total heat energy produced by a coal-burning power plant in one year, we first need to determine the total amount of electrical energy it generates in a year. Since the power plant generates at a rate of 950 megawatts and operates at 32% efficiency.
The total electrical energy produced in one year is 950 MW times the number of seconds in one year (31,536,000 seconds), giving us 9.50 × 10⁸ J/s × 31,536,000 s = 2.9952 × 10¹⁶ J. Using the efficiency of 32%, the total heat energy input to generate this electrical energy is the electrical energy divided by the efficiency.
Hence: Total heat energy = Total electrical energy / Efficiency = 2.9952 × 10¹⁶ J / 0.32 = 9.360 × 10¹⁶ J. This is the total heat energy produced in joules by the power plant in one year of operation.