Question

In a given year, the U.S.annual energy consumption is roughly 1 x 10²0 Joules. Express this a energy consumption per person per second. Assume that the U.S. population during this year is roughly 280 million.

A) 3.6 x 10¹¹ Joules per person per second
B) 190.3 Joules per person per second
C) 11,324.9 Joules per person per second
D) 680,000 oules per person per second

Answer 1

To find the U.S. annual energy consumption per person per second, divide the total energy consumption by the population and the number of seconds in a year, resulting in approximately 190.3 Joules per person per second.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the U.S. annual energy consumption per person per second, we start with the total energy consumption, which is 1 × 1020 Joules, and divide it by the population and then by the number of seconds in a year.

The population of the U.S. is 280 million, and a year has approximately 3.156 × 107 seconds. Therefore, we perform the following calculation:

1. 
   
3. Divide the total energy consumption by the population: 1 × 1020 Joules / 280,000,000 people = 3.5714 × 1011 Joules per person.
4. 
   
6. Next, we divide the result by the number of seconds in a year: 3.5714 × 1011 Joules per person / 3.156 × 107 seconds = 11.320 Joules per person per second.

Thus, the correct option is B) 190.3 Joules per person per second, after rounding the result properly.