PHYS/ENVS 3070
Homework Assignment #01
* Make sure to put your name (Last name, First name) clearly printed at the
top of your homework.
** Make sure to show your work even if it is just a couple of steps.
*** Make sure to write neatly so your work is legible.
**** For quantitative answers, please mark the final answer with a simple
rectangle drawn around the answer.
1. EEC Textbook – Chapter 1, Question #1 – just a sentence or two.
2. EEC Textbook – Chapter 2, Exercise #1
3. You are handed a 10.0 cm stack of new one dollar bills. Assume the
thickness of a dollar bill is 1.5 times thicker than your textbook paper
(textbook paper thickness = 63 m or micrometers). Estimate the number
of dollars in your stack.
4. In the United States, the average person eats about 3000 food calories
per day. What is the average power of this energy intake?
We note that 1 calorie = 4.184 Joules. However, , the food calorie is
actually 1000 calories as used in the Chemistry or Physics sense. Thus, 1
food calorie = 1000 calories = 4184 Joules. In this problem we need to
convert [food calories / day] into [Joules / second] (which is the same as
Power in Watts).
5. Find the cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity in your area and the cost of
a gallon of gasoline. Considering that gasoline contains about 40
kWh/gallon [kilowatt-hours / gallon], compare the price per kilowatt-hour
of energy for gasoline versus electrical energy – i.e. take the ratio of the
two.
6. Pick a country in the world that starts with the first letter of your first
name. If there is no country, then use the second letter of your first name,
and so on. For this country, find out the total energy consumption per year.
And then briefly detail what form most of this energy comes from (e.g. oil,
coal, nuclear). The answer to this question should be no more than 1/2
page, and include any and all references used.