William Blake EGEE 101H - HW 1

1. Calculate the work done (in Joules) by a 75-kilogram woman to climb to the top of ount !"erest
(#$%&#' feet)( (Con"ersion factors you need to sol"e this problem) 1 meter* +.#' feet% ,ra"itational
-cceleration *$.' m.sec.sec. /ote that work * force 0 distance% and force * mass 0 gra"itational
acceleration)
#$%&#'.+.#' * ''5&
1ork* (750$.')0''5& * 2%5&3%75& Joules
#. 1hat is the energy e4ui"alent of the work done in 5uestion 1 in slices of pi66a( (Con"ersion factors
you need to sol"e this problem) !nergy content of one slice of pi66a * #$& Calories and 1 Calorie *
3%1'3 Joules) Comment briefly on why your answer (which is thermodynamically correct) is not really
the right answer.
(2%5&3%75& J) 0 (1 Cal.31'3 J) * 1%553.27 Cal
(1%553.27 Cal) 0 (1 7i6. #$& Cal) * 5.+2 7i66a 8lices needed to climb !"erest
9hough thermodynamically correct% it would take more than 5.+2 slices of pi66a to climb !"erest
because humans cannot con"ert all of the calories that they consume into energy.
+. -nnual per capita energy consumption in the :.8. is appro0imately +5& million ;tu. Calculate how
many pounds of coal would ha"e the e4ui"alent amount of energy (9he "alue of a typical coal is 1+%&&&
;tu.lb).
(+5&%&&&%&&& ;tu) 0 (1 lb . 1+%&&& ;tu) * #2%$#+ lbs of coal per capita
3. 9he wattage of a typical color 9< is +&& (i.e.% it uses +&& watts of electric power). =f one kilowatt-
hour of electricity costs 2 cents% how much does it cost to watch 9< for + hours( (1 kilowatt * 1&&&
watts).
(+&& watts 0 + hrs) * $&& watts
($&& watts) 0 (1kw.1&&&watts) * .$ kw
(.$kw) 0 (2cents.1kw) * 5.3 cents
5. 9he speed of light is appro0imately +&&%&&& kilometers.second% and the distance from the sun to the
earth is appro0imately 15&%&&&%&&& kilometers. >ow long (in minutes) does the solar radiation take to
reach the earth(
(15&%&&&%&&&km) 0 (1s.+&&%&&&km) * 5&& seconds
(5&&s) 0 (1min.2&s) * '.++ minutes
2. -n ele"ator needs a power of 1& k1 to run smoothly. Calculate its power in units of horsepower.
1 kilowatt * 1.+ >7 (google)
(1&kw) 0 (1.+>7.kw) *1+ >7
7. - typical adult in :.8. con"erts #&&& Calories of food energy per day. Calculate the a"erage
metabolic power of an adult% assuming that the energy is con"erted e"enly throughout the day (#3
hours). (?ou know that this assumption is not true. @ne con"erts% for e0ample% much less energy by
William Blake EGEE 101H - HW 1
sleeping than by walking or running).
(#&&calories.day) 0 (1day.#3hours) * '+.++3 Calories.hour
'. Calculate how many kilograms of carbon dio0ide (C@
#
) are produced when one kilogram of natural
gas (i.e.% methane% C>
3
) is burnt completely to carbon dio0ide and water.
C>3A#(@#)*C@#A#(>#@)
C@#* 33.&1 g.mol
C>3* 12.&3 g.mol
(12.&3 g.mol.1 kg) * (33.&1 g.mol. ( kg)
( kg * (33.&1g.mol) 0 (1.12.&3 g.mol) * #.73 kilograms of C@# released