Calculating Electrical Energy Consumption: Joules/Year vs. Joules/Second"

AI Thread Summary
To calculate the average rate of electrical energy consumption in Watts from the total consumption of 1.5 x 10^15 Joules/year, it is necessary to convert the annual figure to a per-second basis. Since 1 Watt equals 1 Joule/second, the total Joules must be divided by the number of seconds in a year (approximately 31,536,000 seconds). This results in an average consumption rate of about 47.5 billion Watts. The correct approach confirms that the initial answer of 1.5 x 10^15 is not sufficient without conversion. Therefore, the conversion to Joules/second is essential for accurate calculation.
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Homework Statement


The total consumption of electrical energy in Country A is about 1.5 x 1015 Joules/year.
What is the average rate of electrical energy consumption in Watts?

So, my friend and I were arguing.
He said, 1.5 x 1015 is the answer.
I said, since watts is equal to Joules / sec not Joules / year, we should convert 1.5 x 1015 to Joules /sec.

So, who's right, me or my friend?
Please answer
 
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1 W = 1 J/s

So yes you need to convert the years to seconds.
 
Ok, thanks rockfreak
 
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