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.
Ogakor
Messages
17
Reaction score
0

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
 
Physics news on Phys.org
1 W = 1 J/s

So yes you need to convert the years to seconds.
 
Ok, thanks rockfreak
 
TL;DR Summary: I came across this question from a Sri Lankan A-level textbook. Question - An ice cube with a length of 10 cm is immersed in water at 0 °C. An observer observes the ice cube from the water, and it seems to be 7.75 cm long. If the refractive index of water is 4/3, find the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. I could not understand how the apparent height of the ice cube in the water depends on the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. Does anyone have an...
Thread 'Variable mass system : water sprayed into a moving container'
Starting with the mass considerations #m(t)# is mass of water #M_{c}# mass of container and #M(t)# mass of total system $$M(t) = M_{C} + m(t)$$ $$\Rightarrow \frac{dM(t)}{dt} = \frac{dm(t)}{dt}$$ $$P_i = Mv + u \, dm$$ $$P_f = (M + dm)(v + dv)$$ $$\Delta P = M \, dv + (v - u) \, dm$$ $$F = \frac{dP}{dt} = M \frac{dv}{dt} + (v - u) \frac{dm}{dt}$$ $$F = u \frac{dm}{dt} = \rho A u^2$$ from conservation of momentum , the cannon recoils with the same force which it applies. $$\quad \frac{dm}{dt}...
Back
Top