Calculating Energy Usage of a Hair Dryer

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on calculating the energy usage of a 1650-W hair dryer over specified time periods. For part (a), the correct calculation of energy in joules is achieved using the formula w=Pt, resulting in 9.9 x 105 J when converting 10 minutes to seconds. In part (b), the total energy usage over 4.5 hours is calculated to determine the cost on an electrical bill at a rate of 12 cents/kWh. The correct approach involves converting hours to minutes and then to seconds for accurate calculations.

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[SOLVED] Power problem!

Homework Statement



(a) How many joules of electrical energy are used by a 1650-W hair dryer in 10 min? (b) If the dryer is operated a total of 4.5 h during one month, how much will this contribute to the electrical bill if the billing rate is 12 cents/kWh?

Homework Equations



P=\frac{w}{t} --> w=Pt

The Attempt at a Solution



(a) w=Pt -> (1650)(10)= 16500 J

I figured since the answer was supposed to be in Joules, I would use the equation w=Pt to figure out the amount but I ended up getting the wrong answer. The correct answer is 9.9 x 10^{5}.

(b) Since I didn't get the right answer for (a) I knew my answer wouldn't be right here either. I don't really know how to solve this question either but I figured I should convert the 4.5 h into minutes so it matches the amount for part (a)..so I got 190 minutes, and that's pretty much it.

Please help, we didn't get any notes to refer to for this homework and it is our first day learning about Power. :confused:
Thanks so much.:smile:
 
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(a) w=Pt -> (1650)(10)= 16500 J

For part (a): since 1 Watt = 1 Joule/second, you need to change the 10 minutes into seconds to keep your units consistent.
 
ok thanks...i got part a! now I am just workin on b...
 

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