How Much Energy and Cost Are Involved in Heating Daily Water to 75°C?

  • Thread starter Thread starter miniradman
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Energy Heat Water
AI Thread Summary
To heat 150 liters of water daily from 20°C to 75°C, approximately 34,424.26 kJ of energy is required. The calculation involves using the mass of water (149.7 kg) and the specific heat capacity (4.184 kJ/kg°C) with a temperature change (ΔT) of 55°C. The power consumption calculated was 0.39843 kW, but the conversion to kWh was incorrectly applied, leading to an inflated cost estimate of $2.00. Correcting the conversion shows the actual cost is around $1.35 per day. This highlights the importance of accurate unit conversions in energy calculations.
miniradman
Messages
191
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


A family uses 150 L of hot water each day. The hot water system is set to 75°C and the
supply water has a temperature of 20°C. How much energy is required? If the hot water
consumption was spread out evenly over the whole day (24 hrs), what is the total daily cost
(assuming 14 c/kWh)?

Homework Equations


Q=mC \Delta T

C = 4.184 kJ/kg (HeatingCapacity)

The Attempt at a Solution


Hi all, I have this question and I thought I was doing it correctly, but for some reason I'm not getting the required answer.
density of water = 998

Volume = 0.15 m^{3}

m = 149.7 kg

\Delta T = 55

Q=(149.7)(4.184)(55)
Q=34424.26 kJ

seconds/day = 86400s

p = \frac{dQ}{dT} = \frac{\Delta Q}{\Delta T}

p = \frac{34424.26 kJ }{86400s}

p = 0.39843kW

p kWh = 0.39843kW (3600)

p kWh = 1434kWh

cost = (0.14c) (1434kWh)

cost = 200c = $2.00

However the answer states that it is $1.35/day

I checked my work three times through, but I think I have a fundamental misunderstanding of something which is stopping me from getting the correct answer.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
miniradman said:
p = 0.39843kW

p kWh = 0.39843kW (3600)

p kWh = 1434kWh
This is where you go wrong. In that second line, you are actually calculating how much energy is used every hour:
$$
0.39843\ \textrm{kW} \times \frac{3600\ \textrm{s}}{\textrm h} = 1434\ \textrm{kJ/h}
$$
Instead, find the conversion factor to go from kJ to kWh:
$$
\begin{align}
1 \textrm{kWh} &= 1 \textrm{kW} \times \textrm{h} \\
&= 1 \frac{\textrm{kJ}}{ \textrm{s}} \times \textrm{h} \\
&= 1 \frac{\textrm{kJ}}{ \textrm{s}} \times \textrm{h} \times \frac{3600\ \textrm{s}}{\textrm h} \\
&= 3600\ \textrm{kJ}
\end{align}
$$
 
Ahh, I plugged that conversion factor in after I found Q, then got $1.33... close enough?

Cheers for the response
 
Thread 'Confusion regarding a chemical kinetics problem'
TL;DR Summary: cannot find out error in solution proposed. [![question with rate laws][1]][1] Now the rate law for the reaction (i.e reaction rate) can be written as: $$ R= k[N_2O_5] $$ my main question is, WHAT is this reaction equal to? what I mean here is, whether $$k[N_2O_5]= -d[N_2O_5]/dt$$ or is it $$k[N_2O_5]= -1/2 \frac{d}{dt} [N_2O_5] $$ ? The latter seems to be more apt, as the reaction rate must be -1/2 (disappearance rate of N2O5), which adheres to the stoichiometry of the...
Back
Top