Consider a cloudless day when the sun shines down across the United States. If 2375 kJ of energy reaches a square meter (m2) of the United States in one hour, how much total solar energy reaches the entire United States per hour? The entire area of the United States is 9,158,960 km2.
I am having serious trouble with this one. I do not want the answer, but I need more help then just a formula. maybe change the numbers and solve a similar problem for me?
9,158,960km^2 = 9,158,960*10^6 m^2 =
9.159*10^12 m^2.
m^2 * (kJ/m^2)/h = Total kJ/h.
Sure! I'm here to help. Let's solve a similar problem to better understand how to calculate the total solar energy reaching the entire United States per hour.
Let's say we have a country called "Sunlandia" with an area of 800,000 km2. On a cloudless day, 3000 kJ of energy reaches a square meter of Sunlandia in one hour. We want to calculate the total solar energy reaching the entire Sunlandia per hour.
To solve this, we'll follow these steps:
1. Determine the energy reaching a square meter per hour: In our example, it's given that 3000 kJ of energy reaches a square meter of Sunlandia in one hour.
2. Convert the area from km2 to m2: Multiply the area of Sunlandia by 1,000,000 to convert from km2 to m2. In our example, 800,000 km2 is equivalent to 800,000,000 m2.
3. Calculate the total solar energy reaching Sunlandia per hour: Multiply the energy reaching a square meter per hour by the total area of Sunlandia. In our example, the total solar energy reaching Sunlandia per hour would be 3000 kJ/m2 * 800,000,000 m2 = 2,400,000,000,000 kJ.
Now, you can apply the same steps to your original problem involving the United States:
1. Given that 2375 kJ of energy reaches a square meter of the United States in one hour.
2. Multiply the area of the United States (9,158,960 km2) by 1,000,000 to convert it to m2.
3. Multiply the energy reaching a square meter per hour by the total area of the United States to find the total solar energy reaching the entire United States per hour.
Following these steps, you should be able to calculate the answer for your original problem.
Of course, let's work through a similar problem step-by-step to help you understand how to solve it.
Let's consider a hypothetical scenario where the entire area of a country is 500,000 km2, and 4000 kJ of energy reaches a square meter of the country in one hour.
1. Determine the area of the country in square meters:
Since the area is given in km2, we need to convert it to m2.
1 km2 = 1,000,000 m2 (since 1 km = 1000 m)
Thus, the area of the country in square meters is:
500,000 km2 × 1,000,000 m2/km2 = 500,000,000,000 m2
2. Calculate the total solar energy reaching the entire country per hour:
We multiply the energy reaching a square meter by the total area of the country.
Total solar energy = Energy per square meter × Total area of the country
Total solar energy = 4000 kJ/m2 × 500,000,000,000 m2
Total solar energy = 2,000,000,000,000,000 kJ
Now, let's apply the same process to the original problem you provided.
1. Determine the area of the United States in square meters:
The area of the United States is given as 9,158,960 km2.
9,158,960 km2 × 1,000,000 m2/km2 = 9,158,960,000,000 m2
2. Calculate the total solar energy reaching the entire United States per hour:
Total solar energy = Energy per square meter × Total area of the United States
Total solar energy = 2375 kJ/m2 × 9,158,960,000,000 m2
Total solar energy = 21,780,485,000,000,000 kJ
Therefore, the total solar energy reaching the entire United States per hour would be 21,780,485,000,000,000 kJ.