Topic 8.1 – Energy sources Formative Assessment
NAME: _________________________________ TEAM:__
THIS IS A PRACTICE ASSESSMENT. Show formulas, substitutions, answers (in spaces provided) and units!
The following questions are about fossil fuel energy production.
1. Draw a Sankey diagram for a coal-fired plant. Begin with coal, and end with electricity at the home.
2. Suppose a steam locomotive is rated at 7500 horsepower. If its
efficiency is 6%, how much wood must be burned in a 3 hour trip? 1
hp = 750 W. Wood has an energy density of 20.0 MJ kg-1.
2. _________________
A 95.0 MW coal-fired power station is proposed for a city. It is expected to
have an efficiency of about 15.5%, and use a coal with an energy density of
35.0 MJ kg-1.
3. Calculate the mass of coal that must be burned per day to provide the
desired output power. 3. _________________
4. How many train cars per day are needed to keep this plant supplied with coal if each car holds 2.5
metric tons of coal? 4. _________________
The following questions are about nuclear power.
5. If a nuclear power plant powered by uranium-235 has the same output and the same efficiency as
the coal-fired plant of the previous problem, how many kg of nuclear fuel will it burn per year?