APES Energy Unit Take Home Test

1. Coal replaced wood as industrialized countries' major energy source in the nineteenth
century because

A. coal was easier to transport.

B. coal was a cleaner fuel.
C. early conservationists warned about the loss of biodiversity in the forests.
D. wood is not as energy efficient as coal.
E. wood supplies were diminishing.

2. A major force leading Americans to begin thinking carefully about energy

conservation was the

A. industrial revolution.
B. 1973 Arab oil embargo.
C. near depletion of domestic coal supplies.
D. invention of nuclear energy.
E. 1990 Gulf War.

3. Which of the following is not considered a fossil fuel?

A. coal
B. natural gas
C. oil
D. charcoal
E. All of these are considered to be fossil fuels.
4. Which of the following energy sources does not contribute to the greenhouse
effect?

A. coal
B. petroleum
C. nuclear fission
D. wood
E. natural gas
5. The chemical industry is the second largest industrial consumer of fossil fuels with
________ used for energy generation and ____________ used for raw materials in
manufacturing.

A. half; half
B. three quarters; one quarter
C. one quarter; three quarters
D. one third; two thirds
E. two thirds; one third

Use the following scenario. As a member of the student governing body, you are the
student representative for the school's planning board. They are planning to update their
fleet of cars and are investigating cars fueled with natural gas or electric batteries. During
this initial meeting they are not looking at the technical problems and instead are
interested in the most clean burning and energy efficient car. The president of the board is
convinced that a fleet of electric cars would be best because electricity is clean and
efficient. On the other hand, another board member brings up the fact that natural gas is
clean and efficient and he feels that a fleet of cars fueled with natural gas would be best.

6. What is your reaction to the president's position in the scenario above?

A. I agree because almost 100 percent of electricity's energy is converted to useful

work.
B. I agree because no pollution is given off when electricity is used.
C. I agree because electricity is relatively inexpensive.
D. I disagree because electricity is extremely expensive.
E. I disagree because electricity comes from power plants that are generally fired
with coal.

7. What is your reaction to the board member's position in the scenario above?

A. I agree because about 90 percent of natural gas' energy is converted to useful

work.
B. I agree because no pollution is given off when natural gas is burned.
C. I agree because natural gas is relatively inexpensive.
D. I disagree because natural gas is extremely expensive.
E. I disagree because refining natural gas releases large amounts of pollution.
8. What is your recommendation to the board in the scenario above?

A. I recommend a fleet of cars fueled with natural gas.

B. I recommend a fleet of cars fueled with electric batteries.
C. I recommend a fleet of with some cars fueled with natural gas and others fueled
with electricity.
D. I recommend further analysis because the clean burning and energy efficient
characteristics, although important, are not the only factors that should be
investigated.
E. I recommend a fleet of cars fueled with gasoline because the current technology
for electric cars or natural gas is not yet perfected enough.
9. Worldwide, coal deposits are

A. widespread but rarely in economic quantities.

B. relatively difficult to find.
C. highly unusual formations.
D. widespread and extensive.
E. decreasing at alarming rates.

10. The main pollutant released by coal burning is

A. mercury vapor.
B. methane.
C. sulfur oxides.
D. volatile organic compounds.
E. NOx.

11. Natural gas is the most __________ fuel with _______ of its energy content lost in
shipping and handling.

A. expensive, over 70 percent

B. efficient, only 10 percent
C. environmentally damaging, over 50 percent
D. polluting, only 1 percent
E. available, only 1 percent

12. At $50 per barrel, how many barrels of oil could be profitably extracted from
ANWR?

A. 7 million
B. 70 million
C. 700 million
D. 7 billion
E. 70 billion
13. Secondary recovery techniques are ways to

A. force more oil out of a drying well.

B. extract new types of fuels from an empty well.
C. recover nonfuel materials from an oil well.
D. distill usable fuels from raw petroleum.
E. recover the oil that spills when an oil well gushes.

14. Oil shale and tar sands are examples of ________ oil.

A. unrecoverable
B. unproven
C. unknown
D. unconventional
E. recoverable
15. Methane from animal waste is an example of a(n)

A. conventional gas source.

B. unconventional gas resource.
C. by-product of human activities.
D. nonrenewable energy source.
E. Both "unconventional gas resources" and "by-product of human activities" are
true.

16. Interest in nuclear power as a major world energy source

A. was strong in the 1950s but has since faded.

B. gradually built to a peak in the 1980s and 1990s.
C. reached a peak of interest due to the Gulf War.
D. has been consistently low since it was invented.
E. is increasing because of the threat of global warming.
17. According to the diagram above, the number of plants in operation ______ in the
early 1990's.

A. increased sharply
B. increased
C. decreased sharply
D. decreased
E. leveled off

18. Why didn't the "Plants in operation" curve in the diagram above increase to the same
level that the "Plants on order" curve peaked?

A. Because of the increased concerns about reactor safety and waste disposal.
B. Because some people were still supportive of nuclear power.
C. Because nuclear power does not contribute to the greenhouse effect.
D. Because there is a lag time between ordering and operating a nuclear plant.
E. Because many utilities cancelled their orders.

19. Why was there an increase for nuclear plants in operation when nuclear plants on
order decreased so rapidly in the mid 1970s?

A. Because of the increased concerns about reactor safety and waste disposal.
B. Because some people were still supportive of nuclear power.
C. Because nuclear power does not contribute to the greenhouse effect.
D. Because there is a lag time between ordering and operating a nuclear plant.
E. Because many utilities cancelled their orders.

20. The fuel used in a conventional PWR or BWR nuclear power plants is

A. plutonium.
B. uranium.
C. thorium.
D. cadmium.
E. Any one of these.
21. Which of the following statements regarding nuclear energy is true?

A. In a nuclear power plant, electricity is collected directly from electrons splitting

off from fuel atoms.
B. Nearly all nuclear power plants worldwide are built far from water sources to
prevent contamination.
C. Decommissioning a nuclear power plant costs up to ten times as much as building
it.
D. The Pressurized Water Reactor and the Boiling Water Reactor are essentially the
two main designs for a nuclear power plant.
E. In a nuclear power plant, electricity is collected directly from the combination of
electrons.

22. Uranium fuel is ____________ before it can be put into a reactor.

A. extensively processed to clean and purify it

B. found in concentrated form in the Earth and then washed
C. produced by bombarding it with electrons from radioactive plutonium
D. extensively processed in order to change it to a safer form
E. None of these are true.

23. A fuel assembly in a nuclear power plant consists of

A. fuel pellets packed into a hollow rod.

B. about one hundred pellet-filled rods bundled together.
C. fuel pellets arranged in a cube and encased in plastic.
D. about a thousand fuel rods.
E. neutron-absorbing material such as cadmium.

24. Nuclear fission occurs when a high-energy subatomic particle, a neutron, strikes a
uranium atom, releases energy and

A. breaks in half, causing another atom to break.

B. releases an electron in a gamma wave.
C. releases protons.
D. releases neutrons.
E. combines with another neutron to release even more energy.

25. Control rods in a nuclear reactor are used to

A. absorb neutrons.
B. move fuel rods around in the chamber.
C. provide neutrons to initiate reactions.
D. provide cooling by decreasing the temperature of the water.
E. increase the temperature of the water.
26. The most likely disaster in a nuclear power plant is that

A. the plant would explode like a nuclear bomb.

B. cooling systems could fail, causing rapid overheating.
C. fuel rods could fail to maintain chain reactions.
D. nuclear fusion would get out of control and cause explosions.
E. All of these are equally likely.

27. Most nuclear plants in the United States use _________ to cool fuel rods and run
turbines.

A. pressurized air and water

B. forced air
C. freon, as in a refrigerator
D. pressurized water and steam
E. liquid sodium

28. A breeder reactor is designed to

A. burn on multiple types of fuels such as plutonium, uranium, and thorium.

B. create fissionable plutonium from spent fission reactor fuel.
C. operate on a very small scale.
D. be safer than any other type of reactor.
E. be cooled with cadmium cooling rods.

29. The liquid sodium that must be used to cool a breeder reactor

A. is explosive in contact with water.

B. burns intensely when exposed to oxygen.
C. is highly corrosive.
D. All of these.
E. None of these.

30. Radioactive waste dumping in oceans has been

A. considered by many governments but not carried out.

B. common worldwide until last year.
C. continued by the Soviet government until very recently.
D. banned worldwide since 1957.
E. proven to be safe because the wastes are sinking to very deep oceanic trenches.
31. Nuclear waste storage in the United States is handled

A. in temporary storage at individual plants.

B. in the permanent storage depot managed by the federal government.
C. by dumping at sea.
D. by shipping overseas to Surinam and Venezuela.
E. All of these are ways that the United States handles nuclear waste storage.

32. Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is the site of a

A. proposed breeder reactor project.

B. proposed national nuclear waste repository.
C. the most notorious radioactive leak in history.
D. leading nuclear free zone.
E. permanent nuclear storage depot managed by the federal government.

33. Nuclear fusion is a(n) ____________ technology.

A. proven and common

B. ideal but so far unachievable
C. technologically easy but publicly objectionable
D. long-time standard
E. clean, efficient, and relatively inexpensive

34. Fossil fuels currently supply about 50 percent of all world commercial energy
supplies.

A. True
B. False

35. World coal reserves are substantially smaller than petroleum reserves.

A. True
B. False

36. The United States has only enough proven oil supplies to last ten years at current
rates of consumption.

A. True
B. False

37. Improving the fuel economy of cars and light trucks in America would save more oil
than is ever likely to be recovered from ANWR.

A. True
B. False
38. Under normal operating conditions you are likely to get a higher dose of radiation
living next to a nuclear plant than a coal-burning plant.

A. True
B. False

39. For much of the past decade battles have been going on over oil and gas drilling in
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

A. True
B. False

40. Since nuclear power plants can explode like a bomb, the radioactive releases are
extremely devastating.

A. True
B. False

Essay Question for Conventional Sources

41. Evaluate the costs and benefits (more than economic) of using coal, oil, and natural
gas. In your evaluation provide the pros and cons, and the context for which each
energy source would best work.

42. Energy efficiency is a measure of

A. heat produced by a barrel of fuel.

B. energy stored in a unit of fuel.
C. energy produced compared to energy consumed.
D. total energy consumed over a year divided by time spent.
E. energy used per unit of time.

43. How does eating locally grown food in season save energy?

A. Locally grown food does not need to be transported far distances.

B. Locally grown food does not use petroleum-based fertilizers.
C. Locally grown food does not use petroleum-based pesticides.
D. Locally grown food supports local farmers.
E. All of these are ways that eating locally grown food in season saves energy.
44.Utility companies are investing in public education and incentive programs to reduce
energy use because

A. it is cheaper for them to invest in energy conservation than build new power
plants.
B. they are worried about the finite supply of fossil fuel.
C. the high cost of global warming would be prohibitive for them.
D. of the need to improve public relations by helping consumers reduce their
monthly bills.
E. they are worried about the pollution from mining and burning coal.

45. Active solar energy systems involve

A. large volumes of massive heat absorbers.

B. pumps and moving fluids.
C. photovoltaic cells.
D. cogeneration.
E. stationary materials to gather and hold heat.

46. The most effective technology developed so far to produce solar energy concentrated
enough to run an industrial furnace or turbine is to use

A. parabolic mirrors.
B. cogeneration.
C. passive heat absorption.
D. photovoltaic cells.
E. cogeneration.

47. In 1997, the _______________ company invested money into a solar cell
manufacturing facility. This action is __________________.

A. Shell Oil, typical for a fossil fuel company because they are invested in energy
sources
B. British Petroleum, typical for a fossil fuel company because they are invested in
energy sources
C. British Petroleum, atypical for a fossil fuel company because they usually block
renewable energy
D. Shell Oil, atypical for a fossil fuel company because they usually block renewable
energy
E. Chevron Oil, not supported by the board members at Chevron
48. The two greatest energy users in the average American home are

A. the furnace and water heater.

B. the refrigerator and water heater.
C. lighting and space heating.
D. small appliances and space heating.
E. the refrigerator and the stove.

49. Photovoltaic cells work because solar energy striking their surface

A. causes the cells to liquefy as they heat.

B. releases electrons, causing an electric potential in attached wires.
C. is collected in the form of photons and sent through attached wires.
D. causes an uneven magnetic charge to develop.
E. changes to chemical energy.

50. Photovoltaic electricity costs are __________ coal or nuclear-powered electricity.

A. substantially less than

B. unlikely to become as cheap as
C. incomparably more expensive than
D. likely to be cheaper in the near future than
E. the same as

Essay Questions for Non-Traditional and Renewable Energy Sources

( 20 pts for each of the following)

51. Compare and Contrast Active and Passive Solar Energy.

52. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Wind Power.

53. Compare Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.

54. Go to the website: www.eere.energy.gov/states/us_energy_statistics.cfm

You will see a map of the United States. Briefly summarize the energy situation in the
state of Washington. Then compare and contrast the energy requirements and production
between California and Texas.