You might be thinking of work, which gives a change in, or amount, of energy. It would be appropriate to calculate the amount of work (or energy) for a specific period of time.
Power is a rate of energy production or use. Watts are the unit for power, and 1 Watt = 1 Joule/second. This is how much energy is being produced per second (in each second). So if you need to know a period of time for this question then use 1 second: figure out the amount of energy produced in 1 second, and that will be the power, in energy (joules) per second (W=J/s). Hope that helps.
Yes, if only half the gravitational potential energy is being converted into electrical energy then you would divide by 2 to get the amount of power being produced by this power plant.
4 comments:
You might be thinking of work, which gives a change in, or amount, of energy. It would be appropriate to calculate the amount of work (or energy) for a specific period of time.
Power is a rate of energy production or use. Watts are the unit for power, and 1 Watt = 1 Joule/second. This is how much energy is being produced per second (in each second). So if you need to know a period of time for this question then use 1 second: figure out the amount of energy produced in 1 second, and that will be the power, in energy (joules) per second (W=J/s).
Hope that helps.
Ohh, okay. You're right, I was getting the calculations for power and work mixed up. Thanks, Dr. Winters! :)
since the question says half the potential energy is being used, would we half the power for our answer?
Yes, if only half the gravitational potential energy is being converted into electrical energy then you would divide by 2 to get the amount of power being produced by this power plant.
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