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Practice Test – Resources for Electricity
Energy Resources
1. A nonrenewable resource is a resource that can be used up faster than it can be
replenished naturally. Today, people use many nonrenewable resources to make
products and produce energy. Which of the following is a nonrenewable
resource?
A. wind
B. trees
C. sunlight
D. silver
2. If humans run out of the following resources, which resource would be easiest to
replace?
A. wool
B. oil
C. diamonds
D. coal
3. Renewable energy sources...
A. are easily available in any environment.
B. protect the ozone layer.
C. are constantly replenished by nature.
D. do not pollute the environment.
4. Solar energy is energy from the Sun that is converted into thermal or _____
energy.
A. chemical
B. electrical
C. mechanical
D. nuclear
5. Which of the following is a renewable, but not inexhaustible, resource?
A. sunlight
B. natural gas
C. wind
D. clean water
6. Around 25 percent of the electricity consumed by American households is used to
heat water. Jake's average monthly electricity bill is $195. If Jake installs a solarpowered water heater that does not use any electricity, about how much money
will he save on electricity every month?
A. $150
B. $50
C. $170
D. $25
7. Solar power would be most successful as an energy source in
A. Northern Canada.
B. Southern California and Australia.
C. the Pacific Northwest.
D. Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio.
8. Renewable energy is from an energy resource that is replaced rapidly by a
natural process. Choose the form of renewable energy.
A. oil
B. fossil fuel
C. biomass fuel
D. natural gas
9. What kind of system is generally composed of a fluid system to move the heat
from the collector to its point of usage and a reservoir to stock the heat for
future use?
A. nuclear power
B. solar heating
C. coal burning
D. electrical power
10. The graph below shows the energy sources used to generate electricity in the
United States.
What percentage of the electricity in the United States is generated directly from
solar energy?
A. 2 percent
B. 20 percent
C. 7 percent
D. 1 percent
11. Which is a nonrenewable resource used to heat homes?
A. solar energy
B. wind
C. wood
D. natural gas
12. Which of the following is/are a nonrenewable source of energy that can be used
to produce electrical energy?
A. nuclear reactions
B. solar energy
C. wind
D. all of these
13. Geothermal energy is an alternative energy source. However, it is not resourceful
enough to replace more than a minor amount of the Earth's energy needs. Why
is this?
A. There are only a few places where the Earth's core is hot. It is cool in places like
Antarctica.
B. The center of the Earth is not hot enough to make a significant energy contribution.
C. Once the cool water is poured down the well and filters through the rocks, the rocks
cool off and are no longer hot enough to turn water into steam.
D. Drilling through the Earth to reach areas hot enough to create steam is possible, but
very expensive and difficult.
14. People use resources to get or make many things, including energy, food,
housing, and fresh water. Which of the following resources is necessary in order
to make food?
A. petroleum
B. solar energy
C. forests
D. stone
15. Which of the following actions can a person take in order to best conserve fossil
fuel resources?
A. ride a bike to school
B. recycle newspapers
C. reuse a paper sack as gift wrap
D. turn the faucet off while brushing your teeth
16. Synthetic fuels are made from:
A. sources that do not produce pollution.
B. water and carbon dioxide.
C. renewable and nonrenewable sources.
D. heat and natural gas.
17. A local community needs to provide more electricity for its growing population.
Currently, the community's electricity needs are met by coal-burning power
plants several kilometers away. Citizens are concerned that burning more coal
will produce too much air pollution.
Which of the following could be used as an alternative energy resource to help
minimize air pollution in this community?
A. wind energy
B. solar energy
C. hydroelectric energy
D. all of these
18. Most of the world's automobiles run on energy acquired from petroleum. Like all
fossil fuels, petroleum is a nonrenewable energy resource. This means that it is a
resource that cannot be replaced as quickly as humans use up existing supplies.
Humans face a problem because once petroleum reserves begin to run out, there
won't be enough fuel to power all the automobiles in the world. Which of the
following is the best potential long-term solution to this specific problem of
energy supply?
A. Use a cleaner fossil fuel, such as natural gas, to power automobiles.
B. Use more petroleum, but make sure it is used only in fuel-efficient automobiles.
C. Use renewable resources, such as solar energy, to power automobiles.
D. Maintain current consumption of petroleum, but use it only to manufacture plastics.
19. Which of the following is a renewable energy source?
A. coal
B. natural gas
C. wind power
D. gasoline
20. Solar power and wind power are similar because...
A. they are both non-renewable energy sources.
B. they both are powered by water.
C. they are both dependent upon weather and location.
D. they both are very expensive to operate.
21. Many of Earth's nonrenewable resources are very rare. Other nonrenewable
resources, such as coal, are abundant but not easily replaced. What would
happen if we used up all the coal on Earth?
A. There would be no more coal left to use.
B. We would make more coal at a factory.
C. More coal could quickly be formed underneath the Earth's surface.
D. It is impossible to use all the coal in the world.
22. Choose the list that correctly names the materials that synthetic fuels are
derived from.
A. shale, oil, natural gas, grain
B. coal, shale, sunlight, oil
C. coal, shale, tar sand, grain
D. shale, oil, gasoline, natural gas
23. Fossil fuels are formed from the remains of organisms that lived millions of years
ago. Where does the energy in fossil fuels originally come from?
A. Earth's radioactive core
B. the movement of flowing water
C. Earth's magnetic field
D. the Sun
24. If humans run out of the following resources, which resource would be most
difficult to replace?
A. rice
B. coal
C. lumber
D. wind energy
25. Fossil fuels—such as coal, oil, and natural gas—come from ancient, and long
dead, plant and animal matter. These fuels have been generated through millions
of years of the Earth's geologic processes. Most fossil fuel reserves are found
underground, relatively close to the Earth's surface.
At the current rate that human civilization is burning fossil fuels for energy, the
Earth's geologic processes have no chance of keeping pace. This means that
fossil fuels are a _______ energy resource.
A. plentiful
B. renewable
C. nonrenewable
D. synthetic
Answers
1. D
2. A
3. C
4. B
5. D
6. B
7. B
8. C
9. B
10. D
11. D
12. A
13. D
14. B
15. A
16. C
17. D
18. C
19. C
20. C
21. A
22. C
23. D
24. B
25. C
Explanations
1. There is only a limited amount of minerals, such as silver, on Earth. Once all the silver
has been used up, no more can be made. Resources such as trees, however, can be
planted and grown to replace the ones we use, and resources such as sunlight and wind
are extremely abundant and will constantly be renewed as long as our solar system's
sun burns.
2. Coal, oil, and diamonds are nonrenewable resources because they take millions of years
to form. Wool is a renewable resource. It is a product that comes from sheep. Since
sheep can reproduce and replace themselves relatively quickly, wool would be easiest
to replace.
3. Renewable resources are capable of being regenerated or replaced by ecological
processes fast enough to keep up with their use. Energy from trees, the Sun, wind, and
hydroelectric sources are all examples of renewable resources.
4. Solar power, also known as solar energy, describes a number of methods of harnessing
energy from the light of the Sun. A device such as a photovoltaic cell produces
electricity directly from solar energy.
5. Clean water is a renewable resource, but not an inexhaustible one.
An inexhaustible resource is one which cannot be used up--it is replaced as quickly as it
is used. Sunlight and wind can be considered inexhaustible. Coal, oil and natural gas are
all nonrenewable.
6. If approximately 25 percent of the electricity Jake buys is used by his water heater, then
by installing a solar-powered water heater, his bill will go down by 25 percent. Twentyfive percent of $195 is $48.75.
7. Solar power is most successful in locations that receive a consistent amount of Sun,
such as in Southern California and in Australia. In cloudy locations, it is more difficult
to consistently capture the Sun's energy with solar panels.
8. Biomass fuel, or biofuel, is any fuel that derives from biomass recently living
organisms or their metabolic byproducts, such as manure from cows. Since biomass fuel
is derived from recently living organisms, it is an energy resource that can be replaced
rapidly by a natural process. Gasoline, oil, and natural gas are fossil fuels and
considered to be nonrenewable resources.
9. Solar heating systems are composed of solar thermal collectors, a fluid system to
move the heat from the collector to its point of usage and a reservoir to stock the heat
for future use. The systems may be used to heat domestic hot water or a swimming
pool, or to provide heat for a heating circuit.
10. According to the circle graph, only 1 percent of all the electricity in the United States is
generated using solar energy. The reason for this is because currently solar cells are
expensive to build and maintain. As solar energy becomes cheaper to use, it will most
likely become a more popular source of electrical energy.
11. Natural gas is a nonrenewable resource that is used to power furnaces, cooking stoves,
and hot water heaters. It is considered nonrenewable because it takes millions of years
to form.
Natural gas is often found near deposits of oil. Like oil and coal, it is formed when plant
material is trapped without oxygen under layers of mud or rock.
12. Nuclear reactions can be used to produce electrical energy, like all of the sources
listed, but it is the only nonrenewable resource. Nuclear reactions produce nuclear
energy, which is a valuable source of electrical energy. The setbacks with nuclear
energy is the availability of it, as well as the by-products.
Wind and solar energies are both reliable and renewable. Wind turbines are becoming a
widely used form of producing electrical energy, and solar panels are installed on houses
and traffic signals for electricity.
13. The biggest challenge to utilizing geothermal energy is accessing the Earth's hot
center. There are some relatively easy places to reach this power source, where water
heated by hot materials from the core rises to or near the surface; these are known as
geothermal hotspots. But they cannot be found everywhere.
14. In order to grow or raise food, solar energy is absolutely necessary because plants
cannot grow without sunlight. If plants won't grow, there will be nothing for cattle,
sheep, and pigs to eat. Sunlight also helps algae grow, which is a food that fish eat.
Humans, of course, rely heavily on fish for food.
15. Fossil fuels are nonrenewable resources. They are mostly used to power vehicles and
produce electricity. You can conserve fossil fuels by walking and riding a bike
instead of using a car to get around your community. You can also conserve fossil fuels
by using less electricity.
16. Synthetic fuels are made from renewable sources such as biomatter. Synfuels are
also made from nonrenewable sources such as coal, a fossil fuel.
17. All of these could be used as an alternative energy resource to help minimize air
pollution in this community.
Solar energy can be captured with solar panels and used to produce electrical energy or
to heat systems directly. Wind energy can be captured using wind turbines, which turn
generators to produce electricity. Hydroelectric energy can be produced by using the
energy of running water to turn generators.
Although all types of alternative energy resources have various advantages and
disadvantages, these three all share the advantage of not producing air pollution.
18. Of the answer choices listed, using renewable resources, such as solar energy, to
power automobiles is the best potential long-term solution for this specific problem of
energy supply.
Using cleaner fossil fuels, such as natural gas, to power automobiles can both reduce
current air pollution and help reduce the use of petroleum reserves, but it is not the best
long-term solution for the supply problem because all fossil fuels are nonrenewable
energy resources. Even if humans could start using natural gas instead of petroleum
across the world, eventually the natural gas would run out, and humans would have to
start using petroleum again.
19. Renewable energy sources can be replaced faster than they are used up. Solar power,
wind power, hydroelectric power, and biofuel all use renewable resources to produce
energy.
Nonrenewable energy sources will eventually be used up, because they cannot be
replaced quickly. Gasoline, coal, natural gas, and heating oil are all fossil fuels that are
burned for energy. Fossil fuels are not renewable resources.
20. The weather as well as the location affects each of these power sources. As solar
panels must be placed in a sunny location, windmills must be located on a windy
site.
21. It is very possible that people can use up all, or almost all, of a nonrenewable resource
such as coal, natural gas, or petroleum. If we use up a nonrenewable resource like fossil
fuels (which gas and oil are made of), then we would not regain the needed supply of
fossil fuels until they re-accumulated millions of years later.
22. Synthetic fuels can be made from many substances including coal, shale, tar sand,
and grain. Coal, shale, and tar sand are fossil fuels. Synthetic fuels can also be made
from the fermentation of biomatter. Grain is an example of biomatter.
23. Solar energy from the ancient past is stored in fossil fuels, such as coal and petroleum.
The solar energy is converted into chemical compounds by plants. When the plants die
and are buried under layers of sediments, eventually the energy that was in the plants
change into fossil fuels.
24. Wind energy is an inexhaustible resource; it cannot be used up. Rice and lumber are
renewable resources. Rice can be replaced by planting more rice crops and lumber can
be replaced by planting more trees. Coal is a nonrenewable resource because it takes
millions of years to form. So, coal would be the most difficult resource to replace.
25. A renewable energy resource is a source of energy that regenerates itself so quickly that
it can be used repeatedly, without any worry of running out of it.
Wind is a great example of a renewable energy resource. It doesn't matter how much
wind is used to spin a wind turbine, there will always be more wind coming to spin it
again.
Fossil fuels are nonrenewable energy resources. Although natural processes created
them, these processes are so slow—taking millions of years—that fossil fuels cannot be
regenerated fast enough to keep pace with how quickly they are being used.
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