Gigajoules to Watt-seconds conversion

How to convert gigajoules to watt-seconds?

Sure, let's break this down step-by-step.

Conversion of 1 Gigajoule to Watt-seconds

1. Understanding Units:

   • A Joule (J) is the amount of energy transferred when 1 watt (W) of power is applied for 1 second (s). Thus, 1 Joule = 1 Watt-second.
   • A Gigajoule (GJ) is 10^9 Joules.

2. Conversion Calculation:

   • 1 Gigajoule (GJ) = 1 × 10^9 Joules
   • Therefore, 1 Gigajoule (GJ) = 1 × 10^9 Watt-seconds

So, 1 Gigajoule = 1,000,000,000 Watt-seconds.

Real-World Examples for Other Quantities of Gigajoules

1. Residential Energy Consumption:

   • A typical household in the United States uses about 10,972 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electrical energy annually.
   • Converting this to Joules: $10,972 \text{ kWh} = 10,972 \times 3.6 \times 10^6 \text{ Joules} \approx 3.95 \times 10^{10} \text{ Joules}$
   • This is approximately 39.5 Gigajoules per year.

2. Transportation:

   • The energy content of 1 gallon of gasoline is around 120 Megajoules (MJ).
   • So, for 10 gallons:
     • 10 gallons × 120 MJ per gallon = 1200 MJ = 1.2 GJ

3. Industrial Energy Use:

   • A medium-sized industrial furnace might consume around 1000 GJ of natural gas per day to operate.

4. Natural Phenomena:

   • A strong hurricane can release energy equivalent to about 600 terajoules (TJ) per day.
   • 600 terajoules = 600,000 GJ per day.

5. Human Daily Energy Intake:

   • An average adult human consumes about 8,700 kJ (kilojoules) of energy per day through food.
   • This is 8.7 MJ, or 0.0087 GJ per day.

Summary

To convert 1 Gigajoule to Watt-seconds: $1 \text{ GJ} = 1 \times 10^9 \text{ Watt-seconds}$

Real-world examples provide various contexts where Gigajoules help to understand immense quantities of energy, like household consumption, fuel energy content, industrial use, natural phenomena, and even human daily energy intake.