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What is your energy IQ? Take our pop quiz on your energy knowledge!

1. Most of the energy we use originally came from

  1. the sun
  2. the air
  3. the soil
  4. the oceans

2. Electrical energy can be produced from

  1. mechanical energy
  2. chemical energy
  3. radiant energy
  4. all of the above

3. Which uses the most energy in American homes each year?

  1. lighting
  2. water heating
  3. heating and cooling rooms
  4. refrigeration

4. The U.S. consumes lots of energy.  Which fuel provides the most energy?

  1. petroleum
  2. coal
  3. natural gas
  4. solar

5. Coal, petroleum, natural gas, and propane are fossil fuels. They are called fossil fuels because:

  1. they are burned to release energy and they cause air pollution
  2. they were formed from the buried remains of plants and tiny animals that lived hundred of millions of years ago
  3. they are nonrenewable and will run out
  4. they are mixed with fossils to provide energy

6. Gasoline is produced by refining which fossil fuel?

  1. natural gas
  2. coal
  3. petroleum
  4. propane

7. Propane is used instead of natural gas on many farms and in rural areas. Why is propane often used instead of natural gas? 

  1. it’s safer
  2. it’s portable
  3. it’s cleaner
  4. it's cheaper

8. What sector of the U.S. economy consumes most of the nation’s petroleum?

  1. residential
  2. commercial
  3. industrial
  4. transportation

9. Natural gas is transported mainly by

  1. pipelines
  2. trucks
  3. barges
  4. all three equally

10. Global warming focuses on an increase in the level of which gas in the atmosphere?

  1. ozone
  2. sulfur dioxide
  3. carbon dioxide
  4. nitrous oxide

11. Solar, biomass, geothermal, wind, and hydropower energy are all renewable sources of energy. They are called renewable because they

  1. are clean and free to use
  2. can be converted directly into heat and electricity
  3. can be replenished by nature in a short period of time
  4. do not produce air pollution

12. Which renewable energy source provides the U.S. with the most energy?

  1. wind
  2. solar
  3. hydropower
  4. biomass

13.  Electricity is the movement of 

  1. atoms
  2. molecules
  3. electrons
  4. neutrons

14. How much of the energy in burning coal reaches the consumer as electricity?

  1. 1/3 (one-third)
  2. 1/2 (one-half)
  3. 3/4 (three-quarters)
  4. 9/10 (nine-tenths)

15. In the nuclear power plants that we have now, uranium atoms 

  1. combine and give off heat energy
  2. split and give off heat energy
  3. burn and give off heat energy
  4. split and give off electrons