Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1 gallon
gas
Gallon of gasol-
ine
125,000 BTU
Barrel of crude
oil
1 barrel oil
25,000,000 BTU or 42 gallons of crude oil
1 CF natur-
al gas
Cubic foot of nat-
ural gas
1,031 BTU
APES Math Problems
Every set of free-response questions on the AP Environmental Science exam includes at least one math-based
problem. Recently, including more than one math problem has become the norm. For the most part, the math
consists of algebraic word problems, including determining a percentage change to using dimensional analysis
for unit conversion problems, and problems of straightforward arithmetic.
Math Problems on Prior AP Environmental Science Exams
The following is a review of the math problems for previous AP Environmental Science exams, with energy
calculation problems in bold:
• 1998:
Energy calculation (BTU) of a dishwasher
, dimensional analysis
• 1999: Percentage change, air pollutants
• 2000:
Energy calculation (BTU) of a power plant
, pollutant calculation (pounds of sulfur), dimensional
analysis
• 2001:
Energy calculation (BTU) of a house
, dimensional analysis
• 2002:
Gasoline consumption vs. electric vehicles
, dimensional analysis; Graphing of LD
50
• 2003: Graphing, population growth rate calculation
• 2004:
Energy calculation in kWh of wind power, conversion between kilo and mega
, comparison, di-
mensional analysis
• 2005: Percentage change, meat consumption;
Usage calculation of barrels of crude oil
, ANWR, simple
dimensional analysis
• 2006: Net change, ratio, CO
2
and temperature; Change over time, graph provided, decline of fish popula-
tion
• 2007: Water usage and cost, dimensional analysis
• 2008: Cross-multiplication, how many acres; Calculation of volume for a landfill, dimensional analysis;
Graph total fertility, no grid lines provided
• 2009:
Energy calculation for methane digesters
(number was a decimal but had to round to the whole
number; number was not nice and neat, dimensional analysis); Percentage of land use change, graph
provided, GM crops
• 2010: Cost to capture CO
2
emissions, simple dimensional analysis; methane emissions from termites, di-
mensional analysis; rising sea level, simple dimensional analysis
Dimensional Analysis
A dimensional analysis uses conversion factors to transform data represented in one type of units to data rep-
resented in other units.
