Question

The human body generates about 400 BTUs of body heat per hour while active. If an office that is 18 ft × 38 ft × 12 ft has 12 workers, how many BTUs per cubic foot do they produce in 5 hours? (to the nearest tenth)

A) 0.2 BTUs/ft3
B) 0.6 BTUs/ft3
C) 1.5 BTUs/ft3
D) 2.9 BTUs/ft3

Answer 1

To determine the amount of heat produced per cubic foot in a given period of time. We simply multiply the heat per hour to the number of hours and divide the resulting value with the volume.

400 BTU / hr (5 hr) = 2000 BTU

2000 BTU / (18)(38)(12) = 0.2 BTU /ft^3 x 12 = 2.9 BTU/ft^3