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According to the table of energy magnitudes, the estimated energy released in the Big Bang is about 10^68 joules, while the annual world energy use is about 4 x 10^20 joules. Roughly how many orders of magnitude larger is the Big Bang energy than one year of world energy use?
AAbout 8 orders of magnitude
BAbout 24 orders of magnitude
CAbout 48 orders of magnitude
DAbout 68 orders of magnitude
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. About 48 orders of magnitude
1. Comparing two powers of ten means subtracting their exponents: 68 minus 20.
2. That subtraction gives 48, so the Big Bang's estimated energy is about 10^48 times larger than one year of world energy use.
3. A factor of 10^48 corresponds to about 48 orders of magnitude difference between the two quantities.
4. 68 orders of magnitude would be the Big Bang's own exponent taken alone, ignoring the comparison entirely, and 8 and 24 orders of magnitude do not match the actual exponent subtraction.
_Source: OpenStax College Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 7 "Work, Energy, and Energy Resources", section 7.6 Conservation of Energy_
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