Presidential Physics Quiz

Here’s your chance to sample Physics 10, the popular course taught by Richard Muller at the University of California at Berkeley. There’s no tuition fee — and you can win a prize (Dr. Muller’s new book with the same title as the course, “Physics for Future Presidents.”, which we will occasionally use in class) if you do well on the quiz. Click for the link and a chance to enter

1. How does the amount of energy per gram of TNT (that's Dynamite!) compare with the energy per gram of a chocolate chip cookie?
(a) The TNT contains about twice as much as much energy.(b) The TNT contains nearly 10 times more energy.(c) The TNT contains about 1000 times more energy.(d) The cookie contains nearly 10 times as much energy.(e) They contain roughly equal amounts of energy.

2. Based on the answer to the previous question, suggest an energy-efficient way to destroy a car.

3. To generate the electric power of a large nuclear-power plant (1 gigawatt), how much land on a sunny day would an array (this means a whole bunch, placed side by side) of solar cells (at 40% efficiency) have to cover?
(a) 1 square mile(b) 16 square miles(c) 160 square miles(d) 1,600 square miles(e) 16,000 square miles (the area of California)

4. Why aren’t more solar power plants being built?

answers must be submitted as a comment on this NY Times blog:
http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/presidential-physics-quiz/?em