Question

Patrick uses heating oil. He has a storage tank that is 2m long and 1m in diameter. The energy content of heating oil is 0.034 million BTU/liter and he is charged $1300 to fill the tank completely. He is considering switching to natural gas, which costs $10 per million BTU. Which fuel would be less expensive to use and why?

Answer 1

Since the storage tank is cylindrical in shape, therefore the volume is =

Now the energy content of heating oil (completely filled in the tank) is =

Cost of heating oil per million BTU is = 1300/53.41 dollars = 24.34 dollars

And cost of natural gas per million BTU is = 10 dollars

So, natural gas would be less expensive to use because it is cheaper than heating oil.