According to the 1990 Census, the population of the United States was 2.49 x 10^8. The cost of taking the census in 1990 was 2.6 x 10^9 dollars. How much did the census cost per person in the United States?
take the population divides the cost
x per y means x/y
Therefore, cost per person means cost/person = 2.6x10^9/2.49x10^8
Without parentheses, you would divide 2.6 x 10^9 by 2.49, then multiply that result by 10^8.
So at a minimum you need to use one set of parentheses:
2.6 x 10^9 / (2.49 x 10^8)
To find the cost per person, we need to divide the total cost of the census by the population.
First, let's rewrite the given information in standard numerical notation:
Population of the United States in 1990: 249,000,000
Cost of taking the census in 1990: $2,600,000,000
To find the cost per person, we divide the total cost by the population:
Cost per person = Total cost / Population
Substituting the given values:
Cost per person = $2,600,000,000 / 249,000,000
Now, we can simplify this division:
Cost per person = $10.44 per person
Therefore, the census cost per person in the United States in 1990 was approximately $10.44.