The United States Department of Agriculture reported in Vegetables and Melons Outlook in 2007 that the average America consumes about 7.4 x 10^3 potato chips in a year. Since Idaho had about 1.5 x 10^6 people in 2007, how many potato chips would Idaho residents have consumed in 2007? make an exact computation and record your answer in scientific notation.
just multiply the two numbers.
But it will not be accurate. It is likely that Idahoans eat more potatoes than the average American.
To find the total number of potato chips consumed by Idaho residents in 2007, we need to multiply the average consumption per person by the population of Idaho.
Step 1: Convert the average consumption of potato chips to scientific notation.
The average consumption of potato chips is given as 7.4 x 10^3.
Step 2: Convert the population of Idaho to scientific notation.
The population of Idaho is given as 1.5 x 10^6.
Step 3: Multiply the average consumption by the population.
(7.4 x 10^3) * (1.5 x 10^6)
To multiply numbers in scientific notation, we simply multiply the coefficients and add the exponents:
(7.4 * 1.5) x (10^3 * 10^6) = 11.1 x 10^9
Step 4: Convert the result back to scientific notation.
11.1 x 10^9 can be expressed as 1.11 x 10^10 since the coefficient is between 1 and 10.
Therefore, Idaho residents would have consumed approximately 1.11 x 10^10 potato chips in 2007.