In 1955 each farm worker in the United States produced enough food to feed 20 people. By 1960 farming methods had improved, and one worker could supply 25 people. By 1965 that number became 40 people. In 1970 it was 45 people.In 1975 it increased to 60 people. In 1980 one farm worker could suppy 75 people.

Question

In 1955 each farm worker in the United States produced enough food to feed 20 people. By 1960 farming methods had improved, and one worker could supply 25 people. By 1965 that number became 40 people. In 1970 it was 45 people.In 1975 it increased to 60 people. In 1980 one farm worker could suppy 75 people.

How many people do you think were supplied by one farmer in 1990?

Answer 1

To answer this question, we can observe the pattern of how the number of people supplied by one farmer has been increasing over time.

Starting from 1955, each farm worker could supply enough food to feed 20 people. By 1980, this number had increased to 75 people. We can see that over a span of 25 years, the number of people supplied by one farmer increased by 55 (75-20).

Assuming the same rate of increase, we can estimate that from 1980 to 1990, the number of people supplied by one farmer would have increased by another 55. Therefore, we can calculate the estimate as follows:

Number of people supplied by one farmer in 1990 = Number of people supplied by one farmer in 1980 + Increase in number of people supplied
Number of people supplied by one farmer in 1990 = 75 + 55
Number of people supplied by one farmer in 1990 = 130

Therefore, it is estimated that one farmer could supply around 130 people in 1990.

Answer 2

To determine how many people were supplied by one farmer in 1990, we can analyze the trend from the provided data.

From 1955 to 1980, the number of people supplied by one farmer increased continuously. To estimate the number for 1990, we can assume that the trend continued.

Let's calculate the average increase in the number of people supplied by one farmer per year from 1975 to 1980:
(75 - 60) / (1980 - 1975) = 15 / 5 = 3 people per year.

Now we can predict by how much the number would increase from 1980 to 1990:
(1990 - 1980) x 3 = 10 x 3 = 30 people.

Since one farmer supplied 75 people in 1980, we can add the predicted increase of 30 people to get the estimation for 1990:
75 + 30 = 105 people.

Therefore, it is estimated that one farmer supplied approximately 105 people in 1990.