To find how much each American drove, we divide the total miles driven by the total number of drivers (rounded to the nearest million for simplicity): 4,000,000,000,000 = 4,000,000 = 14, 035 R25 (showing long division work) 285,000,000 285 Supposing that the total of miles driven does not change much from year to year, and rounding to the nearest thousand, we estimate each American drives about 14,000 miles a year.(*) Based on the above (*), estimate how many miles the average American drives per day. Write (and evaluate) the mathematical operation(s) that justify your estimate Compare your estimate to actual US Bureau of Transportation statistics, which indicate that the average person travels 40 miles on a daily basis-most of it in a personal vehicle. What might account for the difference between this data and your estimate? Suppose you drive 40 miles a day. If your car gets 20 miles per gallon, and gasoline costs $3.00 a gallon, how much will you spend on gasoline each day? How much will you spend each week? Each year? To fully charge the battery of an electric car requires about 15 kilowatt hours (kwH) overnight, when electricity prices are about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. Assume that a fully charged electric car can last for a day. How much would you be paying each week to "fuel" or charge your electric car, in dollars? Based on your answers in (2), how much more would it cost you per year to fuel a gasoline-powered car, instead of an electric car? First figure it out, then write and evaluate all the mathematical operations to justify your reasoning: Sample Problem and Solution: A recycling facility used to pick up 13 pounds of e-waste from each of a hundred residences each day. The waste from 80 of the residences was shipped to China, while half of the remainder was actually unrecyclable and ended up in a landfill. (The other half was recycled). Find the total pounds of waste picked up from a hundred residences in a day. Solution: Since 13 pounds of e-waste was picked up from 100 residences, the total amount of waste picked up in a day is 13 Times 100 = 1300 pounds. Find the total pounds of waste shipped to China from a hundred residences in a day. Solution: The waste from 80 households was shipped to china. Thus the total amount of waste shipped to China in a day is 13 Times 80 = 1040 pounds. Find the total pounds of waste from a hundred residences actually recycled in a day. Solution: The waste from 80 households was shipped to China, so the remaining households are 20. The half of the remainder was unrecyclable and the other half of the remainder was recycled, thus the waste from 10 households was recycled. Hence the amount of wasted recycled in a day is 13 Times 10=130 pounds. Ten years later, the similar pattern holds for the recycling company-they still collect e-waste from 100 residences every day, the waste from 80 of these is still sent to China, and only half of the remainder is recycled-but they collect more waste from each house, 25 pounds of waste is collected from each of 100 residences every day. Find the total pounds of waste collected from a hundred residences in a day. Find the total pounds of waste shipped to China from a hundred residences in a day. Find the total pounds of waste actually recycled from a hundred residences in a day. (Justify your reasoning):
