Chapter 8.7, Problem 44E

To determine

To the nearest thousand tons, about how much solid waste was disposed of in Marion Country during 1998?

Answer to Problem 44E

234,000 thousand tons of solid waste was disposed of in Marion Country during 1998.

Explanation of Solution

Given:

For Orgon countries with population p , the function $w(p)=0.878p-4764$ approximates the amount of solid waste (in tons) that was disposed of during 1998. The population of Marion Country, Oregon, was 271,750 in 1998.

Calculation:

To find the solid waste that was disposed of in Marion Country during 1998, we will substitute $p=271,750$ in our given function as:

  $\begin{array}{l}w(p)=0.878p-4764\left(\text{Given function}\right)\\ w(271,750)=0.878(271,750)-4764\left(\text{Substituting }p=271,750\right)\\ w(271,750)=238596.50-4764\\ w(271,750)=233,832.50\\ w(271,750)\approx 234,000\left(\text{Rounding to nearest thousand}\right)\end{array}$

Therefore, approximately 234,000 thousand tons of solid waste was disposed of in Marion Country during 1998.