Question

An average person in the united states throws away 4.5 × 10–2 kg of trash per day. In 2013, there were about 3.2 × 10-6 people in the u.S. about how many grams of trash were thrown away in the united states in 2013? 

Answer 1

Solution: We are given:

On an average, one person in United states throws away $4.5 \times 10^{2}$ g/day

In 2013, the population in United states $=3.2 \times 10^{6}$

So in 2013, $4.5 \times 10^{2} \times 3.2 \times 10^{6}=1.44 \times 10^{9}$ g/day of trash was thrown away.

In 2013, the number of days = 365

Therefore, in 2013 the amount of trash thrown away is:

$1.44 \times 10^{9} \times 365=5.26 \times 10^{11}=5.3 \times 10^{11}$ g