Question

In 2013, the United States used 97.5 quads of energy and had a population of 316.5 million people. That same year, Japan had a population of 127 million people and used 21 quads of energy. What was the average energy use (per million people) for Japan and the United States in 2013?

Answer 1

The United States used 97.5 quads of energy in 2013 and had a population of 316.5 million people. The average energy use per million people in the United States can be calculated in this way:

In Japan, a population of 127 million people used a total of 21 quads of energy. So the average energy use per million people in Japan can be calculated in this way:

The United States used approximately 0.30 quads of energy per million people and Japan used about 0.16 quads of energy per million people.

Answer 2

United States: 0.308 quads/million people. Japan: 0.165 quads/million people. This is a simple matter of division. Take the total energy used and divide among the number of people using it. So: United States: 97.5 / 316.5 = 0.308056872 quads per million people. Japan: 21 / 127 = 0.165354331 quads per million people. Rounding to 3 significant figures gives 0.308 quads/million for United States and 0.165 quads/million for Japan.