Question

Kevin moved from a city to a small town. The population of the city is 6 x 10^5, which is about 15 times as great as the small town. Which expression could represent the approximate population of the small town?

Answer 1

6 x 10^5 = 15 * (x = pop. of small town)
6 x 10^5 / 15 = x
60 / 15 x 10^4 = x
4 x 10^4 = pop. of small town

Answer 2

The population of small town is 40,000. The expression
`4* 10^4` represents the approximate population of the small town.

Explanation:

The population of the city is

`6* 10^5=600,000`

Let the population of small town be x.

It is given that the population of city is about 15 times as great as the small town.

`15x=600,000`

Divide both sides by 15.

`(15x)/(15)=(600,000)/(15)`

`x=40,000`

It can be written as

`x=4* 10^4`

Therefore population of small town is 40,000. The expression
`4* 10^4` represents the approximate population of the small town.