Final answer:
To find out how many rubber bands Mr. Bain added each month, divide the total number of rubber bands by the total time. The estimation shows that around 11,000 rubber bands were added each month.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find out how many rubber bands Mr. Bain added each month, we need to divide the total number of rubber bands by the total time it took to put the ball together. Mr. Bain added 550,000 rubber bands over 4 years and 2 months. We can convert the time to months by multiplying 4 years by 12 months and adding the 2 extra months: 4 years x 12 months + 2 months = 50 months. Now, we can divide the total number of rubber bands by the total months: 550,000 rubber bands ÷ 50 months = 11,000 rubber bands added each month.
Let's use estimation to check if our answer is reasonable. We know that Mr. Bain added more than 10,000 rubber bands each month because 11,000 is greater than 10,000. So, it is reasonable to estimate that Mr. Bain added around 11,000 rubber bands each month.