Question

In 2015, the total rainfall in Central City was 13 inches lessthan the total annual rainfall in Central City in 2000. In 2016,the total rainfall in Central City was 33 inches greater than thetotal annual rainfall in Central City in 2000. If + indicates anincrease in rainfall and – indicates a decrease in rainfall, whatwas the difference, in inches, in the yearly rainfall from 2015to 2016 in Central City?

Answer 1

Let us use the following variables to represent the total rainfall for the years:

`\begin{gathered} p=\text{ total rainfall in 2000} \\ q=\text{ total rainfall in 20}15 \\ r=\text{ total rainfall in 20}16 \end{gathered}`

In 2015, the total rainfall in Central City was 13 inches less than the total annual rainfall in Central City in 2000. This can be expressed to be:

`q=p-13`

In 2016, the total rainfall in Central City was 33 inches greater than the total annual rainfall in Central City in 2000. This can be expressed to be:

`r=p+33`

The difference is given to be:

`\begin{gathered} Total\text{ Rainfall in 2016}-Total\text{ Rainfall in 20}15 \\ \Rightarrow r-q \end{gathered}`

Putting the values we've got, we can calculate the difference to be:

`\begin{gathered} \Rightarrow(p+33)-(p-13) \\ =p+33-p+13 \\ =33+13 \\ =46 \end{gathered}`

Therefore, the difference in the yearly rainfall from 2015 to 2016 is 46 inches.