Final answer:
To determine if the population mean rate of residential water charged by U.S. public utilities is different from Tulsa's rate, hypothesis tests can be formulated.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine whether the population mean rate per 5 CCF of residential water charged by U.S. public utilities differs from the $21.62 rate charged by Tulsa, we can formulate hypothesis tests.
The null hypothesis (H0) can be stated as: The population mean rate per 5 CCF of residential water charged by U.S. public utilities is equal to $21.62.
The alternative hypothesis (Ha) can be stated as: The population mean rate per 5 CCF of residential water charged by U.S. public utilities differs from $21.62.
We can use statistical tests such as t-tests or z-tests to determine if there is significant evidence to reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the population mean rate per 5 CCF of residential water charged by U.S. public utilities is different from $21.62.