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Mrs. Cent recently completed a lab with her students in which they measured the wattage of various appliances. The tag on the hairdryer states that it uses 1500 watts. Write an equation to represent this information, with Wrepresenting the total wattage and Hrepresenting the number of hair dryers.

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Final answer:

The total wattage of hair dryers represented by the equation W = 1500 x H, where W is the wattage and H is the number of hair dryers. The power rating depends on the function of the appliance, and energy cost can be calculated using power consumption over time.

Step-by-step explanation:

An equation to represent the total wattage based on the number of hair dryers used would be W = 1500 × H, where W is the total wattage and H is the number of hair dryers. This equation assumes that each hair dryer uses 1500 watts, as stated on the tag.

Considering energy usage, power ratings of appliances vary as they are designed for different functions. A toaster has a higher rating than a digital clock because it converts electrical energy into heat to toast bread, which requires more power compared to just powering a small display. If we assume the operating current and a household voltage of 120 V, we would use the formula P = IV to calculate the power.

For the total wattage used in school restrooms, assuming each long fluorescent light uses 32 W, we can calculate the cost of leaving these lights on over the weekend. If each light is left on from 6 p.m. Friday until 8 a.m. Monday, we can calculate the energy consumption in kilowatt-hours and then estimate the cost based on local energy rates.

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