Question

6 The bottled water industry is currently worth over $200 billion annually. The average

cost of a bottle of water in the United States is 50 cents.
a Determine the equation that represents the cost (v) of buying x bottles of water.
What does the gradient represent in this equation?
b What is the total cost of buying one bottle of water a day for a year (not a leap year)?
c A high-quality, refillable water bottle costs approximately $40. How many bottles of
water would you have to drink in order for this option to be more cost effective?
Id What other factors, apart from cost, might inflence someone's decision whether to
carry their own water bottle or to buy bottles of water?

Answer 1

a) The cost of buying x bottles of water is represented by the equation v = 0.50x, where v is the cost in dollars and x is the number of bottles of water. The gradient of this equation, which is 0.50, represents the cost per bottle of water.

b) The total cost of buying one bottle of water per day for a year (365 days) is 365 * 0.50 = $182.50.

c) If a refillable water bottle costs $40, then a person would have to drink 40 / 0.50 = 80 bottles of water in order for the refillable water bottle to be more cost effective.

d) Some factors that might influence someone's decision to carry their own water bottle or to buy bottled water include convenience, availability of clean drinking water, personal preference, and environmental impact.