Question

Here are the approximate populations of three cities in the United States, expressed in scientific notation: San Jose: 1.1 * 106; Washington: 7 * 105 *; Atlanta: 4.8 * 105. 7.1 Lin says that about 6.2 * 105 more people live in San Jose than in Atlanta. Do you agree with her? Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

To compare the populations of San Jose and Atlanta, we can simply subtract the population of Atlanta from the population of San Jose:

San Jose population - Atlanta population = (1.1 * 10^6) - (4.8 * 10^5) = 6.5 * 10^5

This means that San Jose's population is 6.5 * 10^5 more than Atlanta's population.

However, Lin says that San Jose's population is about 6.2 * 10^5 more than Atlanta's population. This is very close to the actual value of 6.5 * 10^5, so I would agree with her statement.

Therefore, based on the given population figures, it seems reasonable to agree with Lin's statement that San Jose's population is about 6.2 * 10^5 more than Atlanta's population.