Question

1. How many years would it take for a person in the United States to eat 855 pounds of apples

2. How many years would it take for a person in the United States to eat 1,120 pounds of turkey?


3. If 6 people in the United States each eat the average amount of popcorn for 5 years, how many quarts of popcorn will they eat?


4. In the United States, a person eats more than 40,000 pounds of bread in a lifetime if he or she lives to be 80 years old. Does this statement make sense, or is it nonsense? Explain.

Answer 1

1) A person would need approximately 51 years to eat 855 pounds of apples.

2) A person would need approximately 69 years to eat 1120 pounds of turkey.

3) 6 people in the United States will eat 1260 quarts in next 5 years.

4) The statement is a nonsense.

Explanation:

1) According to the German page Statista, a person in the United States had a per capita consumption of 16.91 pounds of fresh apples in 2018/19. If we consider that a person consume at same rate, then the time taken is obtained by dividing total amount of fresh apples by per capita consumption rate:

`x = (855\,pd)/(16.91\,(pd)/(yr) )`

`x = 50.562\,years`

A person would need approximately 51 years to eat 855 pounds of apples.

2) According to the German page Statista, a person in the United States had a per capita consumption of 16.40 pounds of turkey in 2018/19. If we consider that a person consume at same rate, then the time taken is obtained by dividing total amount of turkey by per capita consumption rate:

`x = (1120\,pd)/(16.40\,(pd)/(yr) )`

`x = 68.293\,years`

A person would need approximately 69 years to eat 1120 pounds of turkey.

3) Accoring to the US page Aghires, a person in the United States had a per capita consumption of 42 quarts of pop corn in 2017/2018. The total consumption of the groups equals the product of number of people, time and per capita consumption. That is:

`x = 42\,(qt)/(yr)* 6 * 5\,yr`

`x = 1260\,quarts`

6 people in the United States will eat 1260 quarts in next 5 years.

4) According to the US newspaper The South Florida Reporter, a person in the United States had a per capita consumption of 53 pounds of bread in 2017/2018. Consumption during 80 years can be estimated by knowing the product of time and per capita consumption. That is:

`x = 80\,yr * 53\,(pd)/(yr)`

`x = 4240\,pd`

Which is only equivalent to about 10 % of the alleged indicator and, consequently, the statement is a nonsense.