SOLUTION: Negative divided by a positive. As of January 2007, the national debt was $8.686 trillion dollars and the U.S. population was 300.814 million people. Find the amount of the debt

Algebra ->  Equations -> SOLUTION: Negative divided by a positive. As of January 2007, the national debt was $8.686 trillion dollars and the U.S. population was 300.814 million people. Find the amount of the debt      Log On


   

Question 335810: Negative divided by a positive. As of January 2007, the
national debt was $8.686 trillion dollars and the U.S.
population was 300.814 million people. Find the amount
of the debt per person to the nearest dollar.
Answer by Theo(13342) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
8.686 trillion is equivalent to 8.686 * 10^12

thousand is 10^3
million is 10^6
billion is 10^9
trillion is 10^12

300.814 million is equivalent to 300.814 * 10^6

debt per person is 8.686 * 10^12 divided by 300.814 * 10^6

by the laws of exponents, 10^12 divided by 10^6 = 10^(12-6) = 10^6.

8.686 / 300.814 = .028874986

debt per person is therefore equal to .028874986 * 10^6.

This is equivalent to $28,874.99 per person.