Question

The Pecan Company sold 5,909,999,222 pecans last year. This year the company sold 3,999,002,135 pecans. Which is the best estimate of the total number of pecans sold last year and this year?A.8,000,000,000B.9,000,000,000C.9,909,001,357D.10,000,000,000

Answer 1

We are asked to figure out the best estimate of the total number of pecans sold last year and this year.

Recall that the best estimate is not the exact number but rather an estimate that is closer to the exact number.

Let us round off the number of pecans sold last year and this year to the nearest 1 billion places.

$\begin{gathered} 5,909,999,222=6,000,000,000 \\ 3,999,002,135=4,000,000,000 \end{gathered}$

Finally, add the numbers

$6,000,000,000+4,000,000,000=10,000,000,000$

Therefore, the best estimate of the total number of pecans sold last year and this year is 10,000,000,000 (Option D)