Traveling In Canada Part 2

After spending a week with our friends, it was time to head back to the US. Before we left, we had to get some gas for the car. We picked the best price in town, and filled up the tank.

The best price we found was 98.6¢ for one liter. That is in Canadian dollars (or cents to be exact). After we crossed the border and got lost for a while due to inaccurate directions, it was time to fill up the tank again, in the state of New York. The best price we could find was $3.37 for a gallon. That is US dollars.

Your job is to figure out whether gas was cheaper in Canada or in the US?
Here is some additional information to help you:
$1.00 CAN = $ .80 US
1 gallon = 3.8 liters

Traveling in Canada Part 1

During our stay in Pennsylvania we also took a trip up North to visit some friends of ours in Cobourg, Canada. Cobourg is a small town on the North shore of Lake Ontario. You can click the map on the left to get a better view of its location.

We arrived in Canada at a very exciting time, first because it was the eve of Canadian Thanksgiving, second becasue it was a few days before their election day.

The results of the election are the topic of this problem. According to the official results, the Conservative Party won with about 38% of the votes. From another website I learned that there are 23,401,064 registered voters in Canada, and about 59% of them actually voted in this election.
Your job:

1. Figure out how many people actually voted for the winning party.
   
2. Find out what percentage of registered voters voted for the winning party.
   Hint for #2: take your answer from #1, and the total number of registered voters, make it into a fraction, then turn the fraction into a percent
   

Submitted by Francisco

My dad's computer credit card problem

My dad got me and my sister a Widows Vista because our old one had a virus. The virus deleted all the memory & documents. It ruined the screen, printer, mouse, and keyboard. We bought Windows Vista, and it had everything except the printer. Vista came at a price of $799.99 without taxes. The printer was $149.99 without the taxes.

Your job is to:
1. find out the taxes (8.25% of the total price) and
2. figure out how much money my dad has to pay per month so he can finish paying in 18 months.

Submitted by Jasmine

The Shoe Problem

Yesterday I received $100, and decided to go buy shoes. At the the store I saw every pair cost $40 but not just that, each pair was discounted 50%. If each were 50% off, how many pairs can I get? Could I get more than two?

Traveling on the Pennsylvania Turnpike - Part 2

On our way from Somerset to Reading we were traveling on Pennsylvania's main highway, the the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It is a toll road, and not very scenic, but it gets you to where you want to go pretty fast.

Once you get on the toll road, there is no way to get off without paying, there are toll booths at every exit. This means that the road does not go through any towns, and so you can't just pull over to have a snack or take care of restroom needs. To help travelers, there are so called Service Plazas along the road with tourist information, shops, and restaurants.

We stopped at one of these service centers, and had a cup of coffee at Starbucks. At the counter where you add sugar and cream to your coffee, I found a little questionnaire. You can see the cover on the left, and you can click the picture to see the inside of the questionnaire. It is asking costumers to fill out the questionnaire and mail it in.

Your job is to answer the following question: Which sampling method is Starbucks using for tis study? Explain how you decided on the answer.
Here is a picture of me at the Travel Plaza:

Traveling on the Pennsylvania Turnpike - Part 1

Mr. Billett and I have been traveling in Pennsylvania this month. One place we visited was a famous house designed by Frank Loyd Wright. The house is called Falling Water, because it was built over a creek and waterfall. The house was spectacular.

Before we visited the house, we were staying with Mr. Billett senior, near the city of Reading in Pennsylvania. To have enough time to visit Falling Water and the neighboring area, we spent a couple nights in the town of Somerset. We also visited the city of Pittsburgh on a rainy day.

Pennsylvania's main highway is the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It is a toll road, and not very scenic. On the way there we took smaller, more interesting roads, but on the way home we decided to save time, and take the Turnpike. The toll on the pike is proportional to the distance you travel on it. Each exit is numbered according to its distance from the Western end of the turnpike. (see picture below, click to enlarge it.)

From Pittsburgh (mile 57) to Somerset (mile 110) we paid $3.00 for the toll. The next day we were traveling from Somerset (mile 110) to Reading (mile 286). Your job: figure out about how much the toll would be for that distance.