Question

a. There are 365 days per year, 24 hours per day, 12 months per year, and 60 minutes per hour. Use these data to determine how many minutes are in a month. b. Now use the following data to calculate the number of minutes in a month: 24 hours per day, 60 minutes per hour, 7 days per week, and 4 weeks per month. c. Why are these answers different? Which (if any) is more correct? Why?

Short answer

The number of minutes in a month calculated using the given data in part a is approximately 43,745 minutes, while in part b, it is 40,320 minutes. The discrepancy between the answers is due to the different assumptions made in each part, with part a providing a more accurate average estimate of the number of minutes in a month since it considers that most months are longer than 28 days. Therefore, the answer from part a (43,745 minutes) is more correct.

Step-by-step solution

a. Calculate minutes in a month using the given data

We are given the following information: 365 days per year, 24 hours per day, 12 months per year, and 60 minutes per hour. First, we need to find out the average number of days in a month: Average days in a month = number of days per year / number of months per year Average days in a month = 365 days / 12 months = 30.42 days (approx.) Now, let's find the number of hours in a month: Hours in a month = Average days in a month x hours per day Hours in a month = 30.42 days x 24 hours = 729.08 hours (approx.) Finally, we can find the number of minutes in a month: Minutes in a month = Hours in a month x minutes per hour Minutes in a month = 729.08 hours x 60 minutes = 43,745 minutes (approx.)

b. Calculate minutes in a month using weeks

We are given the following data: 24 hours per day, 60 minutes per hour, 7 days per week, and 4 weeks per month. First, let's find the number of hours in a week: Hours in a week = hours per day x days per week Hours in a week = 24 hours x 7 days = 168 hours Now, let's find the number of hours in a month: Hours in a month = hours in a week x weeks per month Hours in a month = 168 hours x 4 weeks = 672 hours Finally, let's find the number of minutes in a month: Minutes in a month = hours in a month x minutes per hour Minutes in a month = 672 hours x 60 minutes = 40,320 minutes

c. Comparing the answers and discussing correctness

We have two different answers for the number of minutes in a month: 43,745 minutes from part a and 40,320 minutes from part b. The reason for these different answers lies in the assumptions made in each part. In part a, we assumed the average number of days in a month to be 30.42 (from dividing 365 days by 12 months). However, part b assumes that there are exactly 4 weeks in a month, which leads to a fixed number of 28 days. In reality, the number of days in a month ranges from 28 to 31. Neither answer is entirely correct, as the number of minutes in a month varies depending on the specific month in question. However, the answer in part a (43,745 minutes) provides a more accurate average estimate because it considers the fact that most months are longer than 28 days. The answer in part b (40,320 minutes) assumes that every month has exactly 28 days, which is not an accurate representation of the calendar months. So, part a's answer can be considered as more correct than part b's.