Many problem situations can be solved by using information that has been organized into data tables.

Read the following, and then answer the questions based on the data in the table:

A small town measures its population every 5 years and records it in a table that is kept in the
town hall. A portion of the data table is shown below:

Year
Population
1990
11,500
1995
11,750
2000
12,000
2005
12,250
2010
12,500

What was the population of the town in 1995?
Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Check Your Answer The population of the town was 11,750 in 1995.Close Pop Up

How could you tell the population in 1995 from the table?
Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Check Your Answer The second row of the data table gives the population in 1995 to be 11,750.Close Pop Up

What was the population of the town in 2000?
Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Check Your Answer The population of the town was 12,000 in 2000.Close Pop Up

How could you tell the population in 2000 from the table?
Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Check Your Answer The third row of the data table gives the population in 2000 to be 12,000.Close Pop Up

How much does the population change in 5 years?
Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Check Your Answer The population grows by 250 people in 5 years.Close Pop Up

How much does the population change each year?
Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Check Your Answer The population grows by 50 people each year.Close Pop Up

What would be a good estimate of the population of the town in 1998?
Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Check Your Answer The population of the town was 11,900 in 1998. Close Pop Up

How did you estimate the population in 1998 from the table?
Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Check Your Answer The table shows a pattern of growth by 50 people each year. The population in 1995 was 11,750. The year 1998 is three years after 1995. The population growth can be described as 3(50) = 150 people. 11,750 + 150 = 11,900. Close Pop Up

According to the pattern shown in the table, predict the population of this town in the year 2050.
Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Check Your Answer The population will likely be 14,500 in the year 2050. Close Pop Up

How did the table help you to make your prediction?
Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Check Your Answer The table shows a pattern of growth of 250 people every 5 years. There is a difference of 40 years between 2010 and 2050. 40 ÷ 5 = 8, so the population will grow by 250 people, 8 times within the 40 years. 250(8) = 2000. The population in 2010 was 12,500. 12,500 + 2000 = 14,500. Close Pop Up

The following table shows the monthly cost of a pay-as-you-go cell phone plan.

Minutes Used
Cost
25
$19
50
$24
75
$29
100
$34
125
$39
150
$44

Based on the information in the table, how much can Ashaki expect to pay for using her cell phone for 225 minutes of call time?
Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Check Your Answer Ashaki can expect to pay $59.00 for 225 minutes of call time. Close Pop Up

How did you determine this answer from the table?
Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Check Your Answer The pattern in the table increases by $5 for every 25 minutes. The highest number of minutes in the table is 150. 225 is 75 more than 150. Since 75 ÷ 25 = 3, the cell phone bill will increase 3 times by the amount of $5 with each increase. 3(5) = 15. The cost of 150 minutes is $44. Adding the $15 increase is 44 + 15 = 59. Close Pop Up

Much like we saw with graphs, some solutions to problems can be read directly from data tables, while others can be found by using a pattern set by the table.