Country ---Amount Recycled---------Amount Disposed of
A------------16,700-------------------- 142,800

B-------------8,800----------------------48,000

C------------13,000----------------------51,400

D-------------3,900----------------------20,300

E-------------3,300----------------------16,200

The table above shows the amount of waste material, in tons, recycled by each of five counties in a single year and the amount of waste material, also in tons, that was disposed of in landfills by the five counties in that year. Which county had the lowest ratio of waste material disposed of to waste material recycled in the year reported in the table?

A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E

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Country ---Amount Recycled---------Amount Disposed of
A------------16,700-------------------- 142,800

B-------------8,800----------------------48,000

C------------13,000----------------------51,400

D-------------3,900----------------------20,300

E-------------3,300----------------------16,200

The table above shows the amount of waste material, in tons, recycled by each of five counties in a single year and the amount of waste material, also in tons, that was disposed of in landfills by the five counties in that year. Which county had the lowest ratio of waste material disposed of to waste material recycled in the year reported in the table?
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E

Question asks to determine lowest ratio of amount disposed / amount recycled.

(A) 142,800 / 16,700 = ~ 8 - 9

(B) 48,000 / 8,800 = ~ 6

(C) 51,400 / 13,000 = ~4

(D) 20,300 / 3,900 = ~ 5

(E) 16,200 / 3,300 = ~ 5

Answer: C.

My advice is before doing calculations estimate the numbers and start with the easiest. No need for exact numerical values, so good approximation will work in this case.
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Hello members,

Since the purpose of this question is to practise estimation, I will explain here an interesting way. Start by multiplying denominator by 10 and see if numerator is greater than or less than denominator multiplied by 10. If numerator is less, half the (denominator*10) and see if it less or greater than the new numerator .

[162/33] , here 33x10=330, 330>162, 330/2=165, 165>162 (this means that numerator is around 4 times the denominator)

[203/39], here 39x10=390, 390>203, 390/2=195, 195<203 (this means that numerator is more than 5 times denominator)

[514/130], here 130x10=1300, 1300>514, 1300/2=650, 650 >514 (this means that numerator is less than 5 times and infact a little calculation will show that it is less than 4 times the numerator)

[480/88], here 88x10=880, 880>480, 880/2=440, 440<480 (this means that numerator is more than 5 times the denominator)

[1428/167], here 167x10=1670, 1670>1428, 1670/2=835, 835 < 1428 (this means that numerator is much more than 5 times the denominator)

By finding this strategy, we can see that [514][/130] yields the lowest fraction.

Lowest ratio is lowest number.
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Bunuel when all can we take approximations? Because I have tried using this method but it gives different answer. How much and when to estimate?

Notice that you can turn all the denominators approximately into 16.000

______ Denominator_____Multiplier______New Numerator
A) ->_____16,700____________~x1____________142,800
B) ->_____8,800_____________~x2___________<96,000
C) ->_____13,000____________~x\(\frac{5}{4}\)____________62,500 -> The lowest
D) ->_____3,900_____________~x4____________80,000
E) ->_____3,300_____________~x5____________>80,000