Is a math problem appropriate for this service?  If so, here is the problem.

Residential water service for my home is measured in thousands of cubic feet.  

The meter reading on August 30, 2004 was 0.00 thousand cubic feet
On October 21, 2004, the meter reading was 2.68 thousand cubic feet

Question #1:  What is the average cubic feet of usage per day.


Question #3, Based on the answer to Question #1, what would be the
estimate of water usage in cubic feet for 274 days.

Question #4, Based on the answer to Question #3, what would the cost
of water be for the 274 days at $17.50 per 1000 cubic feet.

Thanks

---

Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 21 Oct 2004 16:08 PDT

To correctly solve this question it is necessary to determine if 30
August and 21 October fully count as days of water usage or if the
start and end dates of actual usage are 31 August and 20 October. This
means, whether 53 days or 51 days are the basis of calculation. The
text is not clear about this. Maybe you could elaborate this important
detail?

Regards,
Scriptor

Hi dickbo09!!


Consider that the first reading on August 30, 2004 was at 8:00 AM, and
also consider that this is the time for water usage readings, so the
the meter reading on October 21, 2004 was at 8:00 AM too.
This gives us a total of 52 days of water usage:
Day 0 at 8:00 of August 30, 2004 --> Start of water usage
Day 1 at 8:00 of August 31, 2004
Day 2 at 8:00 of September 1, 2004
Day 3 at 8:00 of September 2, 2004
...
Day 31 at 8:00 of September 30, 2004 
Day 32 at 8:00 of October 1, 2004
...
Day 52 at 8:00 of October 21, 2004 --> Total water usage reading.


-Question #1:  What is the average cubic feet of usage per day?

For 52 days the meter reading was 2.68 thousand cubic feet, then the
average usage for one day is:

Total usage / # of days = 2.68 thousand cubic feet / 52 days = 
                        = 0.05154 thousand cubic feet/day =
                        = 51.54 cubic feet/day .



-Question #3, Based on the answer to Question #1, what would be the
estimate of water usage in cubic feet for 274 days?

The estimate of water usage in cubic feet for 274 days is equal to:

Average cubic feet of usage per day * 274 days =
                      = 51.54 cubic feet/day * 274 days =
                      = 14,121.96 cubic feet



-Question #4, Based on the answer to Question #3, what would the cost
of water be for the 274 days at $17.50 per 1000 cubic feet?

The estimate of water usage in cubic feet for 274 days is 14,121.96
cubic feet or 14.12196 thousand cubic feet, then if the cost per
thousand cubic feet of water is $17.50 , the estimated total cost for
this usage would be:

14.12196 thousand cubic feet * 17.50 $/thousand cubic feet = $247.1343 


-----------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: 
In the case that the total number of days of water usage between the
August 30, 2004  meter reading and the October 21, 2004 meter reading
had been estimated wrong the solution is found by the same formulas,
just the following values will have be used in the calculations:

·For 51 days:
The average usage for one day is:
Total usage / # of days = 2.68 thousand cubic feet / 51 days = 
                        = 0.05255 thousand cubic feet/day =
                        = 52.55 cubic feet/day .

The estimate of water usage in cubic feet for 274 days is equal to:
52.55 cubic feet/day * 274 days = 14,398.7 cubic feet

The cost of water be for the 274 days at $17.50 per 1000 cubic feet would be:
14.3987 thousand cubic feet * 17.50 $/thousand cubic feet = $251.97725


·For 53 days:
The average usage for one day is:
Total usage / # of days = 2.68 thousand cubic feet / 53 days = 
                        = 0.05057 thousand cubic feet/day =
                        = 50.57 cubic feet/day .

The estimate of water usage in cubic feet for 274 days is equal to:
50.57 cubic feet/day * 274 days = 13,856.18 cubic feet

The cost of water be for the 274 days at $17.50 per 1000 cubic feet would be:
13.85618 thousand cubic feet * 17.50 $/thousand cubic feet = $242.48315

----------------------------------------------------------

I hope that this helps you. Please request for a clarification before
rate this answer if you find something unclear or have some queries. I
will gladly respond to your requests for further assistance on this.


Best regards.
livioflores-ga

Thanks for the detailed answer.  Now I'll be able to do the math myself.