The population of Hermitville increased from 142,340 to 186,480 in the last 5 years. During the same time period, Crabville increased its population by 26%. Which town is increasing at the greatest rate and by what factor? (round to nearest hundredth)

A) Hermitville by a factor of 2.71

B) Hermitville by a factor of 1.19

C) Crabville by a factor of 2.71

D) Crabville by a factor of 1.19

B) Hermitville by a factor of 1.19 Let's see by what percentage Hermitville increased it's population: (186480 - 142340) / 142340 = 44140/142340 = 0.310102571 = 31.0102571% Since 31% is greater than 26%, that means that Hermitville is growing faster. Now by what factor? For that, we can simply divide the larger value by the smaller, so: 31.0102571 / 26 = 1.192702197 And looking at the available optoins, option "B" matches.

The rate of increase of population of Hermitville is given by:

PR = (Present Population-Past Population) / (Past population) * 100

PR = (186480-142340) / 142340*100

PR=31.01%

The population increase in Hermitville is 31.01;

This implies that it's population growth is faster than that of Crabville by a factor of

31.01/26=1.19.

The answer is B