Problema Solution
According to Zipf's Law, the number of cities with a population greater than S is inversely proportional to S. In 2000, there were 48 U.S. cities with a population greater than 350,000. Estimate the number of U.S. cities with a population greater than 200,000.
Answer provided by our tutors
general form for an inverse relationship:
N = k(1/S)
we solve for 'k' with the known facts:
48 = k(1/350000)
k = 48*350000
we solve for 'N' given the new information
N = (48*350000)(1/200000)
N = 84
there are an estimated 84 U.S. cities with a population greater than 200,000