""| 150,000/(4 x 5 x 50) = 150, so that there must be about 150 piano tuners in Chicago."" | There seems to be a little problem with the math, here (duh). 4 x 5 x 50 = | 1000, not 150, for starters. The math is right as the formula reads, one hundred fifty thousand pianos divided by 4 times five times fifty. The little slash mark after 150,000 means "divide by" so 150,000 divided by 4*5*50 does = 150. The little * means "multiply by". "then in one year (52 weeks) he would service 1,500 pianos." With a calculator 1,500 pianos serviced a year by each of the 150 tuners quickly shows 225,000 pianos tuned in a year. But it should be easier to realize that 1000 tuners tuning 150,000 pianos would only tune 150 pianos each. I think it is a simple typoo---whoever wrote the article meant 1,000 per tuner but typed 1,500. ===ric Reminds me of the time the news papers reported that the figures which convinced the calif legislature to require fancy pump nozzels to prevent gasoling fumes escaping had a digit wrong in the exponant of a formula, so a 1000 times less gasoline went up in fumes than figured.
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC