Question

With a total population in the wild of only a little over 100,000, all species of gorillas are considered endangered. There are approximately 9,000 of one species of gorillas living in the wild. This is 3,500 less than four-ninths of the number of a second species of gorillas living in the wild. How many of the second species of gorillas are living in the wild?

a) 24,500
b) 21,000
c) 20,000
d) 28,000

Answer 1

To find the number of the second species of gorillas, an algebraic equation is set up and solved, revealing that there are approximately 28,125 gorillas of the second species. The closest answer option to this estimate is d) 28,000.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question involves solving an algebra problem to find the number of the second species of gorillas living in the wild. We are given that there are approximately 9,000 of one species, and this number is 3,500 less than four-ninths of a second species. To find the number of the second species, we can set up the following algebraic equation:

Let x represent the number of the second species of gorillas.

According to the problem, 9,000 = (4/9)x - 3,500.

To solve for x, we add 3,500 to both sides of the equation to get:

12,500 = (4/9)x

Next, we multiply both sides of the equation by 9/4 to isolate x on one side:

(9/4) * 12,500 = x

x = 28,125

Since we need to select an answer from the provided options and the exact number we found is not an option, we choose the closest option, which is d) 28,000, as the estimated number of the second species of gorillas living in the wild.