Final answer:
To determine if the collective stay of 80 women exceeded a year in the hospital, we multiply the average stay, which is more than five days, by 80. The result is over 400 days, which exceeds the 365 days in a non-leap year, indicating that their collective stay was likely more than a year.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question "If we were to sum up the women's stays, is it likely that collectively, they spent more than a year in the hospital? Why or why not?" relates to the concept of multiplication and summing sets of numbers to find a collective total. To determine if the collective stay of the 80 women exceeded a year, we need to do a simple multiplication of the average stay by the number of women and compare that number to the total number of days in a year.
Given that the average stay is more than five days, we multiply 5 days by the 80 women, resulting in over 400 days. Since a common year consists of 365 days, the collective stay would indeed exceed a year.
Therefore, it is likely that collectively, these 80 women spent more than a year in the hospital if each stayed an average that exceeds five days.