Final answer:
By calculating the number of people who bought each of the other flavors and summing them up, it was found that 135 people bought chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry ice cream. Subtracting this from the total number of purchasers, we determine that 15 people purchased cookies and cream ice cream.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find out how many people purchased cookies and cream ice cream, we first need to calculate the number of people who purchased each of the other flavors.
According to the question, 150 people purchased ice cream. If 2/5 purchased chocolate, that's 2/5 * 150, which equals 60 people. For vanilla, 1/3 of the people purchased it, which is 1/3 * 150, equalling 50 people. And 1/6 purchased strawberry, which is 1/6 * 150, or 25 people.
Adding the numbers of people who bought chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry together, we have 60+50+25 = 135 people. To find those who purchased cookies and cream, we subtract this total from the overall number of purchasers: 150 - 135, which gives us 15 people.
Therefore, 15 people purchased cookies and cream ice cream.