Final answer:
To find the total mosquito population in Lavender's science lab tanks, you need to know the population of tank A. With Tank B having 49 more than Tank A and Tank C having 12, the expression for the total population is 2x + 61, where x represents tank A's population.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is asking about the total population of mosquitoes in a science lab's tanks, where there is a known relationship between the populations in tanks A and B and an exact count for tank C. To solve the problem, we need to use algebra to express the population of tank B as 49 more than tank A. Tank C's population is given as 12 mosquitoes.
Let's assume the number of mosquitoes in tank A is represented by x. Accordingly, the number of mosquitoes in tank B, which has 49 more mosquitoes than tank A, would be x + 49. Since tank C has 12 mosquitoes, the total mosquito population in all three tanks can be represented by the expression x + (x + 49) + 12.
To find the total population, we combine like terms: 2x + 61. However, we do not have enough information to calculate a numerical value for the total population, as the number for tank A (x) is not provided. We would require that additional information to determine the exact total.