Question

Ramesh measured the lengths of some caterpillars for a science project. He recorded each length in this stem -and -leaf diagram. How many caterpillars did Ramesh measure in total? Caterpillar lengths

Answer 1

Ramesh measured a total of _27_ caterpillars for his science project.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the stem-and-leaf diagram provided, each stem represents the tens digit, and each leaf represents the ones digit of the caterpillar lengths. The stems are 2, 3, 4, and 5, while the leaves vary for each stem. For example, the stem 2 with leaves 1 and 4 means there are two caterpillars with lengths 21 and 24. Adding up the counts for each stem gives us the total number of caterpillars.

Starting with stem 2: 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 9

Moving to stem 3: 2 + 2 + 2 = 6

For stem 4: 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 18

Finally, for stem 5: 4 + 4 = 8

Adding these counts together, 9 + 6 + 18 + 8 = 41. However, each count is for two caterpillars (as each leaf corresponds to a unique length), so we divide by 2 to get the total number of caterpillars measured: 41 / 2 = 20.5.

However, since we can't have a fraction of a caterpillar, we round up to the nearest whole number, making the final answer 21 caterpillars. Therefore, Ramesh measured a total of 21 caterpillars for his science project.