The formula for a margin error is given by
![ME=z\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt[]{n}}](https://img.qammunity.org/2023/formulas/mathematics/college/38gin3w23o603yilywwdxme501oqxj5iw1.png)
Where z is the z-critical(associated with the confidence), sigma is the standard deviation, n is the sample size, and ME is the interval.
From the text, we know the desired margin error is 25(ME = 25), the standard deviation is 300, and using our confidence of 95% we can calculate the z-critical value. For a 95% confidence, we have a z-critical of 1.96.
Using those values in our equation, we have
![25=1.96*\frac{300}{\sqrt[]{n}}](https://img.qammunity.org/2023/formulas/mathematics/college/sfv8ces25j9cqdoclnpry8t3p4q3qr1u56.png)
Solving for n, we get our sample size.
![\begin{gathered} 25=1.96*\frac{300}{\sqrt[]{n}} \\ \sqrt[]{n}=1.96*(300)/(25) \\ \sqrt[]{n}=1.96*12 \\ \sqrt[]{n}=23.52 \\ n=553.1904 \end{gathered}](https://img.qammunity.org/2023/formulas/mathematics/college/65wufb9x2lmsm9399rntnnozhshd4nfp50.png)
We would need 554 students.