Question

While doing research on a lake, biologists tagged 200 walleye. Later, they captured 160 walleye, of which 16 had tags. What is the BEST estimate for the walleye population?A)2,000EliminateB)2,300C)2,600D)3,000

Answer 1

Given:

marked walleye counted = 16

total walleye counted = 160

total marked walleye = 200

Let the estimated walleye population be x

To find x, we would use the ratio comparison:

`\frac{marked\text{ walleye counted}}{total\text{ walleye counted}}\text{ = }\frac{total\text{ marked walleye}}{estimated\text{ walleye population}}`

Substituting the given values:

`(16)/(160)\text{ = }(200)/(x)`

Cross-multiply

`\begin{gathered} 16\text{ }*\text{ x = 160 }*\text{ 200} \\ 16x\text{ = 32000} \\ Divide\text{ both sides by 16} \\ \text{x = }(32000)/(16) \\ x\text{ = 2000} \end{gathered}`

Hence, the best estimate for the walleye population is 2000 (Option A)