Question

The odds of winning a contest are approximately 5:1476. How many winners are there likely to be if there are 50000 participants?

Answer 1

i think it might be 295

Answer 2

Approximately 169

Explanation:

Set up as fractions and use cross multiplilcation to solve for the unknown.

These are our fractions from the information we are given; the winners represent the numerators (and x is the unknown, becuase we don't yet know how many winners there will be with 50000 participants). Note that the denominator on the first fraction is (1476 + 5) because we want it to represent TOTAL amount of particpants in the ratio:

`(5)/(1481) = (x)/(50000)`

Now cross multiply by multiplying numerators and denominators that are ACROSS from each other, so 5 * 50000 and 1481 * x; now we have:

250000 = 1481x

Now to isolate x (to know its value) we need to divide both sides by 1481, and we are left with:

168.8 = x

But I rounded up to 169.