Question

Randy is starting a beehive so that he can have fresh honey. He decides to check the current population of bees in the hive by marking 160 bees. Later, Randy collects 240 bees and observes that 30 of them are marked. What is the BEST estimate for the bee population?

A) 1,200

B) 1,240

C) 1,280

D) 1,300

Answer 1

C) 1,280

Step-by-step explanation: I got it correct on USA test prep.

Answer 2

C) 1,280

Explanation:

Let x represent the total bee population.

We have been given that Randy is starting a beehive so that he can have fresh honey. He decides to check the current population of bees in the hive by marking 160 bees. Later, Randy collects 240 bees and observes that 30 of them are marked.

We will use proportion to solve our given problem. We can set a proportion using our given equation as:

`\frac{\text{Marked bees}}{\text{Total bees}}=(30)/(240)`

Substituting given values, we will get:

`(160)/(x)=(30)/(240)`

Cross multiply:

`30x=160*240`

`(30x)/(30)=(160*240)/(30)`

`x=(160*8)/(1)`

`x=1280`

Therefore, the best estimate for the bee population is 1280 bees and option C is the correct choice.