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? asked in Science & MathematicsMathematics · 4 years ago

Hi guys! I'm having trouble answering the following "problem solving" question in my Geometry book?

Update:

In a school election, one candidate for class president received more than 94% , but less that 100% , of the votes cast. What is the least possible number of votes cast.

I am so confused, any help is very much appreciated! Thanks in advance

Update 2:

The answer key says 17 students...This is all the book provides : (

6 Answers

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  • ?
    Lv 7
    4 years ago

     

    n = number of votes cast

    The candidate received more than 0.94n, but less than 1.00n

    This means there must be at least 1 integer > 0.94n and < n

    Since n is an integer, then so is n−1.

    So n−1 must be > 0.94n and n−1 is obviously < n

    n − 1 > 0.94

    n − 0.94 n > 1

    0.06n > 1

    n > 1/0.06

    n > 16.667

    So the smallest integer > 16.667 is 17

  • Pope
    Lv 7
    4 years ago

    Let n be the number of votes cast, and let r be the number reaped by the candidate in question. Both numbers must be non-negative integers.

    94% < r/n < 100%

    94 < 100r/n < 100

    47/50 < r/n < 1

    r/n < 1

    r < n

    Since r and n are both integers, the maximum of r is n - 1.

    47/50 < r/n

    (47/50)n < r

    (47/50)n < r ≤ n - 1

    (47/50)n < n - 1

    47n < 50n - 50

    50 < 3n

    n > 50/3, and n is an integer

    n ≥ 17

    Let n = 17, r = 16.

    r/n = (16/17) ≈ 94.1%

    94% < r/n < 100%

    The fewest possible number of votes cast is n = 17.

  • 4 years ago

    Asked and answered elsewhere. See the source link.

    _____

    The president didn't get all the votes (100%), so failed by at least one vote. Then 1 vote is 6% or less of the total number of votes, hence the total number is more than 1/0.06, or 16 2/3. The least integer number more than 16 2/3 is 17.

    _____

    It's all about reasoning with numbers. First of all, you need to understand the question. It can help if you just pick some number of votes (say 253, for example) and see what the conditions of the problem mean. In that case, it would mean the president got between 238 and 252 votes, failing to get as many as 15 votes. Clearly, there could have been a smaller number of votes in the election.

    Try a smaller number for total votes. After you do this a few times, you should be able to examine the steps you are using and figure out how to figure the smallest possible number.

  • DWRead
    Lv 7
    4 years ago

    Let n be the number of students in the school.

    Multiply n by 0.94 and round up to the next integer.

    The result is the least number of votes cast for the candidate.

    For example, if there are 100 students in the school,

    0.94×100 = 94

    Round up to 95.

    The candidate received at least 95 votes and at most 99 votes.

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  • 4 years ago

    hi! could I have some details of the question and I will try to help you.

    I'm an A-level maths student (18yrs old)

  • ?
    Lv 6
    4 years ago

    More information please.

    Edit: For the winner to have received more than 94% but less than 100% of the vote, the one person who voted against them must have a vote worth less than 6% of the total.

    1/16 = 0.0625 = 6.25%

    1/17 = 0.0588 = 5.88%

    So, that's your answer, 17.

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