mohana
In a jar there are balls in different colors: blue, red, green and yellow.
The probability of drawing a blue ball is 1/8.
The probability of drawing a red ball is 1/5.
The probability of drawing a green ball is 1/10.
If a jar cannot contain more than 50 balls, how many yellow balls are in the Jar?
A. 23
B. 20
C. 24
D. 17
E. 25
We can create the equation:
1/8 + 1/5 + 1/10 + y = 1
Multiplying by 40, we have:
5 + 8 + 4 + 40y = 40
40y = 23
y = 23/40, so there are 23 yellow balls.
Alternate Solution:
The number of balls of each color inside the jar must be a whole number. Moreover, the total number of balls must be divisible by 8, 5 and 10; so let’s first find the LCM of 8, 5 and 10:
LCM(8, 5, 10) = 40
So, the number of balls could be 40, 80, 120, etc. However, we are also given that there are no more than 50 balls in the jar; thus the total number of balls must be 40. Then, there are 40 x 1/8 = 5 blue balls, 40 x 1/5 = 8 red balls and 40 x 1/10 = 4 green balls. Thus, there are 40 - (5 + 8 + 4) = 23 yellow balls.
Answer: A