Math 150: Final Fall 2012

Sample Solutions

1 The Problems
1) Consider the following arguments. Draw a carefully labeled diagram for
each one to test the validity of each argument. State whether the argument
is valid or invalid.

a) Premises: All horses are mammals. No mammal is a plant. All trees are plants.
Conclusion: No horses are trees. (6 pt.)

b) Premises: All meat products contain protein. Chicken contains protein.

Conclusion: Chicken is a meat product. (5 pt.)

2)a) You decide to take a 1,264-mile cross-country trip to Cooper City,

Florida. Suppose your car averages 30 miles per gallon during the trip
and that the cost of gasoline is $3.89 per gallon. How much will you
spend on gasoline during the trip? Round your answer to the nearest
dollar. (5 pt.)

b) The Smith family’s living room lighting uses a total of 180 watts of
power. The family uses the lighting in that room for 22 hours a week.
How many kilowatt-hours of energy does the lighting use in one year?
(6 pt.)
3) The base elevation of a mountain is 1,600 feet. A hiker gains elevation at
a constant rate of 700 vertical feet per hour.

a) Write an equation that relates the elevation (E), in feet, of the climber
to the time (t), in hours, since the hiker began climbing. (3 pt.)

b) What will the hiker’s elevation be after 2.5 hours? (4 pt.)

c) The summit of the mountain is 4,400 feet. How long will it take the
hiker to reach the summit? (4 pt.)

4) Use the Venn diagram below to answer questions about people in an office
building:

a) How many coffee drinkers are there in the office building? (3 pt.)

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 b) How many in the office building are over 35 years old? (3 pt.)

c) How many in the office building are over 35 years old but don’t drink
coffee? (3 pt.)

d) How many total people are there in the office building? (2 pt.)

People in an office building

age 35 and younger coffee drinkers

49 13 72

26

5)a) You purchase a television with a retail price of $700. The local sales
tax rate is 7.9%. What is the final cost? (6 pt.)

b) The final cost, including tax, of your new shoes is $90. The local sales
tax rate is 7.9%. What was the retail (pre-tax) price? Round to the
nearest cent. (5 pt.)

6) With a reference value of 1982, the CPI in 1992 was 140.3 and the CPI
in 2007 was 207.3. Use this information to answer the following questions:
a) If Bob made $36,000 a year in 1992, what salary did he need to make
in 2007, to the nearest dollar, to maintain the same standard of living?
(6 pt.)
b) If a new car cost $20,000 in 2007, use the CPI for both years to estimate
its cost, to the nearest dollar in 1992. (5 pt.)

7) Identify at least one potential source of bias in each of the following

studies. Explain your answers clearly.
a) To predict who will win a senate race, a newspaper randomly selects
people at an airport and asks who they will be voting for in the up-
coming election. (6 pt.)

b) A casino conducts a study to determine whether the public supports

legalizing gambling. (5 pt.)

2
8)a) In July of 1999, Denver’s population was 499,775 and its yearly growth
rate was approximately 11%. If the growth rate had stayed constant,
what would the estimate of the population have been in 2009? Its pop-
ulation in July of 2009 was 610,345, so what can we conclude about its
growth rate in the years following 1999? (6 pt.)

b) If the price of platinum decreases at a monthly rate of 2%, by what

percentage does it decrease in a year? Write your answer so that it’s
correct to 2 decimal places. (5 pt.)

9) A survey at a movie theatre asks what movie viewers just watched. The
results are given in the frequency table below:

Movie Number of viewers

Breaking Dawn 30
Skyfall 25
Lincoln 17
Life of Pi 15

a) Complete the frequency table by making columns for relative frequency

and cumulative frequency. (7 pt.)

b) Draw a bar graph with the movies as categories and the vertical axis
showing the relative frequencies as calculated in your table. Label the
graph appropriately and completely. (4 pt.)

10)a)How much would it cost to carpet a 12 foot by 14 foot room with

carpeting that costs $35 per square yard? Round your answer to the
nearest dollar. (6 pt.)

b) Suppose 1.5 million cubic kilometers of water are spread out over
Earth’s 340 million square kilometers of ocean surface. How much would
the sea level rise? (5 pt.)

11) The scores of thirteen students on a chemistry exam are given below:

78 61 86 12 75 80 68 72 71 82 100 62 70

a) Find the five number summary of the grades and show a box-plot of
the data. (7 pt.)

b) The teacher decides that the lowest and highest score are outliers. What
are the mean and median if the outliers are removed? (4 pt.)

3
12) The population of certain mammal species is counted in a protected
wildlife area. The graph below shows the population counts over the course
of three weeks in the summer.
300

250

200
Mink Population
Population

150 Wolf Population

Fox Population
100 Bear Population

50

0
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3

a) Which population rose the most over the course of the three weeks?
Estimate the relative change in population from week 1 to week 3 for
that species. Show the numbers you use in your calculations. (5 pt.)

b) Which population had the greatest decline in relative change from

week 1 to week 3? Show which estimates and calculations you use to
determine this. (6 pt.)

13) The label on Crunchy Pops cereal boxes claims that the box contains
10 ounces. The actual weight of the cereal in the boxes is normally distributed
with a mean of 10 ounces and a standard deviation of 0.45 ounces.

a) What percent of the boxes contain more than 9.5 ounces?

b) What percent of the boxes contain between 9.55 and 10.9 ounces?

c) In a carton of 600 boxes, how many of the boxes would you expect to
contain less than 10.09 ounces?

2 Percentiles Table & Formulas

In addition to the problems stated above, the following table and formulas
were given to the students on the final.

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Standard scores and percentiles for normal distributions:
z-score Percentile z-score Percentile z-score Percentile z-score Percentile
−3.5 0.02 −1.0 15.87 0.0 50.00 1.1 86.43
−3.0 0.13 −0.95 17.11 0.05 51.99 1.2 88.49
−2.9 0.19 −0.90 18.41 0.10 53.98 1.3 90.32
−2.8 0.26 −0.85 19.77 0.15 55.96 1.4 91.92
−2.7 0.35 −0.80 21.19 0.20 57.93 1.5 93.32
−2.6 0.47 −0.75 22.66 0.25 59.87 1.6 94.52
−2.5 0.62 −0.70 24.20 0.30 61.79 1.7 95.54
−2.4 0.82 −0.65 25.78 0.35 63.68 1.8 96.41
−2.3 1.07 −0.60 27.43 0.40 65.54 1.9 97.13
−2.2 1.39 −0.55 29.12 0.45 67.36 2.0 97.72
−2.1 1.79 −0.50 30.85 0.50 69.15 2.1 98.21
−2.0 2.28 −0.45 32.64 0.55 70.88 2.2 98.61
−1.9 2.87 −0.40 34.46 0.60 72.57 2.3 98.93
−1.8 3.59 −0.35 36.32 0.65 74.22 2.4 99.18
−1.7 4.46 −0.30 38.21 0.70 75.80 2.5 99.38
−1.6 5.48 −0.25 40.13 0.75 77.34 2.6 99.53
−1.5 6.68 −0.20 42.07 0.80 78.81 2.7 99.65
−1.4 8.08 −0.15 44.04 0.85 80.23 2.8 99.74
−1.3 9.68 −0.10 46.02 0.90 81.59 2.9 99.81
−1.2 11.51 −0.05 48.01 0.95 82.89 3.0 99.87
−1.1 13.57 0.0 50.00 1.0 84.13 3.5 99.98

Formulas:

Exponential Growth: Exponential Decay:

70 70
Tdouble ≈ (for P < 15) Thalf ≈ (for P < 15)
P P
Q = Q0 · 2t/Tdouble Q = Q0 · 0.5t/Thalf
Q = Q0 (1 + r)t with r > 0 Q = Q0 (1 + r)t with r < 0

x − x̄
Standard Score (z-score): z =
s

3 Solutions
3.1 Problem #1
Section to review: 1D

1a) The premises are about horses, mammals, plants, and trees. We draw
a Venn diagram, where each of these four sets is represented by a circle.

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 The premise all horses are mammals means that the “horses” circle must
lie inside the “mammals” circle. The premise no mammal is a plant means
that the “mammal” and the “plant” circle must be disjoint. And the premise
all trees are plants means that the “tree” circle must lie inside the “plants”
circle. So we arrive at a diagram like the following:

mammals plants

horses trees

The conclusion no horses are trees is now equivalent to the claim that the
“horses” and the “tree” circle are disjoint. According to the diagram, this is
indeed the case. So the conclusion follows from the premises.
Answer: The argument is valid.

1b) The premises are about meat products, things that contain protein,
and chicken (as food). We draw a Venn diagram, where each of the sets “meat
products” and “things that contain protein” is represented by a circle, and
the single object “chicken” is represented by an X.
The premise all meat products contain protein means that the “meat
products” circle must lie inside the “contains protein” circle. The premise
chicken contains protein means that also the “chicken” X must lie inside the
“contains protein” circle. Since we have no further information about the
relation between the “meat products” circle and the “chicken” X, we place
the X on the boundary of that circle. So we arrive at a diagram like the
following:

things that contain protein

chicken
meat products

The conclusion chicken is a meat product is now equivalent to the claim

that the “chicken” X lies inside the “meat product” circle. According to the

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diagram, this is not the case. So the conclusion does not follow from the
premises.
Answer: The argument is invalid.

3.2 Problem #2
Sections to review: 2A, 2B

2a) In order to figure out how much we will spend on gasoline, we first
have to find the amount of gasoline needed.
Let x denote the amount of gasoline we will need for the trip. Then the
given information about the average fuel consumption of the car means that
1264 mi mi
x
= 30 gal . Solving for x gives
mi 1 gal 1264
x = 1264 mi ÷ 30 = 1264 mi × = gal.
gal 30 mi 30
Multiplying the amount (or: volume) of gasoline with the cost per volume
gives now the total cost of the gasoline:
1264 $3.89 1264
gal × = × $3.89 = $163.89 . . .
30 1 gal 30
Answer: We will spend about $164 on gasoline during the trip.

2b) We first calculate the amount of energy used in one week :

energy = power × time = 180 W × 22 h = 3960 Wh = 3.96 kWh
Since there are 52 weeks in a year,1 we have to multiply this amount by 52
to get the amount of energy used in one year :
3.96 kWh × 52 = 205.92 kWh

Answer: The lighting uses about 210 kilowatt-hours of energy in one year.

3.3 Problem #3
Section to review: 9B

3a) Since the rate of change is constant, we use a linear model, i. e., we
describe the situation by a linear function. The general equation for such a
function is
dependent variable = initial value + rate of change × independent variable.
1
The precise factor is 365 366
7 = 52.14 . . . for a common year and 7 = 52.28 . . . for a leap
year. But since the given data has also only two significant figures, it is appropriate to use
this approximation (and also to round the final answer to two significant figures).

7
 In this problem the dependent variable is the elevation E (in feet), and
the independent variable is the time t (in hours). Since at the beginning
(t = 0) the hiker is at the base of the mountain, i. e., at 1600 feet, the initial
value for the elevation is 1600. The rate of change is given as 700 (in feet per
hour).

Answer: E = 1600 + 700t

3b) Plugging t = 2.5 into the answer to part a) gives

E = 1600 + 700 × 2.5 = 1600 + 1750 = 3350.

Answer: The hiker’s elevation after 2.5 hours will be 3350 feet.

3c) Plugging E = 4400 into the answer to part a) and solving for t gives

1600 + 700t = 4400

700t = 4400 − 1600 = 2800
2800
t= = 4.
700

Answer: It will take the hiker 4 hours to reach the summit.

3.4 Problem #4
Section to review: 1C

4a) In the Venn diagram, the total number of people inside the circle
“coffee drinkers” is 13 + 72 = 85.
Answer: There are 85 coffee drinkers in the office building.

4b) Being over 35 years old is the same as not having the property “being
age 35 and younger”. In the Venn diagram, the total number of people outside
the corresponding circle “age 35 and younger” is 26 + 72 = 98.
Answer: 98 people in the office building are over 35 years old.

4c) Of the 26 + 72 people outside the circle “age 35 and younger”, ex-
actly 26 are also outside the circle “coffee drinkers”.
Answer: 26 people in the office building are over 35 years old but don’t
drink coffee.

4d) The total number of people inside the rectangle “People in an office
building” is 49 + 13 + 72 + 26 = 160.
Answer: There are 160 people total in the office building.

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3.5 Problem #5
Section to review: 3A

5a) We make a chart with the given data and the unknown:

Retail Price Sales Tax Final Cost

Amounts: $700 x
Percents: 100% + 7.9% = 107.9%

x 107.9%
Using this chart we can set up the proportion = = 1.079.
$700 100%
Solving for x yields
x = 1.079 × $700 = $755.3.

Answer: The final cost is $755.30.

5b) We again make a chart with the given data and the unknown:

Retail Price Sales Tax Final Cost

Amounts: x $90
Percents: 100% + 7.9% = 107.9%

x 100% 1
Using this chart we can set up the proportion = = .
$90 107.9% 1.079
Solving for x yields
1
x= × $90 = $90 ÷ 1.079 = $83.4105 . . .
1.079

Answer: The retail price was $83.41.

3.6 Problem #6
Section to review: 3D

6a) Like in the solution to problem #5, we first make a chart with the
given data and the unknown:
(1982) 2 1992 2007

CPI: (100) 140.3 207.3

Bob’s Salary: $36,000 x
2
The column for 1982 is actually not needed and can be omitted.

9
 x 207.3
Using this chart we can set up the proportion = . Solving for x
$36,000 140.3
yields
207.3
x= × $36,000 = $53,191.73 . . .
140.3
Answer: In 2007 Bob needed to make a salary of $53,192.

6b) We can reuse the chart from the solution to part a), changing only
the last row:
(1982) 1992 2007

CPI: (100) 140.3 207.3

Cost of Car: x $20,000

x 140.3
Using this chart we can set up the proportion = . Solving for x
$20,000 207.3
yields
140.3
x= × $20,000 = $13,535.93 . . .
207.3
Answer: In 1992 the cost of the car was about $13,536.

3.7 Problem #7
Section to review: 5B

7a) If only people at an airport are randomly selected and asked, there
is selection bias, as that sample is unrepresentative for the whole popula-
tion, and (even more important) also unrepresentative for that part of the
population that is going to vote in the upcoming election.
For instance, passengers (and also employees) at an airport tend to be
more wealthy, less concerned regarding the negative ecological impacts of
aviation and less likely unemployed than the average (voting) population.
All these differences may affect their political preferences.

7b) Casinos have clearly a financial interest in having a broad public

support for legalizing gambling. Because the study is conducted by the casino
itself, there may be bias due to possible pressure on the researchers to produce
in their study the result desired by the casino.
In addition, the fact that the casino conducts the study itself may also
result in selection bias, as the casino may conduct the study only (or prefer-
ably) among its own customers.

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3.8 Problem #8
Sections to review: 8A, 9C, 3A

8a) Since the growth rate in percentage, i. e., the relative rate of change,
is assumed to be constant, we use an exponential model, i. e., we describe
the situation by an exponential function. The general equation for such a
function is
Q = Q0 (1 + r)t ,
where Q is the dependent variable, Q0 is the initial value (the value of Q for
t = 0), r is the relative rate of change, and t is the independent variable.
In this problem the dependent variable is Denver’s population, and the
independent variable is the time, measured in years after 1999. The initial
value is given as 499,775, and the relative rate of change per year (the yearly
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growth rate) is given as 11% = 100 . In order to estimate Denver’s population
in 2009, we have to calculate Q for t = 2009 − 1999 = 10:
Q = 499,775 × (1 + 11 t
100
) = 499,775 × (1.11)10 = 1,419,071.62 . . .
Since the given yearly growth rate had only two significant figures, it is ap-
propriate to round this result also to two significant figures, i. e., to 1,400,000.
Comparing this estimate for Denver’s population in July 2009 with Den-
ver’s real population of 610,345 at that time, we see that our estimate is
much to high. We conclude that after 1999 the yearly growth rate was in fact
much lower than 11%.3
Answer: In 2009 the estimate of the population would have been about
1.4 million. Since the real population at that time was much smaller, Denver’s
growth rate in the years following 1999 was much smaller than 11%.

8b) Since also in this problem the relative rate of change is assumed to
be constant, we again use the equation Q = Q0 (1 + r)t . Here the dependent
variable Q is the price of platinum, and the independent variable t is the
time, now measured in months. The initial value Q0 is not specified, but
the relative rate r of change per month (the negative of the monthly rate of
decrease) is given as −2% = − 100 2 4
. In order to find the price of platinum
after one year (12 months), we have to calculate Q for t = 12:
Q = Q0 · (1 − 2 t
100
) = Q0 · (0.98)12 = Q0 · 0.784716 . . . ≈ 0.7847 · Q0
So after one year only 78.47% of the value of platinum remains, i. e., the new
value is 100% − 78.47% = 21.53% less than the value one year ago.
3
Strictly speaking we can only conclude that there was at least one year between 1999
and 2009 with a growth rate much lower than 11%. But since the growth rate of a city
usually does not vary too much from year to year, it seems save to say that for most of
the years between 1999 and 2009 the yearly growth rate was much lower than 11%.
4
The relative rate of change is negative, because the price of platinum decreases.

11
Answer: In one year the price of platinum decreases by 21.53 percent.5

3.9 Problem #9
Section to review: 5C

9a) For the cumulative frequencies we successively add up the given fre-
quencies:

30, 30 + 25 = 55, 55 + 17 = 72, 72 + 15 = 87

The last of these cumulative frequencies is the total number of viewers. For
the relative frequencies we divide each given frequency by that total:
30 25 17 15
= 0.3448 . . . , = 0.2873 . . . , = 0.1954 . . . , = 0.1724 . . .
87 87 87 87

Answer:
Relative Cumulative
Movie Number of Viewers Frequency Frequency

Breaking Dawn 30 34.5% 30

Skyfall 25 28.7% 55
Lincoln 17 19.5% 72
Life of Pi 15 17.2% 87

9b) Movie Survey Data

40%
Relative frequency

30%

20%

10%

0%
Breaking Dawn Skyfall Lincoln Life of Pi
Movie
5
Note that this amount of decrease is distinctly less than 12 × 2% = 24%, which would
have been the answer if we had (wrongly) used a linear model for this problem instead of
an exponential one.

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3.10 Problem #10
Sections to review: 2A, 3B

10a) The area of the room is 12 ft × 14 ft = 168 ft2 . To convert the

resulting unit square feet to square yards, we recall that 1 yd = 3 ft, so
2
1 yd2 = 9 ft2 or 19yd
ft2
= 1. Hence

1 yd2 168 2
area = 168 ft = 168 ft ×
2 2
2 = yd .
9 ft 9
Multiplying the area with the cost per area gives now the total cost of the
carpet:
168 2 $35 168
yd × 2 = × $35 = $653.33 . . .
9 1 yd 9
Answer: It would cost about $653 to carpet the room.6

10b) Since volume = area × height, we know that

1.5 × 106 km3 = (340 × 106 km2 ) × height.

Solving for the height gives

1.5 × 106 km3 1.5

height = = km
340 × 106 km2
340
= 0.004411 . . . km ≈ 0.0044 km = 4.4 m.

Answer: The sea level would rise by about 4.4 meters.

3.11 Problem #11

Sections to review: 6A, 6B

11a) We first arrange the 13 data values in ascending order:

12 61 62 68 70 71 72 75 78 80 82 86 100
As we can see from this list, the lowest score is 12, the highest score is
100. Since the number of data values is odd, the median is the single data
value in the middle of the list, which is 72.
To find the quartiles, we consider the lower and the upper half of the data
set separately:
6
If one takes into account that stores usually don’t sell carpet in fractions of square
9 yd ≈ 18.67 yd up to 19 yd , which
2 2 2
yards, one first has to round the precise area of 168
then gives 19 × $35 = $665 as the total cost of the carpet. (To be save and to have some
spare material left, I would actually spend $700 to buy 20 square yards.)

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 12 61 62 68 70 71 75 78 80 82 86 100

Since the number of data values in each half is even, the median of each
half (i. e., the corresponding quartile) is the mean of the two data values in
the middle of that half. So the lower quartile is 62+68
2
= 130
2
= 65, and the
upper quartile is 80+82
2
= 162
2
= 81.
Answer: The five-number summary of the grades and a boxplot of the data
are given below:

low value = 12

Chemistry exam
lower quartile = 65
media = 72
upper quartile = 81
high value = 100
0 20 40 60 80 100
Score

11b) If we remove the lowest and the highest data value, the median does
not change, as the following list indicates:

12 61
 62 68 70 71 72 75 78 80 82 86  
100

For the mean we divide the sum of the remaining 13 − 2 = 11 values by their
total number:
61 + 62 + 68 + 70 + 71 + 72 + 75 + 78 + 80 + 82 + 86 805
= = 73.18
11 11

Answer: If the outliers are removed, the mean is 73.18, and the median is
still 72.

3.12 Problem #12

Sections to review: 5C, 3A

12a) The provided line chart shows that only the mink and the wolf
population rose, while the fox and the bear population declined. So we have
to compare only the former two populations.
From the line chart we estimate that from week 1 to week 3 the mink
population grew from 112 to 179, while the wolf population grew from 70
to 87.7 So the absolute changes in the mink and the wolf population were

179 − 112 = 67 (minks) resp. 87 − 70 = 17 (wolves).

7
Your estimates for these numbers may differ, but should not differ from the stated
values by more than 5.

14
Since 67 is larger than 17, the mink population rose the most. The relative
67
change for the mink population was 112 = 0.5982 . . .
Answer: Over the course of the three weeks the mink population rose the
most. The relative change in the mink population during that time was about
60%.

12b) Since only the fox and the bear population declined, we have to
compare only these two populations. From the line chart we estimate that
from week 1 to week 3 the fox population shrank from 242 to 139, while the
bear population shrank from 48 to 23.8 So the relative changes in the fox and
the bear population were
139 − 242 −103
= = −0.4256 . . . ≈ −43% (foxes)
242 242
resp.
23 − 48 −25
= = −0.5208 . . . ≈ −52% (bears).
48 48
Since 52% is larger than 43%, in relative change the bear population declined
the most.
Answer: From week 1 to week 3 the bear population had the greatest decline
in relative change.

3.13 Problem #13

Section to review: 6C

13a) Given the mean x̄ = 10 oz and the standard deviation s = 0.45 oz,
we calculate the standard score (or: z-score) for the data value x = 9.5 oz as
x − x̄ 9.5 oz − 10 oz −0.5 oz 0.5
z= = = =− = −1.111 . . .
s 0.45 oz 0.45 oz 0.45
According to the provided standard score table this z-score corresponds
to about the 13th percentile. This means that about 13% of the boxes contain
less than or exactly 9.5 ounces, i. e., about 100% − 13% = 87% of the boxes
contain more than this amount.
Answer: About 87 percent of the boxes contain more than 9.5 ounces.

13b) Similarly to part a) we calculate the standard scores for the data
values x1 = 9.55 oz and x2 = 10.9 oz as
9.55 oz − 10 oz −0.45 oz
z1 = = = −1
0.45 oz 0.45 oz
8
See previous footnote.

15
resp.
10.9 oz − 10 oz 0.9 oz
z2 = = = 2.
0.45 oz 0.45 oz
According to the provided standard score table these z-scores correspond
to the 15.87th resp. the 97.72nd percentile. This means that 15.87% of the
boxes contain less than or exactly 9.55 ounces, and 97.72% of the boxes
contain less than or exactly 10.9 ounces. Therefore 97.72%−15.87% = 81.85%
of the boxes have a content with weight between these two values.
Answer: 81.85 percent of the boxes contain between 9.55 and 10.9 ounces.

13c) Similarly to part a) we calculate the standard score for the data
value x = 10.09 oz as
10.09 oz − 10 oz 0.09 oz 0.09
z= = = = 0.2.
0.45 oz 0.45 oz 0.45
According to the provided standard score table this z-score corresponds
to the 57.93rd percentile. This means that about 57.93% of the boxes contain
less than or exactly9 10.09 ounces. Out of 600 boxes, these are

57.93% × 600 = 0.5793 × 600 = 347.58 ≈ 348 boxes.

Answer: We would expect about 348 of the 600 boxes to contain less than
10.09 ounces.

9
Of course in practice a box will never contain exactly 10.09 oz, so we do not have to
worry about this possibility.

16