Use the table to answer the question.

Question

BA 5 15
BB 16 4

Bowls A and B contain a number of white and red balls. Simon repeatedly selected a ball from both bowls and recorded the results in a table. If there are 36 balls in Bowl A, estimate the number of white balls based on Simon’s results.

(1 point)
Responses

9
9

10
10

18
18

27

Answer 1

To estimate the number of white balls in Bowl A, we can create an equation with the given information.

Let x be the number of white balls in Bowl A.

From the table, Simon selected a white ball from Bowl A 5 times, so we have 5/x as the ratio of white balls selected.

The total number of balls in Bowl A is 36, so the total number of red balls in Bowl A is 36 - x.

From the table, Simon selected a red ball from Bowl A 15 times, so we have 15/(36 - x) as the ratio of red balls selected.

Setting up the equation:

5/x = 15/(36 - x)

Cross multiplying, we get:

5(36 - x) = 15x

180 - 5x = 15x

180 = 20x

x = 9

Therefore, the estimated number of white balls in Bowl A is 9.

The answer is 9.