Question

Of 350 male athletes at a high school, some play only basketball, some play only baseball, and some do both. If 250 of the males play basketball, and 120 play both sports, how many of the males play baseball?
(1 point)
100
220
130
O 120

Answer 1

Let's use the principle of inclusion-exclusion to solve this problem.

We start by adding the number of males who play basketball (250) and the number of males who play baseball (x):

250 + x = Total number of males who play basketball or baseball

However, this sum includes the males who play both sports twice (they are counted in both the basketball and baseball categories), so we need to subtract the number of males who play both sports (120):

250 + x - 120 = Total number of males who play basketball or baseball, without counting duplicates

We know that the total number of male athletes at the high school is 350, so we can write:

250 + x - 120 = 350

Now, we can solve for x:

x = 350 - 250 + 120

x = 220

Therefore, 220 of the males play baseball.

The correct answer is 220.