In a survey, the number of people preferring hot cereal is directly proportional to the total number of people surveyed. One such survey showed that 52 out of 234 people questioned preferred hot cereal to cold cereal. In a school population of 1800, how many people are likely to prefer hot cereal?
Answers & Comments
We can use the proportionality constant of the direct variation to find the number of people in the school population who prefer hot cereal. The proportionality constant is the ratio of the number of people preferring hot cereal to the total number of people surveyed. In the first survey, this ratio is 52/234.
We can use this ratio to find the number of people in the school population who prefer hot cereal by multiplying the ratio by the total number of people surveyed in the school population.
(52/234) * 1800 = (52*1800) / 234 = 917.36
We can round it to 917 people are likely to prefer hot cereal.