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In a certain pond, 50 fish were caught, tagged, and returned

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by BTGmoderatorDC » Sun Sep 09, 2018 10:11 pm
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In a certain pond, 50 fish were caught, tagged, and returned to the pond. A few days later, 50 fish were caught again, of which 2 were found to have been tagged. If the percent of tagged fish in the second catch approximates the percent of tagged fish in the pond, what is the approximate number of fish in the pond?

(A) 400
(B) 625
(C) 1,250
(D) 2,500
(E) 10,000

OA C

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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:15 am
BTGmoderatorDC wrote:In a certain pond, 50 fish were caught, tagged, and returned to the pond. A few days later, 50 fish were caught again, of which 2 were found to have been tagged. If the percent of tagged fish in the second catch approximates the percent of tagged fish in the pond, what is the approximate number of fish in the pond?

(A) 400
(B) 625
(C) 1,250
(D) 2,500
(E) 10,000
Of the 50 fish caught in the second catch, 2 were tagged:
2/50 = 4/100 = 4%.
Since the percent of tagged fish in the second catch approximates the percent of tagged fish in the pond, the total number of tagged fish -- 50 -- must be equal to about 4% of the total number of fish in the pond:
50 = (4/100)x
5000/4 = x
1250 = x.

The correct answer is C.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:37 am
BTGmoderatorDC wrote:In a certain pond, 50 fish were caught, tagged, and returned to the pond. A few days later, 50 fish were caught again, of which 2 were found to have been tagged. If the percent of tagged fish in the second catch approximates the percent of tagged fish in the pond, what is the approximate number of fish in the pond?

(A) 400
(B) 625
(C) 1,250
(D) 2,500
(E) 10,000
We can use equivalent ratios here.

We're told that the proportion of tagged fish in the 50-fish SAMPLE is equal to the the proportion of tagged fish in the ENTIRE pond.

So, (# tagged fish in SAMPLE)/50 = (total # tagged fish)/(total # of fish in POND)

Let x = # of fish in the entire pond.

We get: 2/50 = 50/x
Cross multiply to get 2x = (50)(50)
x = 1250
Answer: C

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by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:30 am
BTGmoderatorDC wrote:In a certain pond, 50 fish were caught, tagged, and returned to the pond. A few days later, 50 fish were caught again, of which 2 were found to have been tagged. If the percent of tagged fish in the second catch approximates the percent of tagged fish in the pond, what is the approximate number of fish in the pond?

(A) 400
(B) 625
(C) 1,250
(D) 2,500
(E) 10,000
We are given that 50 fish were caught, tagged, and returned to the pond, and that a few days later, 50 fish were caught again, of which 2 were tagged. Thus, the percentage of tagged fish is 2/50 = 1/25 = 4%.

Since the the percentage of tagged fish in the second catch approximates the percentage of tagged fish in the pond, the approximate number of fish in the pond is:

0.04(total fish) = 50

total fish = 50/0.04 = 5000/4 = 1250

Answer: C

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