Raina is in charge of planning a reception for 3,400 people. She is trying to decide which snacks to buy. She has asked a random sample of people who are coming to the reception what their favorite snack is. Here are the results.

\begin{tabular}{|c|c|}
\hline Favorite Snack & \begin{tabular}{c} Number of \\ People \end{tabular} \\
\hline Brownies & 42 \\
\hline Cookies & 18 \\
\hline Chips & 51 \\
\hline Other & 64 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

Based on the above sample, predict the number of people at the reception whose favorite snack will be brownies. Round your answer to the nearest whole number. Do not round any intermediate calculations.



Answer :

To predict the number of people at the reception whose favorite snack will be brownies, follow these steps:

1. Calculate the total number of people in the sample:
- Add up the number of people for each snack category.
[tex]\[ 42 (\text{Brownies}) + 18 (\text{Cookies}) + 51 (\text{Chips}) + 64 (\text{Other}) \][/tex]
- Thus, the total sample size is:
[tex]\[ 42 + 18 + 51 + 64 = 175 \][/tex]

2. Determine the probability that a person's favorite snack is brownies:
- The number of people who prefer brownies is 42.
- Divide this by the total sample size to find the probability.
[tex]\[ \text{Probability (Brownies)} = \frac{42}{175} \][/tex]
- Calculating this gives:
[tex]\[ \frac{42}{175} = 0.24 \][/tex]

3. Use the probability to predict the number of attendees preferring brownies:
- The total number of attendees at the reception is 3400.
- Multiply the total number of attendees by the probability that a person's favorite snack is brownies.
[tex]\[ \text{Predicted Number of Brownie Lovers} = 0.24 \times 3400 \][/tex]
- Calculating this gives:
[tex]\[ 0.24 \times 3400 = 816.0 \][/tex]

4. Round the result to the nearest whole number:
- The prediction from the previous step is already a whole number, so no further rounding is necessary.

Therefore, the predicted number of people at the reception whose favorite snack will be brownies is:
[tex]\[ \boxed{816} \][/tex]