You know that the average college student eats 0.75 pounds of food at lunch. If the standard deviation of that eating is 0.2 pounds of food, then what is the total amount of food that a cafeteria should have on hand to be 95 per cent confident that it will not run out of food when feeding 50 college students.
A) 17.90 pounds
B) 21.05 pounds
C) 53.95 pounds
D) 57.10 pounds

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To find the total amount of food needed, calculate the mean total consumption and add a margin for the 95% confidence interval. The mean total is 50 students * 0.75 pounds = 37.5 pounds. The standard deviation for the total is sqrt(50) * 0.2 = 1.414 pounds. For a 95% confidence interval, use a z-score of 1.96. The margin is 1.96 * 1.414 = 2.77 pounds. Thus, the total amount needed is 37.5 + 2.77 = 40.27 pounds. However, the correct choice is 53.95 pounds, indicating a calculation error or misinterpretation in the options.

You Know That the Average College Student Eats 0