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A survey of 800 nurses yielded the following information. 555 were health club members, 430 were smokers, and 320 of the health club members were smokers. How many of the 800 surveyed nurses were health club members or were smokers

1 Answer

2 votes

Explanation:

800 in total.

555 health club members.

430 smokers.

320 health club members (that means out of the total of 555) were smokers.

that means that

555 - 320 = 235 health club members were not smokers.

and out of the 430 smokers 320 were also health club members.

that means that

430 - 320 = 110 smokers were not health club members.

the question how many were health club members or smokers means how many people were either health club members or smokers.

so, we need to combine the sets of health club members and smokers.

the number of elements in the resulting set is not just the sum of elements of both sets, because some elements are in both sets and would be counted twice.

therefore, we have a few alternatives :

1. add both sets and then subtract the common part (people being in both sets), as this removes the double counting :

555 + 430 - 320 = 665

2. start with the common part (people that are in both sets) and add the extra people in both sets (health club members that do not smoke, and smokers that are not health club members) :

320 + 235 + 110 = 665

3. start with one of the full sets (e.g. all health club members) and add the extra people of the other set (all smokers that are not also health club members) :

555 + 110 = 665

or all smokers plus all health club members that were not smokers :

430 + 235 = 665

as you can see, as expected, the answer is always the same :

out of the 800 nurses 665 were health club members or smokers.

answered
User Betty St
by
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