Question

the new mexico division of fish and wildlife keeps track of the silvery minnow population in the rio grande river. of the total silvery minnow population, 54 silvery minnows were tagged and then released. a week later, they captured a total of 62 silvery minnows, which included 12 tagged silvery minnows. what is a good estimate of the total silvery minnow population in the rio grande river? round to the nearest whole number if necessary. there are approximately total silvery minnows in the rio grande river.

Explanation:

Step1: Set up proportion

Let $x$ be the total silvery minnow population. The proportion is $\frac{54}{x}=\frac{12}{62}$.

Step2: Cross - multiply

$12x = 54\times62$.

Step3: Calculate the right - hand side

$54\times62=3348$, so $12x = 3348$.

Step4: Solve for $x$

$x=\frac{3348}{12}=279$.

Answer:

279