How Many Students on a School Bus Are Not Enrolled in Sports?

  • Context: High School 
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a mathematical problem regarding the expected number of students on a school bus who are not enrolled in sports. It explores different wordings of the problem and their implications on the interpretation of the expected values.

Discussion Character

  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant calculates that 5% of 500 students results in 25 students not enrolled in sports, questioning if this is correct.
  • Another participant agrees with the calculation, affirming the math appears correct.
  • A participant raises a question about whether changing the wording of the problem affects the solution, specifically asking about the phrase "5% of all students are not enrolled in sports."
  • Another participant expresses confusion over the wording of the problem and its implications.
  • A later reply clarifies that both wordings lead to the same expected number of 25, but emphasizes the difference in interpretation between knowing the number versus calculating an expected value.
  • One participant thanks another for the clarification and indicates understanding of the explanation provided.
  • A humorous remark is made about the size of the bus, suggesting a light-hearted tone in the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the mathematical outcome of 25 students not enrolled in sports, but there is some debate regarding the implications of different wordings of the problem and their interpretations.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes assumptions about the representativeness of the sample of students on the bus in relation to the overall student population, which may not be explicitly stated or agreed upon.

BCCB
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Hi, I have a quick question

5% of students on a school bus are not enrolled in sports. If there are 500 students on a bus. What is the expected numbers of students who are not enrolled in sports on any given bus?

So, 5%(500)=25??

is this correct? Thanks
 
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That's one hell of a big bus ! Yes, the math looks correct.
 
hehehe yes I suppose it is quite a large bus!

would the solution change at all if it were worded as "5% of students all students are not enrolled in sports"...?

thanks
 
BCCB said:
hehehe yes I suppose it is quite a large bus!

would the solution change at all if it were worded as "5% of students all students are not enrolled in sports"...?

thanks

I don't understand that wording at all so have no idea what it means.
 
sorry, 5% of all students are not enrolled in sports. If there are 500 students on a bus. What is the expected numbers of students who are not enrolled in sports on any given bus?
 
BCCB said:
sorry, 5% of all students are not enrolled in sports. If there are 500 students on a bus. What is the expected numbers of students who are not enrolled in sports on any given bus?

Why would you expect this to give a different answer than your original wording? If you were asking about students NOT on the bus, the answers might be different, but this looks the same.
 
The difference between your first and second statement of the problem is conceptual only: the answer in each case is 25.
In the first case nothing is random: you are told the number of students on a bus, and told that 5% of them do not play sports. In this case you know that 500 times 5%, or 25, of the students are not in sports.

If I understand your second version, you are told that 5% of all students at the school do not play sports, and then are asking how many of the 500 on the bus you can expect not to be in sports. If you make the assumption that the students on the bus are a representative sample of all students in the school, then the number on the bus who are not in sports is binomial, with n = 500 and p = .05, so the expected number is again 25.

The difference is in interpretation: in the first posing we KNOW the number is 25, the second is the number in an expected value.
 
thanks for the clarification, I understand it now
 
But as I drive to work to day, I will keep an eye out for that 500 passenger bus!
 

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