1995 AHSME Problems/Problem 5

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Problem

A rectangular field is 300 feet wide and 400 feet long. Random sampling indicates that there are, on the average, three ants per square inch through out the field. [12 inches = 1 foot.] Of the following, the number that most closely approximates the number of ants in the field is


$\mathrm{(A) \ \text{500 thousand} } \qquad \mathrm{(B) \ \text{5 million} } \qquad \mathrm{(C) \ \text{50 million} } \qquad \mathrm{(D) \ \text{500 million} } \qquad \mathrm{(E) \ \text{5 billion} }$

Solution

The rectangular field is 3600 inches wide and 4800 inches long, so it has an area of 17280000 square inches. We multiply by three to account for the ants: 51840000, which is closes to 50 million $\Rightarrow \mathrm{(C)}$

See also