Of the 240 campers at a summer camp, 5/6 could swim. If 1/3 of the campers took climbing lessons, what was the least possible number of campers taking climbing lessons who could swim?
a) 20
b) 40
c) 80
d) 120
e) 200
80 campers took climbing lessons. It is possible that all 80 of them were among the 200 who could swim, or that as many as 40 of them could not. The smallest possible number is of climbing swimmers is 80 - 40 = 40
To find the least possible number of campers taking climbing lessons who could swim, we need to find the overlap between the two groups.
First, let's find the number of campers who could swim. We are told that 5/6 of the 240 campers could swim. To calculate this:
Number of campers who could swim = (5/6) * 240 = 200.
Next, let's find the number of campers who took climbing lessons. We are told that 1/3 of the campers took climbing lessons. To calculate this:
Number of campers who took climbing lessons = (1/3) * 240 = 80.
Now, we need to find the overlap between these two groups: the least possible number of campers who took climbing lessons and could swim.
To find the least possible number, we need to consider the scenario where all 200 campers who could swim also took climbing lessons. In this case, the overlap would be 200.
Therefore, the correct answer is 200 campers who could swim also took climbing lessons.
Therefore, the answer is (e) 200.