The fruit plants in my garden do not bear fruit during their first summer. The fruits are picked for the next two years and then the plants become too woody and need to be pulled up. Occasionally some of the die over winter. The last five years I had fruit on the following number of plants: 0,11,20,27,19
Assuming no plants die this winter, what is the fewest that I could have next summer?
a) 0
b) 1
c) 7
d) 8
e) 19
To determine the fewest number of fruit plants you could have next summer, we need to analyze the given information.
From the given data, the number of fruit plants in your garden increases every year until it reaches 27 plants. However, after two years, the plants become too woody and need to be pulled up. Additionally, occasionally some plants die over winter.
Therefore, to find the fewest number of fruit plants next summer, we need to consider the number of plants that will have reached their second year and have not died over winter.
Looking at the data for the last five years: 0, 11, 20, 27, 19
From this data, we can see that there were no fruit plants in the first year (0 plants), and the number of fruit plants increased each subsequent year until it reached 27 plants.
Since the plants need two years to bear fruit and then need to be pulled up, we can determine that for the next summer, we need to consider the number of plants that have reached their second year (i.e., 20 plants) and subtract any potential plants that die over winter.
Given that no plants die over winter, the fewest number of fruit plants you could have next summer is:
20 plants
Therefore, the correct answer is:
c) 7
To solve this problem, we need to analyze the given data and understand the pattern in the number of fruit plants each year.
Let's observe the given data:
- First year: 0 fruit plants.
- Second year: 11 fruit plants.
- Third year: 20 fruit plants.
- Fourth year: 27 fruit plants.
- Fifth year: 19 fruit plants.
We can notice that in the third year, there is a significant increase in the number of fruit plants compared to the second year. However, in the fourth year, there is a decrease in the number of fruit plants. Additionally, in the fifth year, there is a decrease compared to the previous years.
Based on this pattern, we can infer that the number of fruit plants in the next summer will be related to the number of fruit plants in the previous years.
If we assume that no plants die over winter, the minimum number of fruit plants next summer would occur when there is a decrease from the previous year but not a significant decrease.
Looking at the given data, the smallest decrease happened between the fourth and fifth year, where the number dropped from 27 to 19.
Thus, the fewest number of fruit plants in the next summer would be 19.
Therefore, the answer is option e) 19.