Jim's fishbowl contains 5 tetras, 3 goldfish, and x platies. He removes one fish from the fishbowl at random. If the probability of removing a goldfish from the bowl is 1 out of 3, how many fish does Jim have?
The probability of removing a goldfish from the bowl is 1 out of 3, which means that there are 3 goldfish in the bowl. This means that x = 3, since Jim's bowl contains only tetras, goldfish, and platies.
Jim has 5 tetras, 3 goldfish, and 3 platies, for a total of 5 + 3 + 3 = <<5+3+3=11>>11 fish. Answer: \boxed{11}.
To solve this problem, we can set up the following equation:
Probability of removing a goldfish = Number of goldfish / Total number of fish
Given that the probability of removing a goldfish is 1 out of 3, we can write:
1/3 = 3 / (5 + 3 + x)
Now we can solve this equation for x to find the number of platies in the fishbowl.
Let's start by cross-multiplying:
3(x + 8) = 3
Expanding the left side of the equation:
3x + 24 = 9
Then subtracting 24 from both sides:
3x = 9 - 24
3x = -15
Finally, dividing both sides by 3:
x = -15/3
x = -5
Since the number of fish cannot be negative, we must conclude that there is an error in the initial information or calculation. Please provide additional information or recheck the given values.
To find the number of fish Jim has, we need to determine the value of x, the number of platies in the fishbowl.
We know that the probability of removing a goldfish is 1 out of 3. This means that out of all the fish in the bowl, one third of them are goldfish.
Let's assume that the total number of fish in the bowl is y. Therefore, the number of goldfish in the bowl is 1/3 of y, which is y/3.
According to the given information, the number of tetras is 5 and the number of goldfish is 3, so we can write the equation:
y/3 = 3
To solve for y, we can cross-multiply:
3 * 3 = y
y = 9
Therefore, the total number of fish Jim has in the fishbowl is 9.