The fraction of men in a population who are married is 2/3. The fraction of women in the population who are married is 3/5. What fraction of the population is single?
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Answer :

sqdancefan

Answer:

  7/19 of the population is single

Step-by-step explanation:

First of all, we must make some assumption about the number of married men versus the number of married women. Here, we will assume they are the same number. (Either men are married to women, or the number of gay male marriages is the same as the number of gay female mariages, or both.)

Let m and w represent the numbers of men and women in the population. Then our assumption (above) tells us ...

  2/3m = 3/5w

Multiplying by 5/3, we get

  w = 10/9m

So, the fraction of the population that is single is ...

  (unmarried men + unmarried women)/(men + women)

  ((1 -2/3)m + (1 -3/5)w) / (m + w)

  = (1/3m + 2/5(10/9m) / (m + 10/9m)

  = (3/9 + 4/9) / (19/9) . . . . . let m cancel, simplify fractions a bit

  = 7/19 . . . . fraction that is single

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