JAMB 2004 · UME · Q48

Some white balls were put in a basket containing twelve red balls and sixteen black balls. If the probability of picking a white ball from the basket is 37\frac37, how many white balls were introduced?

Worked solution (try it first)
  1. Let ww white balls be added.
  2. The total becomes 12+16+w=28+w12 + 16 + w = 28 + w.
  3. So w28+w=37\frac{w}{28 + w} = \frac37.
  4. Cross-multiply: 7w=84+3w7w = 84 + 3w.
  5. Take 3w3w from both sides: 4w=844w = 84, so w=21w = 21, option C.

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