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Chapter 1: Q35 (page 13)

In Exercises 29–36, answer the given questions, which are related to percentages.

Percentages in Advertising A New York Times editorial criticized a chart caption that described a dental rinse as one that “reduces plaque on teeth by over 300%.” What is wrong with this statement?

Short Answer

Expert verified

A reduction of 300% in plaque is not meaningful.

Step by step solution

01

Given information

The caption in the chart states that a certain dental rinse reduces plaque on teeth by over 300%.

02

Interpretation of the percentage

The percentage value indicates that a particular portion is a percentage equivalent part of the whole unit. Assume the whole unit of 100% measurement when dividing into 100 equal portions. In this case, x% implies that the measurement of the segment is equal to x same-sized portions.

03

Identifying the error in the statement in terms of the study

It is stated that a dental rinse reduces plaque on teeth by more than 300%.

Here, 300% implies that the plaque reduces by three more times than the basic health condition of the teeth (no plaque).

This condition is not possible.

Thus, the claim in the advertisement is wrong.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

In Exercises 21–24, refer to the data in the table below. The entries are white blood cell counts (1000 cells,ML) and red blood cell counts (million cells,ML) from male subjects examined as part of a large health study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. The data are matched, so that the first subject has a white blood cell count of 8.7 and a red blood cell count of 4.91, and so on.

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In Exercises 29–36, answer the given questions, which are related to percentages.

Percentages in Advertising A New York Times editorial criticized a chart caption that described a dental rinse as one that “reduces plaque on teeth by over 300%.” What is wrong with this statement?

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