08-25-2012, 09:56 AM
I am studying for the biology CLEP and I came across the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. I don't fully understand it. I understand where the numbers go and what the equation is but on some of the questions I have come across on practice tests, my knowledge was useless. Can someone please explain it to me? For example (this is a real practice test question)
A given trait occurs in two alternative types, M and m, in a population at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. If 49 percent of the population has only type M alleles, what percentage of the population is expected to be heterozygous for the trait?
A) 9%
B) 14%
C) 21%
D) 42%
E) 51%
I guessed and got the question right (correct answer is D) but I don't understand how you are supposed to figure it out with only one number. P^2+2pq+q^2=1 so p^2 would equal 49 but where do you go from there? I have told that there are a few questions about this on the CLEP so I want to fully understand it. Thank You!!!!!
A given trait occurs in two alternative types, M and m, in a population at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. If 49 percent of the population has only type M alleles, what percentage of the population is expected to be heterozygous for the trait?
A) 9%
B) 14%
C) 21%
D) 42%
E) 51%
I guessed and got the question right (correct answer is D) but I don't understand how you are supposed to figure it out with only one number. P^2+2pq+q^2=1 so p^2 would equal 49 but where do you go from there? I have told that there are a few questions about this on the CLEP so I want to fully understand it. Thank You!!!!!
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--Biology - 60
"Those who believe in the Holy Scriptures are bound to obey its teachings. Those who do not are to be bound by its consequences." ~William Bradford
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For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. ~Philippians 4:13
"Sometimes you have to do what you don't like to get where you want to be." ~Tori Amos
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--Intro to World Religions - 462
--Completed Aleks College Algebra - 72%
--Biology - 60
"Those who believe in the Holy Scriptures are bound to obey its teachings. Those who do not are to be bound by its consequences." ~William Bradford
"In every natural object there is something to excite our admiration." ~Aristotle
For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. ~Philippians 4:13
"Sometimes you have to do what you don't like to get where you want to be." ~Tori Amos
"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." ~Thomas Jefferson
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