Question 1183071
<font color=black size=3>
The phrasing "have a yield of 88.1%" means that if you bought say 1000 pounds of green beans, then 0.881*1000 = 881 pounds would be considered edible (unfortunately the remaining portion would have to be tossed).


We're told that each person gets 2 ounces of green beans. With 250 people attending, this means we need to have 2*250 = 500 ounces of green beans.


Let x be the amount of green beans we buy
Some of that will spoil, but 88.1% of that amount x will be edible
88.1% of x = 0.881x is the amount of edible green beans in ounces


Set this equal to the target of 500 ounces and solve for x
0.881x = 500
x = 500/0.881
x = 567.536889897843 which is approximate
x = 568
So we need to buy about 568 ounces of green beans


Divide this by 16 to convert to pounds
568 oz = 568/16 = 35.5 lbs
This then rounds up to 36 pounds.
Keep in mind that this means 36*16 = 576 ounces of green beans are purchased (which is over the target 568, but it's better to shoot over rather than come up short).


Answer: 36 pounds
</font>