SAT scores are distributed with a mean of 1,500 and a standard deviation of 300. You are interested in estimating the average SAT score of first year students at your college. If you would like to limit the margin of error of your 98% confidence interval to 40 points, at least how many students should you sample?

I should use at least 304 students

Step-by-step explanation:

Margin error (E) = t × sd/√n

E = 40

sd = 300

confidence level (C) = 98% = 0.98

significance level = 1 - C = 1 - 0.98 = 0.02 = 2%

t-value corresponding to 2% significance level and infinity degree of freedom is 2.326

n = (t×sd/E)^2 = (2.326×300/40)^2 = 17.445^2 = 304 (to the nearest integer)