Hardy Weinberg

Question

Using the hardy weinberg formula to figure out the percentage of the following problem below

 

You are researching a newly discovered species of moths. Moths are either dark grey or light grey in color and you have determined that light is dominant to dark. When you do a population study you find that 19% of moths are light in color. Using this information, what percentage of moths in your system would be heterozygous?

Answer 1

Let L = light color allele

Let l = dark color allele

 

p² + 2pq + q² = 1

 

light color = dominant (LL) + heterozygous (Ll) = 19 %

dark color = recessive (ll) = 81 %

 

q² = 0.81

q = 0.9 = 9/10

 

p² + 2p(9/10) + (9/10)² = 1

 

(p + 9/10)² = 1

sqrt(p + 9/10) = sqrt(1)

 

p + 9/10 = 1

p = 1/10

 

pq = 1/10 * 9/10 = 9 / 100

 

ANSWER: 9 %