Name:__KEY__________________________Date:_____________Period:_________

Hardy-Weinberg Practice Problems

p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1
p+q=1

Problem 1: 1 in 1700 US Caucasian newborns have cystic fibrosis. C for normal is

dominant over c for cystic fibrosis.

1. When counting the phenotypes in a population why is cc the most significant? When
counting, CC and Cc are phenotypically the same, so out of the 1700 you cannot
determine how many are CC or Cc.

2. What is the frequency of cystic fibrosis in the above population (cc or q 2)? q2=1/1700=
0.00059

ALLELE FREQUENCY CALCULATIONS:

3. Why calculate "q" first? __It can easily be calculated since q2 is known.
q = _√0.00059 = 0.02425 (frequency of c allele)

4. Why is it now easy to find "p"? Now that q is known, use the equation p+q =1 to find p
p = _1-q = 1-0.02425 = 0.97575 (frequency of C allele)

Now that you know p and q, the following genotypes can be found.

GENOTYPE FREQUENCY CALCULATIONS:

5. CC- Normal homozygous dominant = p2 = _(0.97575)2_= 0.95209

6. Cc -carriers of cystic fibrosis = 2pq = __2 (0.97575 X 0.02425) = 0.04732

7. How many of the 1700 of the population are homozygous dominant (Normal)?
__0.95209 X 1700 = 1618.6

8. How many of the 1700 in the population are heterozygous (carriers)? 0.04732*1700 =
80.4

9. It has been found that a carrier is better able to survive diseases with severe
diarrhea. What would happen to the frequency of the "c" if there was an epidemic of
cholera or other type of diarrhea producing disease? The frequency of “c” would
increase

Problem 2: If 9% of an African population is born with a severe form of sickle-cell

anemia (ss), what percentage of the population will be more resistant to malaria
because they are heterozygous(Ss) for the sickle-cell gene?

ss = q2 = 0.09 q = √0.09 = 0.3 p=1–q p = 1 – 0.3 = 0.7

Ss = 2pq = 2(0.3)(0.7) = 0.42 * 100 = 42%

 p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1
p+q=1

Problem 3: In a population that meets Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the dominant allele

frequency (A) is 0.7. What is the frequency of homozygous recessive individuals?

p = 0.7 q = 1-p = 1- 0.7 = 0.3

aa = q2 = (0.3)2 = 0.09

Problem 4: In a population that meets Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, 81% are

homozygous for the recessive gene. What percentage of the population is expected to
be homozygous dominant in the next generation?

q2 = .81 q = √0.81 = 0.9 p= 1 - q = 0.1

p2 = (0.1)2 = 0.01 * 100 = 1%

Problem 5: In a population that meets Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, 25% have the

dominant phenotype. How many individuals are heterozygous for this trait in a
population of 10,000?

aa = 75% = 0.75 = q2 q = √0.75 = 0.866 p = 1 – 0.866 = 0.134

Aa = 2pq = 2(0.134)(0.866) = 0.232 * 10,000 = 2320.88

Problem 6: In a population that meets Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the allele frequency

is 0.36 dominant and 0.64 recessive. How many individuals in a population of 20,000
are expected to be homozygous recessive?

p = 0.36 q = 0.64 aa = q2 = (0.64)2 = 0.4096 * 20,000 = 8192