ANSWER:
209
STEP-BY-STEP EXPLANATION:
The statement gives us the margin of error (E = 0.5) and the standard deviation (σ = 2.8).
For 99% confidence level, z value is 2.58 as P(-2.58 < z < 2.58 ) = 0.99
With the following formula we can then determine the minimum value of the sample size:
[tex]\begin{gathered} E=Z_c\cdot\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}} \\ \\ \text{ We replacing:} \\ \\ 0.5=2.58\cdot\frac{2.8}{\sqrt{n}} \\ \\ \sqrt{n}=\frac{2.58\cdot2.8}{0.5} \\ \\ n=\left(\frac{2.58\cdot2.8}{0.5}\right)^2 \\ \\ n=208.74\approx209 \end{gathered}[/tex]The minimum sample size needed es 209