Algebra II : Mean

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Algebra II

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Example Questions

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Example Question #101 : Mean

Determine the mean:  

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Add all the numbers in the data set.

Divide this value by five.

The answer is:  

Example Question #102 : Mean

Determine the mean of the values:  

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The mean is defined as the average of all the numbers given in the data set.

Add the numbers together.

Divide this value by four to get the mean.

The answer is:  

Example Question #103 : Mean

Determine the exact mean of the numbers:  

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The mean is the sum of all terms in the data set, divided by the total amount of numbers given.

Combine like terms.

Dividing by three is similar to multiplying by one-third.

The answer is:  

Example Question #101 : Mean

Determine the mean of the numbers:  

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The mean is the average of all the numbers given in the data set.

Sum the numbers and divide by the total amount of numbers.

Divide the two numbers.

The answer is:  

Example Question #105 : Mean

Determine the mean of the following numbers:  

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The mean is the average of all the numbers.

Add all the numbers in the data set.

Divide this number by five.

The answer is:  

Example Question #101 : Mean

Please read the following carefully:

 

Tony is a current student at Florida Atlantic University, and is taking a College Algebra class. Assume that all exams are weighted the same, and are the only graded part of this course. The course syllabus states that the lowest exam score will be dropped after the last exam is graded. There will be six total exams, and the highest score he can achieve on any exam is 100%, as there are no extra credit opportunities. Below are his first five exams and what he scored.

Exam 1: 75%

Exam 2: 100%

Exam 3: 81%

Exam 4: 46%

Exam 5: 98%

The sixth and final exam is coming up next week. What grade must Tony get on the exam to ensure that he will finish the course with an A (90%)?

Possible Answers:

He does not need to take the final exam as his current grade is above , and the test will be dropped anyway if he does score below the standard.

No matter what grade Tony achieves on his last test, his final grade will be below .

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Part 1: Understanding the problem

The most important part of solving this problem is to understand what is being asked. Failure to completely understand what the information states can result in an inaccurate answer.

In this problem, you are given Tony's exam scores and very important information regarding class policies. You must be aware that the lowest grade will be dropped after the final exam is complete, and not before. You must also know that all exams are weighted the same, and that is the only graded part of this course. You should make note that there is no extra credit on the exams, as the highest grade that can be achieved on any given exam is .

Learning tip: 

Feel free to cross out any irrelevant information to help you stay focused. In other words, you do not need to know that his name is Tony or that he is taking a college algebra course at Florida Atlantic University. If you do cross out any irrelevant information, you must make sure that what you are crossing out has absolutely nothing to do with what you are trying to solve. If you accidentally cross out key information, you will probably answer incorrectly.

Part 2: Determining if Tony needs to take the last exam

Step 1:

We must calculate Tony's current grade in the class to see if he even needs to take the final exam.

In other words, if his current grade is  without taking the last exam, we will know that if Tony does not take the last exam and scores , it will be dropped and Tony will still maintain a grade of . Until we find out what Tony's grade currently is, we should not drop any test scores. 

In order to find Tony's current grade, we have to take the mean (average) of all his test scores. To calculate the mean, add up all of the test scores and divide that number by the amount of tests, as shown below.

Because Tony's current grade is below his standard of a , we know that we must drop the lowest test score in our calculations.

In other words, Tony must take the final exam and score very well in order to achieve a % average. After he scores well on the exam, the lowest test score () will be dropped, as the course syllabus states.

Part 3: Setting up an equation

 As we concluded from the previous parts of this problem, we will drop the lowest test score of  and add a variable representing the result of the last exam.

We will set this equal to 90, as that is Tony's desired average grade. Once we solve for x, we can find out what Tony needs on his last exam.

Now, we simplify as shown below:

Multiply  to both sides of the equation:

Subtract 354 from both sides of the equation to solve for :

Answer: Tony must achieve a score of  on his last exam in order to achieve an average score of 

Example Question #105 : Mean

Most chess tournaments use a rating system called Elo, which is named after a physics professor named Arpad Elo who developed the rating system. The 2014 Sinquefield Cup was a tournament in which the elite chess players of the world competed. Below is a list of their Elo ratings.

 

Sinquefield

What is the average elo rating of the players that participated in the 2014 Sinquefield Cup? Round your answer to the nearest whole number.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Part 1: Finding the mean (average)

We must find the average Elo rating of the players competing at this tournament. The way to calculate the mean is to add up all of the values, and then to divide that number by the amount of values.

In other words, we must take                                                                    

and divide that by the total number of players (6). 

When you type this into your calculator, you may get a number that is approximately  with the  repeating infinitely. 

Part 2: Rounding

The problem asks us to round to the nearest whole number.

 can be rounded to . 

Solution: 

 

 

 

 

Example Question #102 : Mean

What is the mean of the following set of numbers?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The mean is the average of all of the numbers, so

,

and

Example Question #107 : Mean

Joesph has scored a 65, 77, 81, 85, and 87 on his last five tests in Algebra II.

If Joesph wants to earn a mean average of  on tests in his Algebra 2 class, what minimum score must he earn on his sixth and final test? (Assume all tests are evenly weighted).

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

If we assign our sixth and final score a variable, let's say , we can use the formula for the mean: 

.

Remember to divide by 6 instead of 5 because we have now added in a sixth score. From here, we would multiply both sides by 6 to get rid of the denominator on the left side, leaving us with 

.

Solving, we get .

Example Question #108 : Mean

In a class, there are fifteen girls and thirty boys. The girls had an average height of 45 inches, and the boys had an average height of 45.5 inches. If the number of girls is doubled, but they maintain the same average height, what is the new average height of the class (to the nearest hundredth)?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To calculate this, you need to figure out the total number of inches in the classroom. This is calculated by multiplying each group by its average number of inches. For the girls, there will be 30 after they double. Their total number of inches can be found by multiplying the average height by 30:

The boys' total height can be found by multiplying their average by 30 as well:

There are now 60 students total, so the average number of inches is the combined height of the boys and girls divided by 60:

The averge height in the class is 45.25 inches.

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