Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2014

Algebra Difficulty 1.6 Junior Find the answer Canada

The graph shows points scored by Riley-Ann in her first five basketball games.

Figure 0
Hide/Reveal Description of Points Scored

Game 1, 8 points.
Game 2, 7 points.
Game 3, 20 points.
Game 4, 7 points.
Game 5, 18 points.

The difference between the mean and the median of the number of points that she scored is

Pick one

Solution

Reading from the graph, Riley-Ann scored 8 points in Game 1, 7 points in Game 2, 20 points in Game 3, 7 points in Game 4, and 18 points in Game 5.

Therefore the mean number of points that she scored per game is 8+7+20+7+185=605=12\frac{8+7+20+7+18}{5}=\frac{60}{5}=12. Since the ordered list (smallest to largest) of the number of points scored per game is 7,7,8,18,207,7,8,18,20, then the median is 8, the number in the middle of this ordered list. The difference between the mean and the median of the number of points that Riley-Ann scored is 128=412-8=4.

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Source: CEMC, University of Waterloo, licensed CC-BY-NC-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.