Total Points from Average PointsDate: 03/12/2001 at 21:12:17 From: monique fisher Subject: Finding average or mean Mandela's basketball team played six games, with an average or mean of 50 points. How many points did the team score? Date: 03/13/2001 at 09:26:57 From: Doctor Patti Subject: Re: Finding average or mean Hello Monique, Thank you for writing to Dr. Math. Mandela's team played 6 games. Their average score was 50 points. The average score is found by finding the total sum of the game scores and then dividing the total by the number of games. Average = ( Score total ) / 6 Let's look at two specific situations. Situation 1: Game 1: 42 points Game 2: 10 points Game 3: 84 points Game 4: 51 points Game 5: 62 points Game 6: 51 points In this case, the average score is 50 because Score total = 42 + 10 + 84 + 51 + 62 + 51 = 300 and Average = 300 / 6 = 50 Situation 2: Game 1: 53 points Game 2: 52 points Game 3: 49 points Game 4: 46 points Game 5: 42 points Game 6: 58 points In this case the average score is also 50 because Score total = 53 + 52 + 49 + 46 + 42 + 58 = 300 and Average = 300 / 6 = 50 Do you notice a pattern? Look at the score totals. I was able to these examples because: - I knew the average was 50; - six games were played; - multiplication would give me the the score total; - all I needed was to find six numbers whose total came to the score total from the previous step. I hope this helps you out. The answer is in the problem, but I hope that you will see where the number comes from. Please write back if you have any other questions. - Doctor Patti, The Math Forum http://mathforum.org/dr.math/ |
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