Average of points

604 Views Asked by At

I am teaching a year 8 class data, and they came across this question which they didn't know how to do.

The question is: Annie averages 15 points per game for the first 3 games of the AFL season. Over the next two weeks she scores 18 and 22 points. Find her average score over the 5 games?

This is my working

Find the average of the next 2 games $$\frac {(18+22)}{2} = 20$$

I then find the average of the 2 averages $$\frac {(15+20)}{2}= 17.5$$

Because you can't have an average of 17.5 points, would you round up or down?

1

There are 1 best solutions below

0
On BEST ANSWER

As mentioned in the comments, taking an average of an average won't provide an accurate picture of the average score over five games.

Let's say Annie scores exactly $15$ points in each of her first three games (providing an average of $15$). Her average score over the five games would be

$$\frac{15+15+15+18+22}{5}=17$$

though it doesn't matter what combination you use to get an average of $15$; you will always have a five-game average of $17$ (i.e. having $14$ points, then $15$, then $16$ would still give you an average score over five games of $17$).