SECTION 2-WHOLE NUMBER WORD PROBLEMS

AVERAGE

Sometimes you want to look for middle ground. No, don't take out your maps and start looking at the center. What I mean by "middle ground" is you have a set of data, and want to calculate a number in the middle of this set. You do this by taking an average.

Now to review how to take an average: simply add up the data, and divide by the amount of data within your set.

Now you might ask "Who uses averages?" The answer: teachers, store managers, statisticians, just to name a few.

Teachers average the grades a student received on their tests throughout the semester in order to arrive at a grade.
Store managers might average the number of sales throughout a week in order to see how their business is doing.
Statisticians might take a poll of over 10,000 people, and average the responses received, in order to attempt to forecast a similar future event.

Okay, that's enough talk. Now is time for action. Below you'll see a few examples that I worked out. Then you'll have the last practice session on this section (but don't worry-there's plenty of more exercises in the next section).

Example1

At a library they circulated 12,000 books on Monday, 20,000 books on Tuesday, 15,000 books on Wednesday, 18,000 books on Thursday, and 19,000 books on Friday. What was the average number of books circulated each day?

There are a total of 5 numbers, so after we total the numbers, we'll divide by 5.
12,000 + 20,000 + 15,000 + 18,000 + 19,000 = 84,000
84,000 / 5 = 16,800.
The average number of books circulated each day is 16,800.

Example2

During the course of the semester, you took four tests. On the first test you received a grade of 80 ; On the second test you received a grade of 92 ; On the third test you received a grade of 88 ; and on the last test you received a grade of 96. What will be you average grade for the semester?

To solve this problem add the four grades and then divide by four.
80 + 92 + 96 + 88 = 356 and 356 / 4 = 89.
You have a final grade of 89 for the semester. Keep up the good work.

Ready to take some averages?
Good. Here they come.

To see a word problem, click on the "generate an average word problem" button. Work out the problem and place your answer in the text box. Then click the "check my answer" button. The computer will then tell you whether or not your answer was correct. You will get additional instructions if your answer was incorrect.

After you complete the problem you can generate another word problem by clicking the "reset" button and then clicking the "generate an average word problem" button once again. Continue as many times as you wish, and then:

This completes this tutorial. However, to see more math tutorials that you can purchase click here

All text, images, and source code c2003 Martin Selditch.