Exercise 15 Page 788

The mean is often referred to as the average. It is used to describe the middle point in a set of data that does not have an outlier. To find the mean, we divide the sum of the values by the total number of values. Mean: Sum of the values/Total number of values Let x be the number of points the basketball player has to score in their fifth game. We can write an expression for the sum of the points and simplify it.

22+19+25+17+x

AddTerms

Add terms

83+x

Note that the basketball player has already played 4 games and will play once more. We know that the total number of values is 5. Therefore, to find an expression for the mean we must divide the obtained expression by 5. Mean: 83+x/5 Finally, since we want the average — or mean — to be 22, the above expression must equal 22. Let's write an equation for this and then solve for x.

83+x/5=22

MultEqn

LHS * 5=RHS* 5

83+x=110

SubEqn

LHS-83=RHS-83

x=27

The minimum number of points the basketball player must score in their fifth game in order to have an average of 22 is 27.