In a statistics class of 100 students, the mean score on the midterm was 98. In another class of 23 students, the mean score was 8. What was the mean score of the two classes combined?

1 Answer
Sep 7, 2016

"Mean" = 9984/123 = 81.2Mean=9984123=81.2

Explanation:

When we are finding a mean, we need to know:
the sum of all the values, and how many values there are.

"Mean" = "Total"/"Number"Mean=TotalNumber

However, if we already know the Mean and Number, we can find the total.

"Total = Mean" xx "Number"Total = Mean×Number

Note: You can ADD TOTALS, and NUMBERS, but you may not add means.

For the class of 100 students with a mean of 98:

"Total" = 98 xx 100 = 9800Total=98×100=9800

For the class of 23 students, the mean was 8.

"Total" = 8xx23 = 184Total=8×23=184

Now combine the two groups:

There are 100+23 = 123 " students altogether"100+23=123 students altogether.

The total is: 9800+184 = 9984 9800+184=9984

"Mean" = 9984/123 = 81.2Mean=9984123=81.2