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GATE 2024 DA Q.34: solution and answer

GATE 2024 · DAQ.34 · 1 mark · NAT

The sample average of 50 data points is 40. The updated sample average after including a new data point taking the value of 142 is ______.

See the question in the paper

Answer and solution

ANSWER

The updated sample average is .

Official answer: 42Source: Official answer key, GATE 2024 DA (IISc Bengaluru)

  1. The sample average of 50 points is 40, so the sum of the 50 points is .

  2. Adding the new point 142 gives a new sum of over points.

  3. The updated mean is .

  4. Since , the updated mean is .

  5. Check with the update formula .

KEY IDEA

A mean is the total divided by the count, so recover the total (), add the new value, and divide by . Equivalently, the mean moves by .

WATCH OUT FOR

Dividing the new sum by 50 instead of 51, or averaging the old mean with the new value as . Both ignore that the old mean carries the weight of 50 points.

From the GATE 2024 DA paper. Every question of this paper · Download the full paper · All 4 Descriptive statistics questions, with notes

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