Carcass wrote:
The average (arithmetic mean) of four numbers is 4a + 16. When a fifth number is added, the average becomes 5a + 20. The fifth number is
A. a - 4
B. a + 4
C. 4a + 4
D. 4a + 16
E. 9a + 36
The average (arithmetic mean) of the original four numbers is 4a + 16.This tells us that: (the sum of the original four numbers)/4 = 4a + 16
Multiply both sides of the equation by 4 to get:
sum of the original four numbers = 16a + 64 When a fifth number is added, the average becomes 5a + 20.So we can write: (sum of all five numbers)/5 = 5a + 20
Multiply both sides of the equation by 5 to get:
sum of all five numbers = 25a + 100Let k = the fifth number.Notice that:
sum of all five numbers =
sum of the original four numbers +
kSubstitute to get:
25a + 100 =
16a + 64 +
kSubtract 64 from both sides of the equation:
25a + 36 = 16a + kSubtract 16a from both sides of the equation:
9a + 36 = kAnswer: E