High School

The weights of a sample of crates ready for shipment to Moscow, Russia, are (in kilograms): 103, 97, 101, 106, and 103.

What is the mean deviation?

Answer :

Final answer:

The mean deviation of the given weights is 2.4 kg. It is calculated by finding the mean of the weights, determining the absolute differences between each weight and the mean, and then computing the average of these differences.

Explanation:

The question asks for the mean deviation of a sample of weights. To calculate the mean deviation, you first need to find the mean (average) of the weights. Then, for each weight in the sample, you will find the absolute difference between that weight and the mean. Finally, you calculate the average of these absolute differences to get the mean deviation.

Step 1: Calculate the mean.
Mean = (103 + 97 + 101 + 106 + 103) / 5 = 510 / 5 = 102 kg

Step 2: Calculate the absolute differences from the mean.
|103 - 102| = 1 kg
|97 - 102| = 5 kg
|101 - 102| = 1 kg
|106 - 102| = 4 kg
|103 - 102| = 1 kg

Step 3: Calculate the mean deviation.
Mean Deviation = (1 + 5 + 1 + 4 + 1) / 5 = 12 / 5 = 2.4 kg