The number of apples

produced per tree in Zara’s
orchard is 125, 198, 209, 213,
101, 178. What is the mean
absolute deviation of the
dataset? Round to the nearest
tenth.

1 answer

To calculate the mean absolute deviation (MAD) of the dataset, we follow these steps:

  1. Calculate the Mean: First, we find the mean (average) of the dataset.

    \[ \text{Mean} = \frac{\text{Sum of all values}}{\text{Number of values}} \]

    The sum of the values is: \[ 125 + 198 + 209 + 213 + 101 + 178 = 1024 \]

    The number of values is 6.

    Thus, the mean is: \[ \text{Mean} = \frac{1024}{6} \approx 170.67 \]

  2. Calculate the Absolute Deviations: Now we calculate the absolute deviations of each value from the mean:

    \[ |125 - 170.67| = | -45.67 | \approx 45.67 \] \[ |198 - 170.67| = |27.33| \approx 27.33 \] \[ |209 - 170.67| = |38.33| \approx 38.33 \] \[ |213 - 170.67| = |42.33| \approx 42.33 \] \[ |101 - 170.67| = | -69.67 | \approx 69.67 \] \[ |178 - 170.67| = |7.33| \approx 7.33 \]

  3. Calculate the Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD): We sum these absolute deviations and then divide by the number of values.

    The sum of the absolute deviations is: \[ 45.67 + 27.33 + 38.33 + 42.33 + 69.67 + 7.33 = 230.67 \]

    Now, we calculate the MAD: \[ \text{MAD} = \frac{230.67}{6} \approx 38.445 \]

  4. Round to the Nearest Tenth: Rounding \(38.445\) to the nearest tenth gives us \(38.4\).

Therefore, the mean absolute deviation of the dataset is approximately 38.4.