Identify five errors in this program, which is supposed to take the average (mean) of three numbers:

Question

define average(one, two, three):
avg = one + two * three
return aver

print("The average of 6, 7, and 8 is: ," average(6, 7, 8))

Answer 1

Here are five errors in the provided program that is intended to calculate the average (mean) of three numbers:

1. Function Definition Syntax: The function definition should use the def keyword properly. The function should be defined with proper syntax like def average(one, two, three):. However, if this were part of a Python code, it's needed to ensure proper indentation for the function body.

2. Incorrect Average Calculation: The formula used to calculate the average is incorrect. The average of three numbers should be computed as:

   avg = (one + two + three) / 3
   

   The provided formula avg = one + two * three does not calculate the average.

3. Variable Name Mismatch: The return statement uses return aver, but the variable defined in the function is named avg. It should be:

   return avg
   

4. Print Function Syntax: The print function has incorrect syntax. The comma before the function call is misplaced. It should be:

   print("The average of 6, 7, and 8 is:", average(6, 7, 8))
   

5. Output Format: While not strictly an error, to improve clarity, you might want to format the output better, potentially using an f-string (if using Python 3.6 or later) or format method to include the result in a more readable way. However, this is optional based on style preference.

Corrected Code:

def average(one, two, three):
    avg = (one + two + three) / 3
    return avg

print("The average of 6, 7, and 8 is:", average(6, 7, 8))

With these corrections, the program would correctly calculate and print the average of the three numbers.