Question

mariah works at a zoo. she was looking at some data showing the masses of their 5 african elephants. the mean mass of the elephants was 3,800 kg, and the median mass was 3,600 kg. the heaviest elephant, named amir, was recorded as 6,000 kg. mariah found out that amirs mass was recorded incorrectly, and that amir actually weighed 7,000 kg. how will amirs mass increasing affect the mean and median? choose 1 answer: a both the mean and median will increase. b the mean will stay the same, and the median will increase. c the mean will increase, and the median will decrease. d the mean will increase, and the median will stay the same.

Explanation:

Step1: Recall the concept of mean

The mean is the sum of all values divided by the number of values. Since only the heaviest value (Amir's mass) is increasing and the number of data - points (5 elephants) remains the same, the sum of all values will increase. So, the mean will increase.

Step2: Recall the concept of median

The median is the middle - value when the data is arranged in ascending or descending order. There are 5 data - points. The median is the 3rd value when the masses are arranged in order. Since only the largest value (Amir's mass) is changing and it is already the largest value, the middle value (the median) will not be affected.

Answer:

D. The mean will increase, and the median will stay the same.