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Question P6 An average is a total

Today’s problem — free all day, every step. Every day has one.

Savings — the mean of four pupils

The mean amount of money saved by four pupils in a week is $18.50. Three of them saved $15, $20.50, and $22.50. How much did the fourth pupil save?

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About this method

An average is a total

Turn the average back into a total before doing anything with it.

In this one. An average is a total shared out equally: multiply the mean by the number of pupils to recover the total, then subtract the parts already known.

What you are given5 children, average 6each6 sweets each — an average, so nothing can be added yetWhat you work withtotal = 5 × 6 = 30the total30 sweets — this can be split and added

How to spot it

The word 'average' appears alongside a group being split into two parts, or two separate journeys or trips being combined into one overall figure.

Common mistake

Children average two averages directly, such as averaging two speeds or two group averages, without weighting by how many, or how long, each part actually covers.

Practise a similar question

Standard A bakery recorded its sales over 5 days: $42, $48, $55, $51 and $44. What was the average daily sales amount over the 5 days?
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