SKILL: CALCULATING THE MEAN OF A DATA SET MATH TUTORIAL CLASSZONE.COM Click on Math Tutorial for more help finding the mean. Comparing Mountain Heights How do the tallest mountains in the United States compare with the tallest mountains in the world? The table shows the heights of the five tallest mountains in the world. All five are in Asia. Mountain Height (meters) Everest 8850 K2 8611 Kanchenjunga 8586 Lhotse 8516 Makalu 8463 To describe data, you can find their average, or mean. The mean of a data set is the sum of the values divided by the number of values. Example To find the mean height of the five tallest mountains in the world, first add the heights. 8,850 Then divide by 5, the 8,611 number of mountains. 8,586 43,026 = 8605.2 5 8,516 Round your result to a 8,463 whole number. 43,026 ANSWER The mean height of the five tallest mountains is 8605 meters. Answer the following questions. Mountain Height (meters) McKinley 6194 St. Elias 5489 Foraker 5304 Bona 5029 Blackburn 4996 Mount McKinley, Alaska, is the tallest mountain in North America. 1. The table to the left shows the heights of the five tallest mountains in the United States. All five are in Alaska. Find the mean of the data. 2. What is the difference between the mean height of the three tallest mountains in the world and the mean height of the three tallest mountains in the United States? 3. Suppose Mount Everest were in the United States. What would the mean of the three tallest mountains in the United States then be? CHALLENGE The mean height of all the land in the United States is 763 meters. Does knowing the mean height help you describe the shape of the land in the United States? Explain why or why not. Chapter 8: Mountains and Volcanoes 261
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