document.write( "Question 1102691: The average age of boys in a class of 30 is 15 years. If 10 more boys join the class, the average of the whole class gets reduced by a year. What is the average age of newcomers? \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #717421 by greenestamps(13200)\"\" \"About 
You can put this solution on YOUR website!


\n" ); document.write( "... and here is another solution using logical analysis -- similar to, yet very different from -- tutor ikleyn's second solution.

\n" ); document.write( "This is a method I like to use when a problem is about averages of numbers that are all \"close together\".

\n" ); document.write( "The average of the 30 boys originally in the class is 15.

\n" ); document.write( "After the 10 new boys join the class, the average of all 40 boys is 14; the average age went down by 1 year.

\n" ); document.write( "On average, each of the 30 boys originally in the class is 1 year older than the new average; that means all together their ages are a total of 30 more than what is needed to make the new average.

\n" ); document.write( "The total of the ages of the 10 new boys has to balance out those 30 \"extra\" years from the original 30 boys; that means the average age of the 10 new boys has to be 30/10 = 3 years LESS than the new average.

\n" ); document.write( "Since the new average is 14, the average age of the 10 new boys is 14-3 = 11.

\n" ); document.write( "With practice, this solution method is easy to use. We can see how the method works by representing it symbolically, like this:

\n" ); document.write( "(1) Let A be the new average.
\n" ); document.write( "(2) The sum of the ages of the original 30 boys in the class is \"30%28A%2B1%29+=+30A%2B30\".
\n" ); document.write( "(3) The new average, with 40 boys, is A; you want the total of the ages of all 40 boys to be \"40A\".
\n" ); document.write( "(4) From (2) and (3), we see that the total of the ages of the 10 new boys has to be \"40A+-+%2830A%2B30%29+=+10A-30\".
\n" ); document.write( "(5) And that means the average age of the 10 new boys must be \"%2810A-30%29%2F10+=+A-3\"
\n" ); document.write( "And since the new average is 14, the average age of the 10 new boys is 14-3 = 11.
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