SOLUTION: You went trout fishing and caught 6 trout fish. The lengths are 8 5/8, 10 1/2, 9 1/4, 8 3/4, 10 2/3 and 9 5/6. What is the average length of the trout you caught? Please explain.

Algebra ->  Numeric Fractions Calculators, Lesson and Practice -> SOLUTION: You went trout fishing and caught 6 trout fish. The lengths are 8 5/8, 10 1/2, 9 1/4, 8 3/4, 10 2/3 and 9 5/6. What is the average length of the trout you caught? Please explain.      Log On


   



Question 153411: You went trout fishing and caught 6 trout fish. The lengths are 8 5/8, 10 1/2, 9 1/4, 8 3/4, 10 2/3 and 9 5/6. What is the average length of the trout you caught? Please explain. I get 1383/144 or 9 87/144 but this is wrong, what am I doing wrong?
Found 2 solutions by stanbon, Earlsdon:
Answer by stanbon(75887) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Add the numbers to get 309/5
Divide by 6 to get 103/10 or 10.3
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Cheers,
Stan H.

Answer by Earlsdon(6294) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
As you know, to find the average or mean of a set of numbers, you add the numbers then divide the sum by the number of numbers (6 in this case) you have added up. With fractions/mixed numbers, such as you have here, of course, there is a little more work to do because you must first convert the mixed numbers to improper fractions then find the least common denominator (LCD) before you can add them all together. Here we go! Convert the mixed numbers to improper fractions:
8 5/8 = 69/8
10 1/2 = 21/2
9 1/4 = 37/4
8 3/4 = 35/4
10 2/3 = 32/3
9 5/6 = 59/6
Notice that denominators will all divide into 24, so this is our LCD, so now we must convert each improper fraction to 24ths.
69%2F8+=+207%2F24
21%2F2+=+252%2F24
37%2F4+=+222%2F24
35%2F4+=+210%2F24
32%2F3+=+256%2F24
59%2F6+=+236%2F24 Adding the right sides, we get:
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1383%2F24 Now divide the numerator by 6 (or multiply by 1%2F6), the number of trout.
%281383%2F24%29%281%2F6%29+=+%281383%29%2F144 Reduce this improper fraction to...
9 87/144 = 9.6 which is precisely the answer that you got!
Why do think that your answer is wrong?