A.J.

SADLER

MATHEMATICS
APPLICATIONS
UNIT

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Sadler, A. J., author.
Mathematics Applications Unit 2 / A. J . Sadler.

9780170350457 (paperback)
Includes index.
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 Preface.
This text targets Unit Two of the West Australian course Mathematics Applications a
course that is organised into four units altogether, the first two for year eleven and the
last two for year twelve.
UNIT UNIT UNIT UNIT
ONE TWO THREE FOUR

The West Australian course, Mathematics Applications, is based on the Australian

National Curriculum Senior Secondary course General Mathematics. The main
difference between unit two of these two courses is the inclusion of some work on the
Normal Distribution in the West Australian course, covered in the final chapter of this
text. Hence, by excluding the final chapter this text is also suitable for anyone following
Unit Two of the National Curriculum course, General Mathematics.
The book contains text, examples and exercises containing many carefully graded
questions. A student who studies the appropriate text and relevant examples should
make good progress with the exercise that follows.
The book commences with a section entitled Preliminary work This section briefly
outlines work of particular relevance to this unit that students should either already
have some familiarity with from the mathematics studied in earlier years, or for which
the brief outline included in the section may be sufficient to bring the understanding of
the concept up to the necessary level.
As students progress through the book they will encounter questions involving this
preliminary work in the Miscellaneous Exercises that feature at the end of each chapter.
These miscellaneous exercises also include questions involving work from preceding
chapters to encourage the continual revision needed throughout the unit.
Some chapters commence with a "Situation" or two for students to consider, either
individually or as a group. In this way students are encouraged to think and discuss a
situation, which they are able to tackle using their existing knowledge, but which acts as
a fore-runner and stimulus for the ideas that follow. Students should be encouraged to
discuss their solutions and answers to these situations and perhaps to present their
method of solution to others. For this reason answers to these situations are generally
not included in the book.
At times in this series of books I have found it appropriate to go a little outside the
confines of the syllabus for the unit involved. In this regard readers will find in this text
I have included some consideration of pie charts as a method of data display. Similarly,
with Linear Relationships, whilst the syllabus concentrates on determining the slope
and intercept from the equation or plot, I also include tables of values and include
determining the equation knowing the gradient and one other point on the line or
knowing two points on the line. When using the sine rule to determine the size of an
unknown angle in non right triangles I do not confine consideration to acute angles.
However, when an obtuse angle is involved, the reader is told this fact so that
ambiguous situations are still avoided.
Alan Sadler
 Contents
Preliminary work. Page 7
Use of number. 7
Ratios. 7
Coordinates. 7
Data display 8
Data analysis. 8
Formulae. 10
Algebra. 10
Similar triangles. 11
The Pythagorean theorem. 11
Probability. 11
Geometry. 11
Use of technology to process and display data. 12

1. Univariate data: Classify, organise and display. Page 13

Types of data. 14
Variables. 14
Categorical variables. 15
Displaying categorical variables. 16
Numerical variables. 18
Displaying numerical data. 19
Histograms and bar charts. 21
M i s c e l l a n e o u s Exercise One. 27

2. S u m m a r i s i n g data and describing distributions. Page 29

Combining groups. 32
Use of statistical functions on a calculator. 38
Grouped data. 39
Describing a distribution of scores. 44
Miscellaneous Exercise T w o . 47

3. Measures of dispersion or spread. Page 49

Standard deviation. 51
Use of statistical functions on a calculator. 53
Frequency tables. 59
Outliers. 59
Grouped data. 60
Central tendency and spread - An investigation. 63
M i s c e l l a n e o u s E x e r c i s e Three. 64

4. Boxplots, h i s t o g r a m s and more about describing distributions. Page 67

Box and whisker diagrams (boxplots). 67
Boxplot or histogram? 71
More about the shape of a distribution - skewness. 72
M i s c e l l a n e o u s Exercise Four. 78
5. The statistical investigation process. Page 81
Implementing the statistical investigation process. 82
M i s c e l l a n e o u s Exercise Five. 83

6. Solving equations. Page 85

Solving equations. 86
Equations with brackets of fractions. 88
Linear equations. 92
M i s c e l l a n e o u s Exercise Six. 96
7. Using equations to solve problems. Page 99
Pyramids. 99
Number puzzles. 103
Solving problems. 107
Equations from simple interest formula. Ill
Equations from ratios. 112
Miscellaneous Exercise Seven. 119
8. Linear relationships. Page 121
Straight line graphs. 123
The gradient of a straight line. 123
Table of values. 124
What's my rule. 128
Table - rule - graph. 129
Lines parallel to the axes. 131
Use of a calculator with a graphing facility. 132
More abouty = mx + c, the equation of a straight line. 138
It may not look like.y = mx + c but it may still be linear. 139
Determining the equation of a straight line. 139
A useful rule. 140
Calculator routines. 140
Linear relationships in practical situations. 142
Miscellaneous Exercise Eight 148

9. Piecewise defined relationships. Page 151

Piecewise defined relationships. 152
Miscellaneous Exercise Nine. 157

10. Trigonometry for right triangles. Page 159

Right angled triangles. 160
Trigonometry. 162
Hypotenuse, opposite and adjacent. 163
Notes regarding calculator usage. 166
Applications. 168
Accuracy and trigonometry questions. 175
Bearings. 175
Elevation and depression. 176
More vocabulary. 177
Miscellaneous Exercise Ten. 180
11. Trigonometry for triangles that are not right angled. Page 183
Area of a triangle. 183
Triangles that are not right angled. 184
Area of a triangle given two sides and the included angle. 185
The sine rule. 190
The cosine rule. 194
Miscellaneous Exercise Eleven. 203
12. Simultaneous linear equations. Page 207
Introducing two variables. 207
Solving word problems. 213
Miscellaneous Exercise Twelve. 219

13. Standard scores and the normal distribution. Page 223

Standard scores. 224
Normal distribution. 226
Using a calculator. 228
In the old days: Using a book of tables. 228
Notation. 231
Quantiles. 233
Miscellaneous Exercise Thirteen. 237

Answers 241

2 6 9
Index

Acknowledgements.

As with all of my previous books I am again indebted to my wife, Rosemary, for her
assistance, encouragement and help at every stage.
To my three beautiful daughters, Rosalyn, Jennifer and Donelle, thank you for the
continued understanding you show when I am "still doing sums" and for the love and
belief you show.

Further Acknowledgements.
The author and publisher wish to thank the following companies and organisations for
allowing the use of their data as the basis for some of the questions, and occasionally in
the theory sections, of this text:
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Cat. No: 3101.0: pp. 16,17; Western Australia Police ©
Government of Western Australia: p. 17; Bureau of Meteorology © Commonwealth of
Australia: pp. 25, 57; Australian Bureau of Statistics: p. 64; WA Department of
Education and Training: p. 78; The New Internationalist Magazine: p. 181.

Important note.
This series of texts has been written based on my interpretation of the appropriate
General Mathematics syllabus documents (National Curriculum) and Mathematics
Applications syllabus documents (Western Australia) as they stand at the time of
writing. It is likely that as time progresses some points of interpretation will become
clarified and perhaps even some changes could be made to the original syllabus. I urge
teachers of these courses, and students following the courses, to check with the
appropriate curriculum authority to make themselves aware of the latest version of the
syllabus current at the time they are studying the course.
Alan Sadler
 ISBN 9780170350457. Preliminary work. 7

Preliminary work.
This book assumes that you are already familiar with a number of mathematical ideas
from your mathematical studies in earlier years.
This section outlines the ideas which are of particular relevance to Unit Two of the
Mathematics Applications course and for which some familiarity will be assumed, or for
which the brief explanation given here may be sufficient to bring your understanding of
the concept up to the necessary level.
Read this "preliminary work" section and if anything is not familiar to you, and you
don't understand the brief explanation given here, you may need to do some further
reading to bring your understanding of those concepts up to an appropriate level for
this unit. (If you do understand the work but feel somewhat "rusty" with regards to
applying the ideas some of the chapters afford further opportunities for revision, as do
some of the questions in the miscellaneous exercises at the end of chapters.)
» Chapters in this book will continue some of the topics from this preliminary work
by building on the assumed familiarity with the work.
The miscellaneous exercises that feature at the end of each chapter may include
questions requiring an understanding of the topics briefly explained here.
• Use of number.
The understanding and appropriate use of the rule of order, fractions, decimals,
percentages, rounding, truncation, square roots and cube roots, numbers
3 2 5
expressed with positive integer powers, e.g. 2 , 5 , 2 etc, expressing numbers in
4 7
standard form, e.g. 2-3 x 10 (= 23 000), 5-43 * 10" (= 0-000 000 543), also called
scientific notation, and familiarity with the symbols >, >, <, and < is assumed.
• Ratios.
The idea of comparing two or more quantities as a ratio should be familiar to you.
For example, for the diagram on the right the ratio of
unshaded circles to shaded circles is 2:4
which simplifies to 1:2
Suppose the ratio of males to females in a school is 17 : 21.
Knowing there are 231 females in the school we can calculate the number of males:
Males : females = 17 : 21
= ?:231

The number of males = 17 x 11, i.e. 187.

Coordinates
It is assumed that you are familiar with the idea that .
B
points on a graph can be located by stating the
coordinates of the point. x
T—I—r>-
For example point A has coordinates (3, 2), -4 c

point B has coordinates (-2, 3), •

point C has coordinates (-3, -2), _4.]
point D has coordinates (2, -3).
8 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Data display
It is anticipated that you have already encountered the idea of counting or tallying
data and organising it into tables, frequency tables and two way classification
tables. The following forms of data presentation are also assumed to be familiar.

Dot frequency Bar graph

Pictogram
(Horizontal bars)
1985 1I 1 Key

•• ••
•• Mill I
1990
••••••• 1995 1 1 1 ! I 100000
represents
people
I I I I I I I I I I I 2000 111111
5 10 15 2005 111111
Score 2010 1111111
Bar graph (see* below) Circle graph
Proportional bar graph
(vertical bars)

ü n
A B C D E
*09 10 '11 *12
Some texts call a bar graph with vertical bars a column graph and restrict the name "bar graph" to those

Stem and leaf plot Frequency histogram

Frequency
l 14 15 5 10
51 15 0 3 83
3 28 16 3 67
07 17 86
6 18 5 IL.
46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55

Data analysis
The mean, the median and the mode are all measures used to summarise a set of
scores. They are all ways of giving an average or typical score for the set.
The mean is found by summing the scores and then dividing by the number of
scores there are. The mean is the arithmetic average of the scores.
We use the symbol x to represent the mean of a set of scores.
For example, for the ten numbers: 19,25,29,28,23,15,27, 22, 24,21
19 + 25 + 29 + 28 + 23 + 15 + 27 + 22 + 24 + 21
x 10
The mean of the ten numbers is 23-3.
The mean is a very useful measure of central tendency and is frequently used when
analysing data. One disadvantage of the mean is that it can be greatly influenced
by extreme scores, called outliers. For example if we add an eleventh score of 97
to the above list the mean jumps from 23-3 to 30, i.e. the mean now exceeds all of
the original ten scores. Clearly the score of 97 is a long way from the other scores.
It is an extreme value and alters the mean significantly.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Preliminary work. 9

The median is the middle score in an ordered set of scores. If there are an even
number of scores we say that the median is the mean of the "middle two" in the
ordered set.
For example, to determine the median of the seven numbers
29, 13, 27, 18, 33, 16, 29
we write them in order and choose the middle one:
13, 16, 18, [ 2 7 ] , 29, 29, 33
The median of the seven scores is 27.
To determine the median of the eight numbers
29, 13, 27, 18, 33, 16, 29, 13
we write them in order and find the mean of the middle two:
13, 13, 16, 18, 27 , 29, 29, 33
The median of the eight scores is 22-5.

The mode, or modal score, in a set of scores is the one that appears most
frequently. There is of course no guarantee that the mode represents a score that
is anywhere near the middle of the set of scores. It can be a useful and informative
measure but is not necessarily "central". The mode is used when we want the
"most popular" value.
If there are two scores that are equally "most popular" we say the set of scores is
bimodal, because it has two modes. We do not find the mean of the two modes.
(Sets of scores with more than two modes could be referred to as multimodal.]
For the ten numbers: 7,8, 5,9,9,11, 9,11,8, 5 the mode is 9.
The set of ten numbers: 5,8,5,9,9,11,9,11,8,5 is bimodal.
The modes are 5 and 9.

Make sure you agree with the given mean, median and mode for the following set
of numbers:
3, 3, 1, 4, 3, 0, 5, 5, 5, 3, 1, 4, 5, 4, 2.
The mean of the set of numbers is 3-2, the median is 3 and the set is bimodal with
modes of 3 and 5.

As well as wanting to summarise the data using a mean or median or mode we may
also be interested to know how widely spread the data is.
One way of indicating this is by stating the range, which is simply the difference
between the highest score and the lowest score.
For example the set of numbers 7, 8, 5, 9, 9, 11, 9, 11, 8, 5 have a range of 6,
obtained by working out (11 - 5).
Whilst the range is easy to calculate it is determined using just two of the scores
and does not take any of the other scores into account. For this reason it is of
limited use.
Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Formulae.
From previous work, probably from Unit One of the Mathematics Applications
course, you should be familiar with the idea of using a formula to determine the
value of a variable, or pronumeral, that appears in the formula by itself and on one
side of the equals sign, given the values of the variables, or pronumerals appearing
on the other side.
For example:
Given A = P + 7 we could determine A, given P and /:
If P = 200 and 7=15 it follows that
A = 200 + 15
= 215
Given C = 2Ttr we could determine C, knowing n and given r:
If r = 4, it follows that
C = 2 x TT x 4
= 25-133 (rounded to three decimal places)
1 2
Given w e
= ut + ^atr could determine s, given u, a and t:
If
= 4, a = 10 and t = 6 it follows that
z
= 4x6 + - x l 0 x 6
= 204

Algebra.
You should also be familiar with evaluating expressions such as 2x + 3 , 5x - 2,
5;y + 4, 2[x + 3), 3xy + 2z etc, given the values of x, y, and z.
If JC = 2, j = 3 and z = -5 then 2x+3 7
5x- 2 8
5^ + 4 19
2(x+3) 10
3xy + 2z 8
The idea of expanding brackets should also be familiar to you:
The expression 3[x + 2) means "three lots of [x + 2)". Think of the bracket as a
parcel containing an x and a 2. If we open the three parcels we have three ocs and
three 2s, i.e. 3x + 6. We call this expanding the brackets.
Thus S(x + 4) expands to Sx + 20
7(2x + 5) expands to 14x + 35
-2(3x - 4) expands to -6x +8
If we are expanding several brackets we may be able to simplify our answer.
For example 3(2x + 1) + 5(x +3) = 6x + 3 + Sx + 15
= 11*+18
For example 4(x+3) - 3(JC+2) = 4 x + 1 2 - 3 x - 6
= lx + 6 Usually written: x + 6.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Preliminary work. 11

Similar triangles.
To know whether two triangles are similar we can:
• See if the 3 angles of one triangle are equal to the 3 angles of the other
triangle.
OR • See if the lengths of corresponding sides are in the same ratio.
OR • See if the lengths of two pairs of corresponding sides are in the same
ratio and the angles between the sides are equal.
Once we know that two triangles are similar then we know that corresponding
sides are in the same ratio.

The Pythagorean theorem.

From unit one of this course you should be familiar with the following fact:
The square of the length of the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle is equal to the
sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides.

Thus, for the triangle shown on the right,

b
The theorem of Pythagoras allows us to determine the length of one side of a right
triangle, knowing the lengths of the other two sides.

Probability.
The work of chapter 13 assumes a basic understanding of the idea that the
probability of something happening is a measure of the likelihood of it happening
and this measure is given as a number between zero (no chance of happening) to 1
(certain to happen).
If we roll a normal die once the probability of getting a 3 is one sixth.
l

We write this as: P(3) =

For each spin of the spinner shown on the right

P(l) = i P(2) = i
3

P(odd number) = 5, P(even number)

Pfnumber > 5) = 0, Pfnumber < 6) = 1.

Geometry.
It is assumed that you are familiar with the fact that when
two straight lines intersect, the vertically opposite angles are
equal, and with angle facts relating to alternate angles,
corresponding angles and co-interior angles with parallel
lines.
12 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Use of technology to process and display data.

Students following this course may come to this unit with very varied abilities in
the use of technology such as graphic calculators and computers. Whatever your
initial ability you are encouraged to make use of such technology whenever
appropriate.

Listl List 2 List3

As the course progresses, do try to:
1 1 5
2 2 8
3 3 10
(a) gain familiarity with entering data 4 4 7
into the columns of a calculator with
statistical capabilities and showing
various statistical information and
displays about that data.

and (b) become familiar with entering data into the columns of a spreadsheet on a
computer or calculator and of carrying out straightforward operations on
those entries such as adding a list of numbers, finding their average and
presenting the data as a graph, as shown below.
A B C D E F G
1 Testl Test 2
2 Alex 9 20
3 Ben 6 8
4 Chris 8 17 Scores in test 1.
5 Diane 7 16 1^
6 Eric 9 17
<D 10
7 Donelle 10 20
•
h i l l 1.1I I
8 Fran 2" 7 • • 1 —mm
9 Gert 4 9
C\ ^^^^K «OOT^nn iwuwiH ^m^^m OT^^M •mi ^^^^m ^^M^i .i. m 1
. i.
10 Harri 8 17
11 Icolyn 9 19
12
13 Out of io 20
14 Total 72 150
15 Mean 7.2 15
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter One: Univariate data: Classify, organise and display. 13

Chapter 1.

Univariate data;
Classify, organise and display.

Situation: CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE.

A doctor is to give a lecture on cardiovascular disease, i.e. diseases of the heart or blood
vessels, including heart attack and stroke. Using statistics for the previous year she
wants to start her lecture by saying:

"Did you know that of the deaths in Australia last year, from all causes,
% of these were due to cardiovascular disease. This means that last year,
on average, one Australian died from cardiovascular disease every minutes."

Copy and complete the above introduction to her talk using the information given in the
table below to fill in the blanks. (Give the percentage to the nearest percent and the time
to the nearest minute.)

TOTAL AUSTRALIAN DEATHS FOR YEAR PRIOR TO TALK: All ages

CAUSE OF DEATH MALE FEMALE PERSONS
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
Coronary heart disease 12 433 11137 23 570
Stroke 4 668 6 845 11513
Other cardiovascular 4 856 6195 11051
(Sub-total) 21957 24177 46134
CANCERS 22 039 17183 39 222
TRANSPORT ACCIDENTS 1224 414 1638
ALL OTHER 22 021 21699 43 720
All causes 67 241 63 473 130 714
[Source of data: National Heart Foundation of Australia and The Australian Bureau of Statistics.]
14 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

The situation on the previous page involved you in making sense of information, or
data, that was presented as a table, extracting relevant information from that table,
and summarising that data in terms of percentages and times.
The data involved in the table would have been collected from government data bases
where the cause of death for each deceased person, as stated on the death certificate,
would be stored.
Data collection is often carried out to investigate some aspect of our lives. The
methods by which we collect that data can vary as can the types of data we collect. The
initial chapters of this text consider
the various types of data,
organising and displaying data,
describing and interpreting data,
comparing sets of data.
Types of data.
For some investigations we collect the data ourselves by asking questions, by measuring,
by experiment etc. This is called primary data - data we have collected ourselves.
Sometimes it is appropriate to use the data already collected by others, as in the
situation on the previous page. For us this would be secondary data - data collected by
others.
Note: Internet access provides us with a ready supply of information regarding all
sorts of subjects. Whilst much of this may well be valid we need to be cautious
before assuming certain things about the information. We might consider such
things as: Was the method of data collection appropriate?
Is the information fairly presented?
Is the data collected from everyone in a particular situation or was sampling
involved?
Are any summary statements correct?
Are any conclusions reasonable?
One way to have confidence in the validity of the information is to use data from
a reputable source. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), for example,
would be one such credible source, as would other Government departments.
Such sources are likely to have correctly considered collection methods, suitable
presentation of data, appropriate conclusions etc.
Variables.
If we ask someone what their favourite colour is or how tall they are the answers we get
will vary from one person to another. Not everyone has blue as their favourite colour,
not everyone is 163 cm tall etc. The responses will vary. Favourite colour and height
are examples of variables.
If we are considering one variable, for example favourite colour, any data we collect will
be univariate. However if we wanted to investigate how favourite colour may change
with the age of a person we would be considering two variables - favourite colour and
age. In such cases we would be considering bivariate data. This unit will only consider
univariate data. Unit three of the Mathematics Applications course considers bivariate
data.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter One: Univariate data: Classify, organise and display. 15

Categorical variables.
Consider the following questions that might be asked in some data collection activities:
How do you get to school (or work) - walk, cycle, car, bus, train, other?
Are you male or female?
What is your favourite colour?
Have you ever lived in a country other than Australia?
How would you rank your fitness level: Low, Medium or High?
What would you consider the best description of the current outside temperature
- cold, cool, warm, or hot?
What is your house number?
What number are you in your rugby team?
Each of these questions allow us to place the person who responds into a particular
category or group. The response might allow us to place the respondent in the group
of males, or the group of people whose favourite colour is red, those who regard their
fitness level as high, or who live in houses numbered eleven, or play number eight in
their rugby team etc. The variable concerned, be it mode of transport, gender,
favourite colour etc are all examples of categorical variables. Data associated with a
categorical variable is called categorical data.
Notice that the first four questions each involve categories for which order is
irrelevant. In general it would be pointless to suggest an order to the modes of
transport, or to the gender categories, or place red ahead of blue as a category. We
may rank order according to the numbers of people in that category but not on the
basis of the category names themselves which have no natural order about them. Such
categorical variables are called nominal categorical variables. (Name - nominal).
However the last four questions each involve categories that do have a natural order
about them. These last four questions involve ordinal categorical variables, i.e.
variables that do have a natural order about them. (Order - ordinal)
Notice though that whilst categorical variables can have categories that have numbers
assigned to them these numbers are simply labels, they have no numerical significance,
as in the responses to the last two questions in the above list.
Houses numbered 11, for example, are not necessarily bigger, better or more
expensive than houses numbered 10. The house number is simply a label.
The number 8 player in one rugby team is not necessarily bigger, faster or better than
the number 6 in another team. The number is simply a label indicating a position
played and has no numerical significance.

Categorical variables.

Nominal Ordinal
Based purely on the names of the The names of the categories, even
various categories no order is suggested. though only labels, do suggest an order.
16 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Displaying Categorical data.

We tend to use tables, pie charts and bar graphs to organise and display categorical data,
as shown below.

Population at end of June quarter 2012

State or Territory
(nearest hundred)

Australian Capital Territory (ACT) 374 700

New South Wales (NSW) 7 290 300
Northern Territory (NT) 234 800
Queensland (Qld) 4 560100
South Australia (SA) 1654 800
Tasmania (Tas) 512 000
Victoria (Vic) 5 623 500
Western Australia (WA) 2 430 300
Total 22 680 500
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Notice that we may choose some particular order in which to display this nominal
categorical data, for example in alphabetical order (as used above), or perhaps in order
of population size or land area, or perhaps in order of state or territory formation date,
or in order of number of letters in their non abbreviated titles (!), etc, but on the basis
of the categories themselves they have no natural order about them.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter One: Univariate data: Classify, organise and display. 17

Exercise 1A
For 1 to 12 classify each of the categorical variables given as either nominal or ordinal
1. Country of birth.
2. Preferred writing hand: Left, Right or no preference.
3. Playing number in a basketball team.
4. Home telephone number.
5. Blood group: A, B, A / B or 0.
6. The number of the bus used to get to school.
7. A rating on sporting ability: Low, medium or high.
8. The construction type of a house: Brick, concrete, steel, timber, or other.
9. The state or territory of Australia that a person lives in.
10. Ow zumwon rayts ther spellin ablity: Poor, Okay, Good, Very Good, Excellent.
11. How someone voted in the last election.
12. The type of crop grown: Wheat, Barley, Oats etc
13. OFFENCES AGAINST PROPERTY.
In one year in Western Australia there were 197117 offences categorised as an
offence against property. These offences were further categorised as one of:
• Burglary 38410 offences • Stealing motor vehicle 7618 offences
• Theft 81724 offences • Receiving 1547 offences
• Fraud 8552 offences • Arson 1269 offences
• Graffiti 13762 offences • Property damage 44235 offences
[Source of date: Western Australia Police.]
Display this information both as a bar chart and as a pie chart and comment on the
advantages and disadvantages of each form of display.

14. HOSPITAL BEDS

In one particular year the number of hospital beds available for patient care in each
state or territory of Australia were as follows:
NSW Vic Qld WA SA Tas NT Act
27543 22 502 16623 8138 8021 2 737 764 1083
The fact that NSW had the largest number of beds available should come as no
surprise because it had the largest population. To be able to compare these
numbers more meaningfully we need to consider them with respect to the
population of each state or territory which, in that particular year was as follows:
NSW Vic Qld WA SA Tas NT Act
5902925 4417821 2966696 1637072 1447118 467388 166823 289344
[Based on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.]
For each state or territory calculate the number of beds per 10000 of population for
this particular year, giving your answers correct to the nearest whole number, and
display your answers as a bar graph.
Research: The above figures were actually for the early 1990s. Try to find more
recent data for the number of beds per 10000 of population in each
state and territory and comment on how it compares with the data
given above.
18 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Numerical variables.
Consider the following questions that might be asked in some data collection activities:
How many people live in your house?
How many people in your Mathematics class?
How many pets do you have?
How many of your teeth have been filled in some way?
How tall are you?
How far have you walked today?
What is your blood pressure reading?
What weight are you?
The responses to each of these questions will be numerical and the number will not
just be a label, it will indicate a size or an amount. Some form of counting or measuring
will be required to be done, or to have been done, for the response to be given. In each
case the variable concerned, be it the number of people in a house, how many pets you
have, your height, your blood pressure reading etc, are all examples of numerical
variables. Data associated with a numerical variable is called numerical data.
Notice that the first four questions each involve responses that can only take specific
values, in this case integer values. We cannot have 2-3 people living in a house, we
cannot have 28-6 people in a Mathematics class. Numerical variables that can only
take integer values are called discrete variables. Data associated with discrete
variables is discrete data.
However the last four questions each involve responses that can take any value
(usually within some realistic range). We can be 164-5 cm tall, we can walk 5-278 km
in a day. Responses no longer have to be integer values and in practice the limit on the
values taken are those of reasonableness (eg we cannot have 18-24 metres for the
height of someone) and the accuracy of the measurement instrument used. Numerical
variables that can take any value in an interval are called continuous variables. Data
associated with a continuous variable is continuous data.
Generally, if counting is involved we have a discrete variable, if measurement is
involved we have a continuous variable.
Exercise I B
For 1 to 12 classify each of the numerical variables given as either discrete or continuous.
1. The number of rooms in a house.
2. The area of the block of land a house stands on.
3. The number of brothers and sisters a person has.
4. The length of a person's handspan.
5. The time it takes to get to school.
6. The lifetime of a rechargeable battery before it needs recharging.
7. The number of car thefts in Australia in a week.
8. The temperature in degrees Celsius.
9. The number of people visiting a supermarket in a day.
10. The length of a car.
11. The capacity of a swimming pool.
12. The weight of a frog.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter One: Univariate data: Classify, organise and display. 19

Displaying numerical data.

In an attempt to analyse the use of its teachers a school noted the number of students in
each of 20 year eleven classes. The school did not allow classes to run with more than
25 students and the smallest group had just 4 students. The number of students in the
20 classes gave rise to the following dot frequency diagram:

Frequency
5H

• •
•• ••
•••••••• Class Size
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
10 15 25 (Number of Pupils)
20

The variable quantity here, i.e. the number of students in each class, is an example of a
discrete variable because the numerical variable can only take particular values, in this
case integer values, from the given low of 4 to the high of 25.

Consider instead the continuous variable of the length of a new born baby and suppose
that the lengths of 50 babies, recorded to the nearest centimetre, gave rise to the
following table:

Length (cm) 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
Frequency 1 3 5 9 14 12 4 2

We could display this information as a dot frequency diagram, as shown below.

S

1 5 - Frequency
•
10-
•
::
5-
•• •• •• ••• ••
•• ••• •
• • • • • • •
i i i »i « \ i «i »i »i «
1 1

46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55
Length (cm)

However it would be better to acknowledge the continuous nature of the data. The two
babies recorded as 54 cm in length could have been anywhere from 53-5 cm to 54-5 cm.
We can show this if we display the data as a frequency histogram. This is similar to a
bar graph but always has frequency on the vertical axis, an ordered numerical scale on
the horizontal axis and no gaps between the bars. Such a histogram for the data is
shown on the next page.
20 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

There was 1 baby recorded as 47 cm, when measured to the nearest centimetre. Thus
for the 47 cm class the lower class boundary is 46-5 cm and the upper class boundary is
47-5 cm. This gives the first column in the histogram which is shown completed below.
15- Frequency

1(H

5H

YP
46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55
Length (cm)
Note
A histogram does not have gaps between the columns because, with
continuous data, each class begins where the previous one leaves off. (Except
by the apparent "gap" between columns if a column has a frequency of zero.)
We would usually have about 6 to 10 intervals. Too many and the table can be
unmanageable, too few causes unnecessary bunching.
It is usual to have class intervals of equal width. Intervals of different width
could be misleading (and will be avoided in this text).
The vertical axis on a histogram is always frequency.
The horizontal axis on a histogram is a number line.
Sometimes the frequency in each class may be shown as a fraction of the whole
[relative frequency) or as a percentage of the whole {percentage frequency).
Note that one of the histograms below also shows a frequency polygon,
formed by connecting the middle of the top of each bar to the next, thus making
the overall shape and continuity more evident.
Length (cm) 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
Frequency 1 3 5 9 14 12 4 2
Relative Frequency 0-02 0-06 0-10 0-18 0-28 0-24 0-08 0-04
Percentage Frequency 2% 6% 10% 18% 28% 24% 8% 4%
Percentage
Frequency

1 1 1 1 1
hP r i i i i i I 1
I 1
I 1
I 1
I 1
i 1
I 1
I
46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55
46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55
Length (cm)
Length (cm)
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter One: Univariate data: Classify, organise and display. 21

Whilst we might expect that discrete data would not be shown as a histogram
because there would be gaps between the columns, histograms are such a
convenient form of representation that they are frequently used to display
discrete data. In such cases we choose our class boundaries to be mid way
between the possible discrete values. For example the discrete data shown
below left as a dot frequency diagram can be displayed as a frequency
histogram, as shown below right.
Dot frequency (discrete data). Frequency histogram of the data.
3 Ht Frequency # g 1 Frequency

6- 6H

4- 4

2- 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Histograms can be a useful form of display when we have discrete data that is
grouped for convenience. For example, consider the following 25 scores:
35 46 12 34 18 20 25 24 11
14 29 9 27 23 32 38 30 17
22 19 36 28 33 4 21
No scores are repeated so if we were to display the scores as a frequency table,
or as a dot frequency graph, we would have twenty five scores shown, each
with a frequency of 1. In this case the data may be better presented grouped.
Using the intervals 1 - 5, 6 - 10,11 - 15,16- 20 etc., the grouping becomes:
Score 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41- 45 46-50
Frequency 1 1 3 4 5 4 4 2 0 1
Some information is now lost because the 25 scores themselves are no longer
given but the grouping can make the overall distribution more evident.
The grouped data could be displayed as a histogram.
Histograms and bar charts.
Both bar charts and histograms can show the frequency of something occurring, so
what is the difference between them? One important difference is that histograms
show a normal number line on the horizontal axis, bar graphs show categories. This
means that the bars of a bar graph are not bound by order and can be moved around.
We might for example arrange the bars in order of increasing height. The bars in a
histogram cannot be moved around. They must be presented in order, with the
horizontal axis giving this order. Further, the beginning of one category in categorical
data does not logically take over from the end of another. If we are drawing a bar
graph about the pets people have, our categories might be cat, dog, horse, etc. The
categories are quite separate - a dog does not start where a cat leaves off. Hence bar
charts tend to have gaps between the bars. However with ordered numerical data,
especially of a continuous nature, one number interval does indeed take over where
the previous one left off. Hence we put no gaps between the bars of a histogram.
22 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Example 1
Sixty self employed bricklayers were surveyed regarding the number of hours they
worked during one particular week (to the nearest hour). The results of the survey are
shown below.
Number of Hours Frequency fi.e. №• of bricklayers)
10^19 2
20-»29 5
30-^39 20
40^49 24
50^59 8
60-»69 1
Display the data as a histogram.

The first column of the histogram will extend from 9-5 to 19-5, the second column from
19-5 to 29-5 and so on. The completed histogram is shown below.

30-i
u

DQ
O
u

11111 nryr 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I I I I I I i'j I I I I

"7 I I I I I I I i'l I I I I I I I j I l
10 20 30 40 50 60 80
70
Hours worked

Example 2. AgeCxyrs) Drivers Killed

The road accident statistics for a country 40
15 < x < 20
for one year showed that for
motorcyclists (drivers not passengers) in
20 <x< 25 59
the age range fifteen to fifty-nine, 186 25 <x< 30 29
had died in road accidents with the 30 <x< 35 19
distribution of the ages of these riders as 35 < x < 40 16
shown on the right, 40 <x< 45 11
Display this information as a frequency 45 <x< 50 8
histogram.
50 <x< 55 2
55 <x< 60 2
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter One: Univariate data: Classify, organise and display. 23

6(H Number

The first column of the killed

50
histogram will extend
from 15 to 20, the second 40 i
column from 20 to 25 and
30 i
so on.
20 i
The completed histogram
101
is shown on the right.
1 1
1111111111111111111111111111 • ' I
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
Age of motorcycle rider

Exercise 1 C
1. A normal, fair, six sided die is rolled 72 times and the number
displayed on the uppermost face is noted each time.
Given that one of the three frequency histograms shown below
displays the results obtained for these 72 rolls which of the three
is it most likely to be?
Histogram A. Histogram B. Histogram C.
Frequency Frequency Frequency
30- 15-

is : 251
20-^ i(H
\
z
10 _ 1 5

10 •=
5 :
5H
Si
i i i i i i i i i
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
Score Score
Score

2. The thirty students in a class measured their heights and the results are displayed
in one of the three histograms shown below. Which one is it most likely to be?
Histogram A. Histogram B. Histogram C.
Frequency Frequency Frequency
8
6H
4
2H
11 H'| 1111'| 1111'|
11111*|! 11111111'| 111H} I H I} II H*| 11111 i 111 (
111
111
11| 11 H | I
1
140 150 160 170 180 140 150 160 170 180
140 150 160 170 180
Height ( c m ) Height ( c m ) Height ( c m )
24 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Two normal fair six sided dice are rolled and the
numbers displayed on the two uppermost faces are
added together and the total noted.
This process is carried out 72 times.
Given that one of the three frequency histograms
shown below displays the results obtained for this activity which of the three is it
most likely to be?
Histogram A. Histogram B. Histogram C.
Frequency Frequency Frequency

15 H 15 H 15 H

io H io H io H

5H 5H 5H

I ' i ' 1 1
1
m
1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112
1 1
1 1
1 1
1 1 1
' 1 1 1 1
p I I I I I I
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112
I I I I I I
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112

Total Total
Total

4. What shape will the histogram be?

Sketch what you consider to be a reasonable histogram for each of the following.
Your sketch should show what you consider to be a reasonable shape for the
histogram to have. There is no need to include any numbers on the axes of your
sketch graphs except for parts (a) and (b) which should have numbers on the
horizontal axis.
(a) Rolling a fair eight sided die approximately one hundred times.
(b) The number of children in approximately one hundred randomly selected
families, each of which have at least one child.
(c) The heights of a large number of adult males.
(d) The straight line distance from home to school for students at your school.
(e) The lengths of new born babies.

For at least some of the following questions generate the required histogram
using a computer or calculator.
5. HORTICULTURE.
Some seeds were planted and, some weeks later, the heights of the seedlings were
measured and recorded, to the nearest centimetre. The results were as follows:
Length (cm) 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Frequency 2 4 10 15 14 11 9 7 3 1
Display this information as a frequency histogram.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter One: Univariate data: Classify, organise and display. 25

METEOROLOGY.
The maximum temperature recorded at Perth airport for each day of December in
one particular year gave rise to the following data:
Maximum Temperature (° C) 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44
Frequency (number of days). 3 13 8 6 1
[Source: Bureau of Meteorology.]
Display this information as a frequency histogram.

ROAD ACCIDENTS.
The road accident statistics for a country for one year showed that for drivers in the
age range fifteen to fifty-nine, 708 had died in road accidents. The distribution of

Age (xyrs) Drivers Killed

15 <x< 20 138
20 <x< 25 131
25 <x< 30 75
30 <x< 35 95
35 <x< 40 79
40 <x< 45 71
45 <x< 50 57
50 < x < 55 39
55 <x< 60 23
Total 708
Display this information as a frequency histogram.

8. TIME ESTIMATION.
One hundred and fifty students were asked to estimate a time period of one minute.
The time periods they thought were one minute were actually the following
number of seconds, to the nearest second:
31 68 46 66 54 48 70 60 62 48 97 53 50 56 60
52 56 92 50 43 65 45 80 53 64 56 67 59 41 49
65 75 50 51 66 75 50 56 40 57 64 44 69 71 51
51 64 89 74 49 54 57 67 54 59 47 79 51 54 50
59 90 49 61 52 64 77 46 74 48 66 49 76 66 41
43 50 81 62 68 44 49 66 52 84 45 84 42 52 59
65 74 42 73 54 50 73 60 49 60 54 52 69 56 50
62 47 51 45 50 67 59 38 65 46 56 85 48 54 51
50 67 65 54 65 48 51 54 62 52 51 53 70 43 57
47 64 54 69 43 86 62 69 51 64 52 76 64 68 46
Arrange the data as a grouped frequency table with classes of equal width as
follows: 30 - 39, 40 - 49, etc., up to 90 - 99.
Display the grouped data as a frequency histogram.
26 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

WEIGHT.
Two hundred males and two hundred females, all aged between 30 and 40, took
part in a survey which recorded (amongst other things) the weight of each person,
recorded to the nearest kg. The results were as follows:

MALES FEMALES
Weight (kg) Frequency Weight (kg) Frequency
30 - 39 0 30 - 39 5
40 - 49 2 40 - 49 12
50 - 59 10 50 - 59 73
60 - 69 35 60 - 69 66
70 - 79 68 70 - 79 27
80 - 89 53 80 - 89 8
90 - 99 21 90 - 99 5
100 -109 9 100 -109 3
110 -119 2 110 -119 1
Total 200 Total 200

Display these results as two separate frequency histograms and include the
frequency polygon on each one.

10. HEIGHT.
Fifty males and fifty females, all aged between 20 and 30, took part in a survey
which recorded (amongst other things) the height of each person, recorded to the
nearest cm. The results were as follows:

MAL IS FEMA ,ES

Height (cm) Frequency Height (cm) Frequency
140 - 149 0 140 - 149 1
150 - 159 1 150 - 159 11
160 - 169 6 160 - 169 28
170 - 179 26 170 - 179 8
180 - 189 14 180 - 189 2
190 - 199 2 190 - 199 0
200 - 209 1 200 - 209 0

Display these results as two separate percentage frequency histograms.

 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise One. 27

Miscellaneous Exercise One.

This miscellaneous exercise may include questions involving the work of this
chapter and the ideas mentioned in the preliminary work section at the beginning
of the book.
1. State true or false for each of the following statements:
(a) 3 = 6
2
(b) ( - 3 ) = - 9
2

(c) - 5 - 3 = 8 (d) 5 + 3 = 8
2 2 2

(e) 5 + 3 x 2 = 16 (f) 30+l) = 3x+l

2. Classify each of the variables mentioned in parts (a) to (h) as one of:
Nominal categorical Ordinal categorical
Discrete numerical Continuous numerical
(a) Favourite soccer team.
(b) Waist measurement.
(c) Number of people in a car.
(d) Mode of transport: Walk, cycle, bus, train, tram, other.
(e) Interest in sport: Not at all, weak, medium, strong, full on.
(f) Nationality of mother.
(g) Distance from home to school.
(h) The number of peas in a pod.

3. Find the mean of each of the following sets:

(a) 131, 120, 141, 122, 136.
(b) 2-4, 3-7, 1-9, 0, 2-3, 3-2, 1-6, 1-7.
(c) 27, 18, 31, 33, 39, 27, 41, 29, 21, 27.

4. Find the median of each of the following sets:

(a) 15, 17, 21, 22, 23, 25, 25.
(b) 19, 21, 13, 28, 22, 25, 19, 22, 17.
(c) 10, 17, 11, 15, 23, 11, 21, 12, 17,

5. Find the mode of each of the following sets:

(a) 3, 2, 1, 4, 3, 0.
(b) 11, 13, 17, 10, 13, 14, 17.
(c) 22, 15, 21, 22, 18, 19, 16, 22, 17, 19.

6. The instructions for mixing a weedkiller says to mix concentrate and water in the
ratio 1:300.
How much water should be added to 25 millilitres of concentrate?

7. Find the mean, median, mode and range of each of the following sets:
(a) 33, 37, 38, 40, 40.
(b) 131, 93, 124, 107, 68, 131, 70, 110, 84.
(c) 18, 15, 17, 18, 15, 18, 18, 17, 19, 17.
Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Expand each of the following and simplify where possible.

(a) 3(5x-2) (b) 4(7 - 2x) (c) -3(2x+7)
(d) 8(1 - 2 x ) (e) 5(2p-7) (f) 3(2fi-5)
(g) 5 + 2(l + 3x) (h) 4 ( 2 x + l ) - 5 ( 3 + 2x) (i) 2*+3(5-2x)
0) 2(5 + q ) - 3 ( l - 2 ( f l (k) 6 ( 2 w + 3 ) - 5 w + 4 (1) 2(p + 6) - 4 ( 3 - p )

The framework shown on the right

is to be made of steel. Find the total
length of steel required for the
framework giving your answer
rounded up to the next whole metre.

3m , 2 m , 2m, 3m
1 1 1 1 1
HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES.
A sports club offers holiday activities for young people aged at least 5 but under 15.
The enrolment forms required participants to give, amongst other things, their age
in years and months. To determine which ages their programme of activities
suited, club officials considered the ages of participants. These are shown below.
5y 3m 14y 5m 7y2m 6y 2m lOy 5m 8y 10m 8y 3m 7y 5m
12y 2m 6y lm 13y 3m 9y9m 6y lm 6y 3m llySm 8y 5m
9y 11m 13y Om 7y 10m 12y 2m 8 y Om 14y 7m 6y 9m 9y 11m
8y 7m 7y lm 8y0m 7y5m 7y0m 5y 3m lOyOm 6y 7m
14y 10m lly2m 5y8m 12ylm lly 7m 7y 3m 12y3m 6y 11m
6y lm 7y 9m lOy 2m lly2m 5y 2m 7y 3m 7y 4m 9y 2m
13y 2m 12y4m 7y 2m 6y 3m 9y 4m 8 y Om 6y9m 7y 7m
lly 11m 6y lm 13y9m 13y7m 6y 9m 12y7m lly 2m 6y 7m
5y lm 9 y Om 7y 7m 14y Om 13y7m 6y 9m 9y 7m 12y 11m
8y 7m 14y lm 13y9m Syllm 8y 11m 12y7m 5y 7m 8y lm
8y 6m 7y 11m 6y 4m 13yl0m 7y 6m 6y 5m 6y 2m 6y 6m

(a) Arrange these ages into a grouped frequency table as follows (tally shows first
column entered):
Age [x years) Tally Frequency
5 < x <6 //
6< x <7 /
7 < x <8
8 < x <9 III
9 < x < 10 1
10 < x <11
11 < x <12 1
12 < x <13 1
13 < x < 14 1
14 < x <15 1
(b) Display the grouped data as a frequency histogram.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Two: Summarising data and describing distributions. 29

Chapter Two-
Summarising data
and
describing distributions.

Situation; COMPANY SALARIES.

A particular company employs thirteen people:
1 managing director,
2 managers,
1 accountant,
3 chargehands,
6 machine operators.
The salary structure in the company is shown below.
Managing director: f $115000

Managers: f f $90000 each

Accountant f $78000

Chargehands | f $62500 each

Machine operators | | f I $55000 each

• Find the company's mean salary, median salary and modal salary.
• If a group were arguing that higher salaries should be awarded to the people working
for this company which of the previous three answers would they claim to be the
average to best suit their argument?
• If the managing director wished to quote an average salary for this company, in
support of her claim that the average salary was already high, which average best
suits her argument?
• If this company took over another company, retaining all 7 employees of the other
company on their existing salaries, which had a mean of $66000, what would be the
mean salary of the new "20 employee" company?
30 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

In the situation on the previous page you had to summarise information by determining
the mean, median and mode, concepts that you were reminded of in the Preliminary
work section at the beginning of this book and that some of the questions in
Miscellaneous Exercise One required you to find. The mean, median and mode
summarise the location of a set of scores. They are summary statistics and are measures
of location. The mean and the median give an indication of central tendency.
The next three examples remind you how to determine these quantities from a
frequency table (example 1), a dot frequency graph (example 2] and a stem and leaf plot
(example 3).

Example 1
The fifty scores shown below
14 17 15 17 12 16 19 16 17 16
16 10 15 17 18 17 14 16 17 16
18 19 20 14 15 18 18 18 15 17
15 16 17 18 16 16 13 15 18 15
17 17 15 16 19 15 17 18 13 14
can be neatly displayed in the form of a frequency table, as shown below:
Score 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Frequency 1 0 1 2 4 9 10 11 8 3 1
Determine the mode, the mean and the median of the fifty scores.

The mode is readily determined from this table by seeing which score has the greatest
frequency. The mode of the set of scores is 17.

The table tells us that we have one 10, zero l i s , one 12, two 13s etc, Hence, to
determine the total of the fifty scores we calculate:
1x10 + 1 x 1 2 + 2 x 1 3 + 4 x 1 4 + 9x15 +10x16 +11x17 +8x18 +3x19 +1x20
= 10 + 12 + 26 + 56 + 135 + 160 + 187 + 144 + 57 + 20
= 807
807
Hence the mean will be given by i.e. 16-14.

The median of fifty scores will be the mean of the 25th and 26th scores once the scores
have been written in order. Summing the frequencies in the above table from the left
end we see that the 25th and 26th scores will both be 16. Thus the median score is 16.
1 0
Example 2 ^
Determine the mode, mean, median and range for |
5
the set of scores shown in the dot frequency
fe
graph on the right. _j , , , , , , , , , j_
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Score
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Two: Summarising data and describing distributions. 31

The score which occurs more frequently than any other is 8.

Hence the mode = 8
The dot frequency graph tells us that we have one score of 2, two scores of 3 etc.
1X2+2X3+2X4+3X5+4X6+3X7+6X8+3X9+1X10
Hence the mean =
25
= 6-44
The median of 25 numbers will have twelve numbers either side of it, i.e. it will be the
thirteenth number. Counting along the dot frequency graph we see that the thirteenth
number will be a seven. Hence the median is 7.
Remember that the range is the difference between the highest score (10) and the
lowest score (2). Hence the range is 8.
12 7
Example 3
13 9 3 1
Determine the mode, median, mean and range for
14 2 0 3 2 7
the set of twenty scores shown in the stem and leaf
15 2 5 5 1 9
diagram on the right.
16 8 3 8
17 3 0
By inspection the mode is 155.
With twenty scores the median will be between the 12 7
10th and 11th scores, when the scores are 13 1 3 9
considered in order of size (see right). Hence the 14 0 2 2 3 7
median will be the mean of 151 and 152, i.e. 151-5. 15 1 2 5 5 5
By calculation the mean is 150-65 and the range is 16 3 8 8
173 - 127, i.e. 46. 17 0 3

Note: If you look for a formula for the mean of a set of numbers in books containing
mathematical formulae you may not find the rule stated in the form:
The sum of the scores.
The number of scores there are.
Instead the formula may involve symbols like x and £ , as explained below.
• As mentioned in the Preliminary Work, we use the symbol x to indicate the
mean of a set of scores. For the twenty numbers of example 3, x = 150-65.
• The Greek letter £ , pronounced sigma, is used in Mathematics to indicate
that numbers are being added together, i.e. a summation is being determined.
Thus if we consider the numbers 8, 7, 6,11 to be values of x then
£ x = 8 + 7 + 6 + 11 (=32)
• Putting the above ideas together, for a set of n scores it follows that

n
If we u s e / t o indicate the frequency with which each score occurs it further
follows that for data given as a frequency table
x = ^
32 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Combining groups.
Knowing the number of scores and their sum we can calculate the mean of the scores.
For example if 15 scores have a sum of 108 the scores have a mean of

It also follows that if we know the number of scores and their mean we can find the sum
of the scores.
For example, knowing that 15 scores have a mean of 7-2 the scores must have a sum of
15x7-2 = 108
Indeed you probably used this idea if you managed the last dot point of the Situation at
the beginning of the chapter. In that situation we were told that the 7 employees of a
company had a mean salary of $66 000 from which we could calculate the total amount
paid out for these salaries as
7x$66000 = $462000

This idea of determining the total of a set of scores, knowing the mean and the number
of scores can be useful when solving some problems as examples 4, 5 and 6 show.

Example 4
The mean of six scores is 23-5. If five of the scores were 17, 20,19, 25 and 30 find the
sixth score.

If six scores have a mean of 23-5 then these six scores have a sum of 23-5 x 6
= 141
The five given scores have a sum of 17 + 20 + 19 + 25 + 30 = 111
Thus the sixth score must be 1 4 1 - 1 1 1 = 30
The sixth score is 30.

Example 5
To pass a particular course a student needs to gain a mean of at least 55% in the five
tests that form the course assessment. In the first four tests the student achieves marks
of 46%, 57%, 54% and 57%. What percentage mark must the student gain in test five if
they are to pass the course?

To gain a 55% average in 5 tests the total marks in the 5 tests must be 55x5
= 275
The first 4 tests have a sum of 46 + 57 + 54 + 57 = 214
Thus in the fifth test the student needs 275-214 = 61
The student needs to score at least 61% in the fifth test in order to pass the course.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Two: Summarising data and describing distributions. 33

Example 6
In a test the 15 girls in a class score a mean mark of 21-2 and the ten boys score a mean
mark of 22-4. Calculate the mean for the whole group of 25 students.

The 15 girls achieved a mean of 21-2 thus they gained a total mark of 15 x 21-2
= 318
The 10 boys achieved a mean of 22-4 thus they gained a total mark of 10 x 22-4
= 224
Thus the 25 students gained a total mark of 318 + 224 = 542
542
The 25 students achieved a mean mark of = 21*68

Exercise 2 A.
Find the mean, median, mode and range of each of the distributions shown in questions
1 to 6 (correct to one decimal place if necessary).
1. Score 0 1 2 3 4 5
Frequency 1 2 2 3 4 7

2. Score 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Frequency 1 0 2 3 2 4 7 6 2 3 1

3. Score 15 16 17 18 19 20
Frequency 1 2 7 8 3 1

4. Score 98 100 101 103 104 105

Frequency 1 1 3 3 1 1

5. Frequency
5
tl
2
1
—I
0 1 4 5 6 10

Frequency
5^T
4
3
2 • • ••
1 • •••
"T I I I I r -|—I—I—i—I—J—I—I—I—I—I—I—r~ I 1 1 1 1
I
0 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
34 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

7. The stem and leaf diagram on the right can 16 4 4

accommodate numbers from 110 to 169, the 15 3 1 8 7
first two digits being the stem and the last digit 14 0 1 7 9 5 3
the leaf. The diagram shows the scores 13 0 9 7 4 2 5 6 2
recorded by 25 competitors in a shooting 12 0 6 5
competition. For the scores recorded 11 9 8
determine:
(a) the lowest score, (b) the highest score,
(c) the median score, (d) the mean score.

8. The stem and leaf diagram on the right shows 9 4 0 2

scores achieved by 24 students in an exam that 8 2 5 8 1 2 5 4 3
was marked out of 120. The stem is the tens digit 7 5 7 4 4 7
and the leaf is the units digit. Determine 6 1 7 9 8 4 8 6
(a) the lowest score, 5
(b) the highest score, 4 8
(c) the median score,
(d) the mean score (correct to 1 d.p.).

9. Estimate the mean number of thumbs per Australian adult.

Frequency
8
7-i
10. The dot frequency diagram on the right shows the 6
marks obtained by 30 year 8 students in a mental 5
arithmetic test. 4
3
Determine the mean, median and mode for this 2
distribution of marks. 1
-I—I—I—I—I—I—I—i—I—r
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11. A class of school students calculated their mean age as 17*2 years, correct to one
decimal place. This average did not include the teacher. If the teacher were to be
included would the mean be increased or decreased?
12. The mean of eight scores is 54-25. If seven of the scores were 60, 50, 37, 60, 55, 32
and 65 find the eighth score.
13 Three mathematics classes sat the same exam. The mean marks for the classes
were 55%, 62% and 56% and the number of students in each class were 24,15 and
21 respectively. Find the mean for the three groups put together.
14 To pass a particular course a student has to achieve a mean of at least 50% in the
ten pieces of work that form the assessment items. In the first nine of these pieces
of work the student achieves a mean of 46%. What percentage mark must the
student achieve in the tenth item if he is to pass the course?
15. The mean of 25 scores is 54. If 20 of the scores had a mean of 55 find the mean of
the other five scores.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Two: Summarising data and describing distributions. 35

16. The 13 boys in a class gained a mean mark of 57% in a test in which the class mean
was 59%. If the class consisted of 20 students altogether find the mean achieved by
the girls in the class. (Give your answer correct to one decimal place.)

For each of the dot frequency graphs shown in questions 17 to 32, without actually
calculating the mean and the median, state which one of the following statements apply:
» The mean is the same as the median.
^ The mean is greater than the median.
^ The mean is less than the median.
17. 5 18. ^ 5
o
c 4 £ 4
<D
13 3 § 3
CT 2 O" 2
H 2 H
_! J J I J I J J I J H I I r
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 234 5 6 7 8 9 1 0
Score Score

20. >> 5"

o
c c 4
<u
13 <D o.
CT CT 2
<u
,V 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 234 5 6 7 8 9 1 0
Score Score

5- 22. ^ 5
c 4- ë 4H
CD 3- I 3^
CT2- CT 2H
CD 1- .? 1
1 I I I ! I I I I I 1—I—I—I
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 234 5 6 7 8 9 1 0
Score Score

>^ 5 24. ^ 5
ë 4
CD
13
CT 21
1
Ll_
_j ! j !
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 234 5 6 7 8 9 1 0
Score Score

5- 26. 5
ë 4- ë 4
<D o- CD o
er 2- CT 2
£ 1-
LL- 1 .? 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0
Score Score
36 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

28. 5

c
£
c
3
<D
3
O"
<D
LU

2345678910 234 5678910

Score Score

30. > . 5n
u 4i
c: £ 4
CD 3- CD o •
3 6

3
O" 2
a- 2- 1"
1
u_ 234 5 6 7 8 9 10 234 5678910
Score Score

5- 32. 5l
o
c 4- u
c 4-
CD
3- CD
3 3-
cr 2- D" 2-
<D CD
1- 1-
"T—I—I—R "1—1—I—1

234 5 6 7 8 9 10 234 5678910

Score Score

33. Whilst each of the dot frequency diagrams shown in this question feature 40 data
points they show quite different distributions of the 40 scores.
Write a few sentences describing each distribution of 40 scores.
Some useful words and phrases that you might consider using in your descriptions
could include:
lowest score highest score tightly packed spread out
clusters gaps outliers uniform
groups dense regions symmetrical
Frequency

:
5
• • • • • •
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I •I I I •I I •I •I •I •i •! I I I I I I I I I I I I I I J I I I •I I •I I •I I I Score
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

(b) 10-,
A Frequency
:
5

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I il I I I I I I I I I I I 1 I I I « « I I T-n Score
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Two: Summarising data and describing distributions. 37

(c) 10-,
Frequency

5^

• i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i Score
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

io-. Frequency

54
•• •
• I I I i ii i i i i i i i i i i i it • • • i i i i i i i i i i » i i Score
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

(e) Frequency

54
•••
I I I I I Score
Mil i iiiiiii i i iiiiiiiii i
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
10

In each part of this question two dot frequency graphs are given, Graph A and
Graph B. In each pair the two graphs involve sets of data with the same number of
data points. However, in each case the two graphs are quite different. Write a few
sentences comparing graphs A and B in each case. Whilst you do not need to
determine the mean and the median exactly for any of the graphs your answers
should include comparisons of means, medians and spread.

Pair (a) Pair (b)

5- Frequency GRAPH A 5- Frequency GRAPH A
1
• • ••
• • • • •
_ • •
' • Score Score
i iiiii i 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 -i i i i i i i ii 1 | 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
ii
5 10 15 20 5 10 15 20
Frequency GRAPHB Frequency
5- • 5- GRAPHB
• •• • ••
• •• •
• •• • ••
1
• Score • •• • • • Score
i i i i i ii 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 —n i i i i i ii i i i i i i i i i ii i
5 10 15 20 5 10 15 20
38 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Use of statistical functions on a calculator.

When asked to determine the mean of a set of scores are you adding up all of the scores
and then dividing by the number of scores or are you putting the scores into a calculator
and using its ability to determine the mean?
Many calculators have an inbuilt ability to output various summary statistics for data
that is put into the calculator.
This usually involves the following steps:
1. Setting or selecting the statistics facility of your calculator.
2. Clearing any statistical data already in your calculator.
3. Inputting the data.
4. Outputting the required data.
Your calculator is able to output statistical information for the set of data you put in.
The calculator may display more statistical information than you are familiar with at
present but somewhere in the list it may well display the number of scores in the set,
often listed as "n", the mean of the scores, often listed as x, the median, the mode and
various other things, some of which you will encounter in later mathematical studies.

For example below left shows such a display for the data set:
3, 5, 2, 0, 2
Scrolling down such a display shows more information as shown below right.

x = 2.4 Med = 2
Zx = 12 Q3 = 4
2
£* = 42 maxX = 5
xön = 1.62480768 Scroll Mode = 2
xon-i = 1.81659021 down ModeN = 1
n =5 ModeF = 2
minX =0
Ql =1

Can you locate the mean,

the number of scores,
the median,
the mode?

Get to know your calculator with regard to inputting data and

getting it to display summary statistics for the data.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Two: Summarising data and describing distributions. 39

If the data is presented as a frequency table the information can be put into many
calculators in this frequency form, i.e. we do not need to input all of the scores
individually. Usually one column is used for the scores and another for the frequencies.
We then set the calculator to read the information in each column appropriately.
For example, the following table
Score 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Frequency 1 0 1 2 4 9 10 11 8 3 1
could be put into two columns, see display below left, and the summary statistics
displayed, see below right (more statistics being available if we were to scroll down).

listi list 2 list 3 list 4 X = 16.14

1 10 1 = 807
2
2 11 0 Zx =13205
3 12 1 XOn = 1.897472
XOn-l = 1.91673617
4 13 2 n = 50
5 14 4 minX = 10
6 15 9 Ql = 15

Once again get to know how to put information from a

frequency table into your calculator and how to output the
mean etc.

Grouped data.
As was mentioned in chapter one, continuous numerical data is often grouped because
of rounding and sometimes discrete numerical data is grouped for convenience. For
example suppose we are given a set of fifty numbers with very few repeats. If we were
to display the scores as a dot frequency graph table we would have almost as many
"columns" to our graph as we have scores as most of the scores occur just once:

3 Frequency

1
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Score
The data may be better presented in groups or class intervals:

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Giving the grouped frequency table:

Score 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 6 1 - 7 0 7 1 - 8 0
Frequency 3 5 6 9 8 7 8 4
40 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

If we only have the grouped data and do not know the original scores we talk of the
modal group or modal class, rather than referring to a mode. For the frequency table
just encountered, and shown again below, the modal class is the 31 40 class.

Score 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 4 1 - 5 0 51-60 6 1 - 7 0 71-80

Frequency 3 5 6 9 8 7 8 4

Similarly we find the class in which the median lies, called the median group or median
class, in this the case the 41 50 class.

To determine a mean we assume all the scores in an interval are at the midpoint of the
interval. Clearly this is unlikely to be the case but it will give a reasonable estimate for
the mean when a large number of scores are involved. Thus for the above table we
calculate the mean based on three scores of 5-5, five scores of 15-5, six scores of 25-5 etc.

Check that you agree that applying this idea to the above table of grouped data gives an
estimated mean of 42-9.

Exercise 2B (Use the statistical capability of your calculator.)

Find the mean, median, mode and range of each of the sets of data given in questions 1
to 7 (correct to one decimal place if necessary).
1. 125, 137, 137, 143, 153, 162, 165.

2. 85, 85, 78, 72, 83, 78, 90, 89, 78.

3. 8, 34, 19, 14, 25, 15, 40, 26, 17, 30.

4. 55, 42, 36, 63, 45, 35, 76, 50, 50, 58,
40, 72, 35, 80, 75, 66, 48, 35, 62, 35,
66, 40, 56, 52, 38.

Score 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Frequency 8 12 18 20 9 3 0 1

Score 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Frequency 24 35 17 28 33 31 27 19

Score 15 16 17 18 19 20
Frequency 1 3 5 13 16 22
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Two: Summarising data and describing distributions. 41

In the next four questions use the midpoint of each class interval to determine the mean
of each of the following distributions, correct to one decimal place.

Score Frequency 9. Score Frequency

1-5 15 1-4 3
6-10 28 5-8 8
11-15 7 9-12 15
16-20 3 13-16 8
21-25 1 17-20 3
26-30 1

Score Frequency 11. Score (x) Frequency

20-24 6 0<x<20 5
25-29 10 20 < x < 4 0 13
30-34 17 40<x<60 21
35-39 7 60 < x < 8 0 72
40 — 44 5 80<x<100 54
45-49 4
50-54 1

12. As part of the process of assessing the value of a property a real estate agent
considers the prices of other properties recently sold in the same area. The selling
prices often such properties were as follows:
$437000 $425000 $456000 $421000 $442 000
$445 000 $441000 $437000 $432 000 $540 000
Find the mean and median of these prices.
How many of the ten prices are lower than the mean?
How many of the ten prices are lower than the median?

13. A real estate survey investigated the number of bedrooms in each of 100 houses in

Number of bedrooms 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Frequency 2 3 37 49 5 3 1
Find the mean number of bedrooms per house for these houses.

14. A company employs 25 people and has seven salary levels. The number of

Salary $62000 $68000 $71000 $78000 $85000 $100000 $110000

№. of employees 4 10 5 1 2 2 1
Calculate (a) the modal salary,
(b) the median salary,
(c) the mean salary.
42 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

15. In one particular year, the number of hours of sunlight recorded each day in
December at a particular weather recording location were as follows.
1st Dec 2nd Dec 3rd Dec 4th Dec
11-2 hrs 9-4 hrs 8-5 hrs 12-2 hrs
5th Dec 6th Dec 7th Dec 8th Dec 9th Dec 10th Dec 11th Dec
19-2 hrs 11-2 hrs 11-8 hrs 10-4 hrs 8-7 hrs 10-3 hrs 9-1 hrs
12th Dec 13th Dec 14th Dec 15th Dec 16th Dec 17th Dec 18th Dec
1 M hrs 10-0 hrs 12-0 hrs 11-2 hrs 12-9 hrs 134 hrs 12-0 hrs
19th Dec 20th Dec 21st Dec 22nd Dec 23rd Dec 24th Dec 25th Dec
11-7 hrs 9-3 hrs 9-0 hrs 11-1 hrs 12-8 hrs 10-3 hrs 13-2 hrs
26th Dec 27th Dec 28th Dec 29th Dec 30th Dec 31st Dec
12-1 hrs 7-3 hrs 5-2 hrs 9-9 hrs 10-1 hrs 11-3 hrs
Calculate the mean and the median number of hours of sunlight per day for the
December of this particular year at this location.

16. The scores obtained by 30 students in an exam are shown in the dot frequency
diagram below. The exam was marked out of 120.
5 A Frequency
4-
3- • •
2- • • • •» •
1- • • • • .mm m. mm •••• •
iiiii|iii|iiii|iiii|iiii|'iii|)iii|iiii|iiii|iiii|iiii|iMi|iiii|iiii|iiii|iiii|iiii|iiii|iin|iiii|iiii|iiii|iiii|iiii| Mork
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120

Calculate (a) the mean of these scores (correct to one decimal place),
(b) the median of these scores.
(c) the number of students scoring less than 60%
(d) the percentage of students scoring greater than 75%.

17. The heights of a group of 29 students, measured to the nearest centimetre, were as
shown in the stem and leaf diagram be] ow.
Girls Boys

3 0 5 2
85 3 6 3 2 8
98 5 5 9
9
(a) How many girls were there in the group?
00 How tall was the shortest girl?
00 Find the mean height for the girls [to nearest cm).
(d) Find the mean height for the boys (to nearest cm).
00 Find the mean height for the group of 29 students (to nearest cm).
0) Display the heights of the 29 students as a dot frequency diagram, making
some distinction on your diagram between boys and girls.
 ISBN 97801703504S7. Chapter Two: Summarising data and describing distributions. 43

18. (a) Calculate the mean of the 50 scores shown below.

23 42 40 47 31 42 39 31 43 26
33 50 23 40 49 30 42 40 29 37
44 48 43 26 36 43 50 32 31 44
47 31 45 37 48 32 42 41 43 23
28 47 36 26 36 45 23 49 29 48
(b) Rearrange the above 50 scores as grouped data using the class intervals:
21 - 25, 26 - 30, 31 - 35, 36 - 40, 41 - 45 and 46 - 50.
Use the midpoints of the intervals to determine the mean for this grouped data.

19. One hundred students were asked to note the number of hours they study in the
"study week" they are given prior to an examination period. The frequency table
below shows the results of this survey.
Number of hours (h) Number of students
0</2<10 3
10 <ft< 20 4
20</j<30 10
30 < h < 40 20
40 < h< 50 29
50 < h< 60 18
60 < h < 70 9
70 < h< 80 4
80 <ft< 90 2
90</i<100 1
(a) Find the modal class for the number of hours spent studying in the week.
(b) Use the class midpoints to determine the mean for the distribution.

20. As part of the process of assessing the value of a block of land a real estate agent
considers other blocks recently sold in the area. The agent is able to access such
information from data held in his computer. For 68 recent sales the information
was as follows:
Price {%C] Midpoint of interval Frequency
200000 <C< 210000 205 000 2
210 000 < C < 220 000 215 000 13
220000 <C< 230000 225 000 10
230000 <C< 240 000 235000 15
240000 <C< 250000 245000 7
250 000 <C< 260000 255 000 7
260000 <C< 270000 265 000 4
270000 <C< 280000 275 000 6
280000 < C < 290000 285000 3
290000 <C< 300000 295 000 1
(a) In which class interval does the median price of the 68 blocks lie?
(b) Use the interval midpoints to calculate the mean price (to nearest $1000).
44 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Describing a distribution of scores.

The last two questions of the first exercise in this chapter, Exercise 2A, required you to
write some sentences describing some distributions. Indeed one of those questions
suggested the following useful words that you could consider using:
lowest score highest score tightly packed spread out
clusters gaps outliers uniform
groups dense regions symmetrical
Let us now formalize what aspects we should consider when asked to describe a data
distribution.
If asked to write a description of a set of scores we should comment on such things as
• the location of the scores
• how spread out they are
• the "shape" of the distribution
and • anything else of relevance.
Location: The mean and the median of the scores give information about
location.
Spread: The range of the scores gives information about their spread.
Shape: Symmetry, gaps, clustering, more dense/less dense regions, outliers,
modality (does the data have one modal class or is it perhaps bimodal
with two modal classes) all convey information about the shape of a
distribution.
Note: From work of earlier years some readers may also be familiar with standard
deviation as a measure of spread, and with the idea that a distribution can be
skewed. These terms are not included in the descriptions of distributions given
in this section because later chapters cover these concepts. (Standard deviation
is covered in chapter 3 and skewness in chapter 4.)
Example 7
The histogram below shows the distribution of scores achieved by the students of a
school in a mathematics exam.
25- Frequency
21
20
20-:
16
15:

11 11
10 10
10-^

:
5
Score
I I I
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Describe the distribution of marks in this exam.

 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Two: Summarising data and describing distributions. 45

Any relevant information

One hundred and nine students from the school sat perhaps not covered in location,
the exam. spread and shape?

Using the mid-point of each class interval gives an

estimated mean of 55-3 and the middle ranked Comment about location.
student, i.e. the 55th student, achieved a mark
between 55 and 65.

The scores were well spread out from about 5 to 95, Comment about spread.
i.e. the range was about 90.
The scores were reasonably symmetrically spread
about a mid point of about 55. The distribution of Comment on shape.
scores was bimodal peaking around 30 and again
around 80.
Approximately 30% of the students scored less than Anything else you notice of
35 and approximately 30% scored more than 75. relevance.

Exercise 2C
Describe each of the distributions shown in questions 1 to 6.
1 Frequency
i
17 2. Frequency
- 16 30 27
15 26
13 24
-
20 \

10 -i
2
'- 1
A
7 ^ 20
F =30
T -40 50 60 70 80 90 100 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Marks in test Length (cm)

1 5 i Frequency
13 40 4' Frequency
12 35
10 301
10-
20-f 18 20
:
5 10
10-1
1111111111 T T T T T rrrrr T T T T T T T T T
H I I I i r
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 30 40 50
Length (cm) Length (cm)

5. Score 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55

Frequency 35 21 17 12 7 3 1
6. Score (x) 0<x<10 1 0 < x < 2 0 2 0 < x < 3 0 30<;c<40 4 0 < x < 5 0 50<:e<60 60<JC<70
Frequency 28 15 7 5 9 17 25
46 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Organising, describing and interpreting data.

Lizards.

A survey of a particular species of lizard involved capturing about one hundred

different lizards of the species, measuring their length, marking them with an
identifiable tag and then releasing them back into the wild. (The tagging was to
ensure that the same lizard did not feature more than once in the measuring process
and also to allow for follow up studies to be carried out later.)
The lizard lengths, recorded in millimetres, are shown below (the shortest and
longest lengths in the list are shown in bold):

114 140 161 110 88 153 112 163 107 151

54 113 39 115 116 106 69 165 103 104
100 110 173 93 158 109 160 60 175 112
160 155 117 162 33 168 152 106 156 159
90 116 104 154 161 101 164 111 107 103
167 110 158 109 115 154 42 163 158 106
105 104 47 113 163 77 158 167 197 119
162 156 147 160 105 163 109 108 162 111
156 63 104 104 170 131 108 115 111 153
107 122 164 116 102 162 57 160 103 115
158 105

Organise the data into a grouped frequency table involving what you consider to be
an appropriate number of equal width intervals.
Display the data graphically and write some sentences describing the distribution of
lengths using suitable statistical vocabulary, e.g. range, outliers, clusters, modal class,
mean length, etc.
If the distribution of lengths shows any particularly notable features suggest some
possible reasons why this might be the case. (The scientific team can then consider
exploring such suggestions in further surveys.)
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Two. 47

Miscellaneous Exercise Two.

This miscellaneous exercise may include questions involving the work of this
chapter, the work of any previous chapters, and the ideas mentioned in the
preliminary work section at the beginning of the book.
1. Expand each of the following and simplify where possible,
(a] 3(2*+5) (b) 5(7x-3)
(c) -2(1 -Sx) (d) 6 ( 2 x + l ) + 5(2x-3)
(e) 2(2* + 1) - 3(2*- 3] (f) 3(1 - 2x) + 2(5*+3)
(g) 2(2x + 3) - (5x + 1) + 2x (h) 5(1 + 2x) - 2(3 - 2x)

2. In a National Heart Foundation survey 1915 women and 1863 men, all aged
between 40 and 60, ticked either Yes or No when asked the question:
In the past 2 weeks, did you walk for recreation or exercise? No Q Yes | |
What type of variable is involved here?
3. List advantages and disadvantages of using the mean as the representative score in
a set of scores.
Do the same for using the median in this way and then for using the mode in this
way.

4. To gain a pass a student needs to achieve a mean of at least 60% in eight tests. In
the first seven tests the student achieved a mean of 54%. What percentage must
the student achieve in test eight if they are to pass the course?

5. In each part of this question two dot frequency graphs are given, Graph A and
Graph B. In each pair the two graphs involve sets of data with the same number of
data points. However, in each case the two graphs are quite different. Write some
sentences comparing datasets A and B in each case and mentioning such things as
means, medians, lowest and highest scores, range, gaps, spread out, clusters,
percentages of scores, outliers etc.
Pair (a) Pair (b)

S A Frequency
GRAPH A
5- Frequency
GRAPH A 1
- •
• • • • •
* * * Score Score
I » I T T 1 1 1 1 1 1
T—I—I—I—I—I—I I I I I—I—I i i i i i i i i i 1i ii l
5 10 15 20 15 20
5 10

GRAPHB GRAPHB
Frequency 5- Frequency
•
• • • • • • •
• • • • • • • •
• • • • Score •i •i •i •i 1
Score
"T I I I I I I I I II I I I I I I I I I
i i i I 1 1 l 1 1
i i i i i I
10 15 20 5 10 20
15
48 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

6. List six prices for second hand cars with a mean of $28 000 but for which this mean
value is not a particularly good choice to represent a price that is centrally located
with regard to the six prices.

HEALTH SURVEY.
One hundred men and one hundred women took part in a health survey. Fifty of the
men and fifty of the women were aged between 20 and 25 and the remaining fifty
men and fifty women were aged between 65 and 70.
One of the variables measured was the diastolic blood pressure of these two
hundred people. The results of such measurements are shown below with the
blood pressures given to the nearest millimetre of mercury (mmHg).

MALES (aged 20 to 25) MALES (aged 65 to 70)

B. P. Frequency B.P. Frequency
50 - 59 1 50 - 59 0
60 - 69 10 60 - 69 3
70 - 79 21 70 - 79 12
80 - 89 14 80 - 89 17
90 - 99 3 90 - 99 13
100 -109 1 100 -109 4
110 -119 0 110 -119 1
Total 50 Total 50

FEMALES (aged 20 to 25) FEMALES (aged 65 to 70)

B. P. Frequency B. P. Frequency
50 - 59 4 50 - 59 1
60 - 69 22 60 - 69 3
70 - 79 19 70 - 79 13
80 - 89 5 80 - 89 20
90 - 99 0 90 - 99 10
100 -109 0 100 -109 2
110 -119 0 110 -119 1
Total 50 Total 50
(a) Use the centre of each class interval to determine a mean blood pressure for
each of these four groups.
(b) Draw frequency histograms for the two male groups.
(c) Draw frequency histograms for the two female groups.
(d) Comment on any trends suggested from parts (a) (b] and (c).
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Three: Measures of dispersion or spread. 49

Chapter Three.
Measures of dispersion or spread.
Situation.
The heights of the "starting 5" players of two basketball teams are given below.
Team A TeamB
Player 1 211cm Player 1 186 cm
Player 2 184 cm Player 2 184 cm
Player 3 184 cm Player 3 184 cm
Player 4 172 cm Player 4 184 cm
Player 5 169 cm Player 5 182 cm
Mean height. 184 cm Mean height. 184 cm
Median height. 184 cm Median height. 184 cm
Modal height. 184 cm Modal height. 184 cm
Note that the two teams have the same mean as each other, the same median as each
other and the same mode as each other. Can we conclude that, with regard to
heights, the two teams are similar?

The situation above shows that whilst averages can be very useful in summarising data
they do not tell the whole story. We also need to consider how widely the data is
spread or dispersed. Thus as well as being able to summarise data using means and
medians as measures of central tendency we also need some measures of dispersion. Of
course we do already have one such measure of dispersion - the range of the scores.
However, as was stated in the Preliminary work section at the beginning of this text
"Whilst the range is easy to calculate, it is determined using just two of the scores and does
not take any of the other scores into account". Hence the range is not that useful for
comparing the spread of distributions.
For example notice that the two distributions shown below, each involving 40 scores,
have the same range but show very different spread patterns.

Range (= 30)
Frequency
53
•111 TTTT 11 11
TTTT
1 rpr •n
10 20
30 40 50

Frequency |t Range ^—
5:

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
10 20 30 40 50
50 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

This reliance on just the lowest and highest scores makes the range of limited use and so
we need to consider other measures of spread.
We will now consider two other ways of quantifying spread, namely
the mean deviation,
and the standard deviation.
Each of these considers how much each score deviates from the mean score. In this way
we can obtain measures that will tell us how concentrated the scores are about the mean
value and that use each and every score in the data set in their determination.
Consider again the heights of team A from the previous page and listed again below:
Team A (mean 184 cm)
Player Height Deviation from the mean
1 211cm 2 1 1 c m - 184 cm = +27 cm
2 184 cm 184 cm - 184 cm = 0 cm
3 184 cm 184 cm - 184 cm = 0 cm
4 172 cm 172 cm - 184 cm = -12 cm
5 169 cm 169 cm - 184 cm = -15 cm
If we sum the deviations from the mean the answer is zero (as you may have expected
from your understanding of the mean). Thus we cannot find the average of these
deviations as they are. To avoid this problem we could:
• Ignore the negative signs and find the average of the absolute values of the
deviations. This technique gives the mean deviation of the heights.
27 + 0 + 0 + 12 + 15
For team A, mean deviation of heights = ^
= 10-8

Alternatively we could:
• Square the deviations, find the average of these square deviations (this is called the
variance of the scores) and then square root this variance. (This final step of
finding the square root is to give a measure that has the same units as the original
deviations that had been squared.)
This technique gives the standard deviation of the scores.
2 2 2 2 2
. ,
r i J
f27) + (0) + fO) + f-12) + f-15)
For team A, variance of heights = — * j : —
= 219-6
Thus the standard deviation = V 219-6
= 14-8, correct to 1 decimal place.

Note: Finding the standard deviation may seem a more complicated process than that
of finding the mean deviation. However it is the standard deviation that is the
more commonly used measure of dispersion in data analysis.
For this reason we will focus our attention on the standard deviation and will
not pursue the concept of a mean deviation.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Three: Measures of dispersion or spread. 51

Standard deviation.
Example 1
Find the mean, the variance and the standard deviation of the set of scores:
4, 7, 10, 13, 21.

4 + 7 + 10 + 13 + 21
Mean = ^
= 11
2 2 2 2 2
_ f4 - 111 + (7 - 111 + flO - H I + f!3 - 111 + f21 - l l ]
variance — ^
= 34
= V 34
Standard deviation
= 5-83, correct to two decimal places.
The scores have a mean of 11, a variance of 34 and a standard deviation of 5-83 (correct
to 2 d.p.).

Exercise 3 A
Just as the various measures of central tendency can be obtained using the statistical
capabilities of many calculators so too can some of the measures of dispersion. You will
be encouraged to use your calculator to obtain such measures soon but for this exercise
obtain the variance and standard deviation "the long way", as in the above example, to
gain understanding of the concepts.
1. Find the range of each of the following sets of scores.
(a) 5, 7, 11, 12, 17, 19, 21, 36.
(b) 104, 115, 117, 117, 118, 121, 122, 125, 125, 146.
(c) 121000, 109 000, 128000, 90000, 110000, 95 000, 112 000, 107000.

2. Find the variance of each of the following sets of scores.

(a) 5, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 12, 13, 14, 15.
(b) 7, 9, 10, 12, 15, 18, 18, 19.

3. Find the standard deviation of each of the following sets of scores.

(Give answers correct to 2 decimal places when rounding is necessary.)
(a) 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15.
(b) 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 13, 16, 21.
(c) 104, 115, 117, 117, 118, 121, 122, 125, 125, 146.
(d) 65, 67, 72, 83, 84.
52 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

For questions 4 to 7 state which of the two diagrams shows the set of scores with
(a) the greater mean, (b) the greater standard deviation.
(You should not need to calculate the means and standard deviations.)

Graph A Graph B
g 3-1 S 3-1
cu L
I 2H
• • •
1 _l
• • •
1 — « — I — I — » — I — I — I — R — I
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Mark Mark

Graph A Graph B
I 3-1
§ 3 - 1

I 2H
2H
1 -I
1
£ lH •• •
-I 1 1 I I I I I 1 R

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Mark Mark

4H Graph A Graph B
c 3H
§ 31
I 2 H I 2 H
¿1-1
I I 1—1 I — I 1 -
1 1 R
I I I r—I 1 1 I I 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Mark
Mark
Graph A 4
Graph B
& "
e 3H
I 2H CD ^
HI ^ _
1 -4
» I — I — I — I — r — I — I — I — *
Î 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Mark Mark

8. For each of parts (a) to (d) given below, two sets of scores are given. For each part
state which set, I or II, has the greater standard deviation (you should not need to
calculate the standard deviations).
(a) Seti: 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 mean = 6
Set II: 4 5 6 6 6 7 8 mean = 6
00 Seti: 6 8 9 9 10 11 11 12 14 mean = 10
Set II: 6 6 6 9 10 11 14 14 14 mean = 10
(c) Seti: 20 21 21 22 23 24 25 25 26 mean = 23
Set II: 13 15 21 22 23 24 25 31 33 mean = 23
Cd) Seti: 1 1 2 2 10 18 18 19 19 mean = 10
Set II: 1 1 9 9 10 11 11 19 19 mean = 10
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Three: Measures of dispersion or spread. 53

9. Find the range, the mean and the standard deviation of the following set of scores.
(Give answers correct to two decimal places if rounding is necessary.)
8, 8, 9, 11, 11, 15, 16, 19, 19, 20, 20, 21, 21, 25, 32.

Use of statistical functions on a calculator.

As was stated at the beginning of the previous exercise, just as the various measures of
central tendency can be obtained using the statistical capabilities of many calculators so
too can some of the measures of dispersion. Also, you should already know how to put
data into a calculator and output statistical measures such as the mean and the median.
The standard deviation of a set of scores can similarly be obtained using your calculator.
We tend to use either s or a as symbols for standard deviation, a is a letter from the
Greek alphabet and is pronounced sigma. It is a "lower case" sigma, capital sigma is
written £ .
The diagram below shows a typical graphic calculator display for the data set:
3 5 2 0 2

1-Variable ^
X = 2.4 <— The mean of the scores
T,x = 12 <— The sum of the scores
= 42 <— The sum of the squares of the scores
XOn = 1.62480768 <— The standard deviation of the scores
XOn-1 = 1.81659021 <— The different standard deviation - see note CD below
n =5 <— The number of scores
V /
Scrolling down such a display would allow further statistical information for this set of
scores to be viewed.
For this set of scores: Mean = 2-4
Standard deviation = 1-625 (correct to 3 decimal places)

Make sure that you can obtain these two values from your
calculator.

The standard deviation is a measure of spread. For most distributions very

few, if any, of the scores would be more than three standard deviations from
the mean, i.e. the vast majority of the scores (and probably all of them) would
lie between
(x - 3a) and (x + 3a).
Indeed we would frequently find that about two thirds of the scores would lie
within 1 standard deviation of the mean, i.e. between (x - a) and (x + a).
54 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Note <D The calculator display shown has two different standard deviations,
a and a _ i n n

a is the standard deviation of the five scores.

n

a _ i , sometimes shown as s , gives an answer a little bigger than cr by

n x n

dividing the sum of the squared deviations by (n - 1) rather than n. This

would be used if the five scores were a sample taken from a larger
population and we wanted to use the deviation of the sample to estimate
the standard deviation of the whole population, as is often the case in real
life. Division by (n - 1] rather than n compensates for the fact that there is
usually less variation in a small sample than there is in the entire
population. (This is known as Bessel's correction.) If we make the sample
large then n will be large and there will be little difference between a and n

a _ i. This book makes the distinction between a and o - i and if a

n n n

question asks for the standard deviation of a set of scores to be determined

a is given, unless the question specifically states that the task is to use the
n

small sample data to estimate the standard deviation of the population of

which the sample is a part. However in some States of Australia this
distinction may not be part of the course and instead you might simply be
expected to give o _ x , or s*, whenever standard deviation is requested.
n

Hence it is important that you make sure you know which standard
deviation, cr or a _ i , you are expected to give in examinations when a
n n

question simply asks you to determine a standard deviation. To assist

readers in states that only require cr _ i to be determined answers in the
n

back of this text will tend to give both values for those cases where, to the
given accuracy, the values differ.
Example 2
Find the mean and standard deviation for the following set of scores.
9, 10, 11, 13, 19, 20, 21, 21, 22, 24, 25, 31, 31, 32, 44.
(a) How many of the scores are such that
x - 1 standard deviation < score < x + 1 standard deviation ?
(b) How many of the scores are such that
x - 2 standard deviations < score < 3c + 2 standard deviations ?

Using a calculator x = 22-2, standard deviation (a ) = 9-27 (2 d.p.) n

(a) x - standard deviation » 12-93 and x + standard deviation * 31-47.

10 of the 15 scores lie between x - a and x + a .
(b) x - 2 standard deviations « 3-66 and x + 2 standard deviations * 40-74.
14 of the 15 scores lie between x - 2a and x + 2a.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Three: Measures of dispersion or spread. 55

Exercise 3B
Find the mean and the standard deviation for each of the sets of scores given in numbers
1 to 5. (Give answers correct to one decimal place when rounding is necessary unless
stated otherwise.)
1. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
2. 15, 26, 47, 16, 33, 49, 8, 11, 41, 26, 19, 14.
3. 31, 29, 33, 32, 34, 29, 30, 30.
4. 6-6, 6-2, 7-3, 8-1, 6-8, 7-0, 6-9, 7-1, 6-9, 7-0. (Answers correct to 2 d.p.)
5. 30, 29, 34, 27, 26, 25, 26, 38, 38, 23, 39, 35, 26, 27, 29, 32, 29, 31, 32, 30,
31, 27, 29, 32, 30, 32, 31, 28, 32, 30, 29, 30.

Three groups of 10 students do a spelling test marked out of 10. The scores
achieved by each group are shown in the dot frequency graphs below.

f Frequency f Frequency f Frequency

4H
3
2 2
1 1
~i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i— _j—,—,—,—,—,—,—,—,—,— -i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Score 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Score 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Score
Group A Group B Group C

(a) Without calculating values but just by looking at the graphs state which of the
three groups have scores with
(i) the greatest standard deviation, (ii) the smallest standard deviation,
(iii) the greatest mean, (iv) the smallest mean.
(b) Calculate the mean and standard deviation for each group.

7. In a particular sporting competition contestants are awarded a score by each of

eight judges. The eight scores for one competitor were:
5-9 5-9 5-7 6-0 54 5-8 5-8 5-9
(a) Find the mean and standard deviation of these scores. (To 2 d.p.)
(b) If the highest score and the lowest score are discarded find the mean and
standard deviation of the remaining scores. (To 2 d.p.)

8. An engineering company makes a particular component that theoretically is to be

of length 63 cm. Quality control imposes certain restrictions that any randomly
selected sample of ten of these components must satisfy. One such random sample
has lengths (in cm):
63-0, 62-9, 63-0, 63-2, 63-0, 63-1, 63-0, 62-9, 63-1, 63-1.
(a) Does this sample satisfy the restriction: 62-95 cm < mean < 63-05 cm?
(b) Does this sample satisfy the restriction: standard deviation < 0-1 cm?
56 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

9. The 25 students in a year 8 class have the following heights (nearest cm).
181 145 162 158 165 150 164 155 173 160 164 154 161
152 167 169 148 163 175 153 166 153 166 147 160
(a) Find the mean and standard deviation of these 25 heights (2 dp).
(b) These 25 heights are to be used to estimate the standard deviation of the 231
year 8 students in this school. What would this estimated standard deviation
be (2 dp)?
10. An entomologist catches an adult moth that he is sure is one belonging to a
particular species but he is not sure whether it is type A of the species or type B.
Some of the smaller examples of type B moths can easily be mistaken for a type A
moth and positive examination then requires analysis of body tissue. The
entomologist refers to a reference book which states that in an extensive survey
involving thousands of these adult moths it was found that the body length of the
two types were such that:
For the type A moths surveyed. Mean 15 mm, Standard deviation 1mm.
For the type B moths surveyed. Mean 22 mm, Standard deviation 3mm.
The entomologist measures the body length of "his" moth as 18 mm. Decide which
it is more likely to be, a large type A or a small type B, and explain your choice.
11. A scientist collects 40 butterflies of a particular species and measures the lengths of
the wing span of each one. The lengths, to the nearest millimetre, are shown in the
dot frequency diagram below.
Frequency
• •••
:
// • • • ••••••••••••• •• • • • Wing Span
yf 1 1 1 1 — 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 j 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 — 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140

n
(a)Calculate the mean and standard deviation (st. dev ) for this set of lengths,
giving the standard deviation correct to 3 decimal places.
(b) What percentage of the 40 lengths lie within one standard deviation of the
mean? i.e. What percentage of the lengths are such that:
n n
(mean - 1 st. dev ) < length < (mean +1 st. dev ).
ns
(c) What percentage of the 40 lengths lie within two st. dev of the mean?
ns
(d) What percentage of the 40 lengths lie within three st. dev of the mean?
(e) If the scientist wanted to use these 40 lengths to estimate the standard
deviation of the entire butterfly population of this species what would this
estimated standard deviation be (2 dp)?
12. A scientific experiment involved students determining the temperature at which a
particular chemical reaction took place. Ten groups carried out the experiment and
obtained the following answers:
156°C, 163°C, 154°C, 158°C, 159°C, 161°C, 121°C, 163°C, 159°C, 159°C.
One of the groups discovered that they had made a number of errors in carrying out
the experiment and in calculating the answer.
Determine the mean and standard deviation of the results if
(a) the answer likely to be from the group making errors is included,
(b) the answer likely to be from the group making errors is not included.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Three: Measures of dispersion or spread. 57

13. Twenty four of the twenty five students in a class sat a maths test that was marked
out of 40. The marks obtained were as shown below:
22 25 21 18 25 32 30 40 28 16 31 21
24 14 25 34 37 27 18 27 39 35 28 35
The twenty fifth student was absent for the test due to hospitalisation and so the
teacher had to estimate a mark for this student in this test. Noticing that on
previous tests this student usually performed above the class mean the teacher
awards an estimated mark of ( x + 0-65) where x and s are respectively the mean
and standard deviation of the 24 marks. To the nearest 0-5 of a mark what was the
student's estimated mark.

14. The maximum and minimum temperatures, as recorded at Perth airport, for each
day of December in a particular year were as follows:
Day jSt
2 n d
3 r d 4 th
5 t h
6 t h 7 th 8 th 9 th
10 t h

Max (°C) 27-3 27-9 29-4 29-5 30-2 31-4 33-9 34-4 21-9 23-3
Min (°C) 13-9 14-0 15-7 14-6 14-6 15-0 17-0 24-9 16-1 12-1

Day 11 t h
12 t h
13 t h
14 th
15 t h t h
17 t h t h t h t h
16 18 19 20
Max (°C) 27-0 27-2 24-7 26-2 34-5 39-2 41-2 36-2 28-7 24-1
Min (°C) 13-0 13-0 12-5 12-9 13-6 19-8 20-8 15-2 18-6 15-0

Day 21 s t
22 n d
23 r d
24 t h
25 t h t h t h t h t h
26 27 28 29 30 t h
31 s t

Max (°C) 26-0 29-1 29-2 30-0 33-0 37-4 38-6 24-7 28-7 36-0 31-9
Min (°C) 10-5 13-1 13-6 15-4 16-0 16-7 23-3 19-4 14-0 16-6 19-8
Source of data: Bureau of Meteorology.]

(a) Determine the mean, range and standard deviation of the daily maximum
temperatures featuring in the above table, giving your answers correct to one
decimal place.
(b) Data collected over a period of more than 100 years, prior to the year featured
above, gave Perth's mean maximum daily temperature for December as 27-4°C.
Compare your mean daily maximum temperature for the above table with this
long term mean.
(c) Determine the mean, range and standard deviation of the daily minimum
temperatures featuring in the above table, giving your answers correct to one
decimal place.
(d) Data collected over a period of more than 100 years, prior to the year featured
in the table, gave Perth's mean minimum daily temperature for December as
16-3°C. Compare your mean daily minimum temperature for the above table
with this long term mean.
58 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

15. The marks achieved in an exam sat by 100 candidates are shown below.
53 58 45 61 89 55 60 49 62 26 65 92 51 59 40
56 21 61 65 56 80 40 69 54 83 59 83 47 77 36
46 58 62 52 69 97 66 64 75 14 77 62 56 58 81
64 36 69 64 66 72 47 80 50 70 56 43 68 52 28
40 69 52 78 32 78 67 56 83 62 43 67 64 56 85
62 49 59 89 62 66 42 62 53 47 85 74 86 79 75
70 75 53 72 23 70 77 74 80 71
(a) Calculate the mean and standard deviation for this set of marks (correct to ldp]
(b) Display the data as a dot frequency graph.
(c) Show on your graph the "grade borderlines" and state the number of
candidates awarded each grade given that grades were awarded as follows:
11
exam mark > (mean + 1-25 x st. dev .)
11
(mean + 0-5 x st. dev .) < exam mark < (mean + 1-25 x st. dev .) 11

11
(mean - 0-5 x st. dev .) < exam mark < (mean + 0-5 x st. dev .) 11

11
(mean - 1-5 x st. dev .) < exam mark < (mean - 0-5 x st. dev .) 11

11
exam mark < (mean - 1-5 x st. dev .)

16. A company manufactures components for aircraft engines. The quality control for
one particular component involves 25 of the components being randomly selected
and measured from every batch of 500. If any one of the conditions stated below is
found to apply to the sample then production is halted, each of the other 475
components in the batch is checked and the machine is re-set.
Sample reject, condition ®: mean < 64-8 cm
Sample reject, condition ®: mean > 65-2 cm
SampleYeject, condition ®: standard deviation > 0-15 cm
Sample reject, condition ®: any one component > 65-3 cm
Sample reject, condition ©: any one component < 64-7 cm
For each of the following samples of 25 determine whether the sample passes these
checks and, for any sample that does not pass, state the reason for it not passing.
[All measurements are in centimetres.)
Sample A Sample B
65-0 65-0 64-7 64-9 65-1 65-0 65-0 65-0 65-0 65-0
65-1 65-0 65-0 65-1 65-0 65-1 65-1 65-1 64-9 65-0
65-0 64-8 64-9 65-0 64-8 65-0 65-0 64-8 64-6 64-9
64-8 65-0 65-0 65-1 65-0 64-9 65-1 65-0 64-9 65-0
65-0 64-9 65-1 65-0 65-2 65-0 65-0 64-8 65-0 65-0
Sample C Sample D
64-9 64-9 64-8 65-1 65-0 64-8 65-2 65-0 65-0 65-2
64-9 65-0 65-1 65-0 65-0 65-0 64-8 65-1 65-2 64-8
65-0 65-1 65-0 65-1 65-0 65-0 65-1 65-1 64-8 65-2
65-1 65-1 64-9 65-0 64-8 64-7 64-8 64-8 65-2 65-0
65-1 65-0 65-1 65-0 65-0 64-9 65-1 65-0 65-2 64-8
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Three: Measures of dispersion or spread. 59

Frequency tables.
Remember that if data is given in the form of a frequency table it can be entered into
many calculators in this frequency form.
For example, given the following table
Score 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Frequency 1 0 1 2 4 9 10 11 8 3 1
the 50 scores can be keyed into a calculator in this frequency form. We do not need to
key in the 50 scores separately.

Listi List 2 List3 List 4 1-Variable

1 10 1 x = 16.14
2 11 0 = 807
2
3 12 1 Zx =13205
4 13 2 XOn = 1.897472
5 14 4 XOn-1 = 1.91673617
n = 50
6 15 9

Outliers.
Any data values that are unusually far away from the others are known as outliers.
These extreme values can have a big effect on the standard deviation.
Suppose for example that the frequency table shown above were also to include one
score of 51.
Score 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 51
Frequency 1 0 1 2 4 9 10 11 8 3 1 1

Now the standard deviation is

1-Variable
5-2 (to ldp),
x = 16.8235294
as shown on the right, compared to the Zx =858
previous value of 1-9 without the outlier. Zx 2
= 15806
xan =5.18559801
For this reason outliers need careful xon-i =5.23719727
consideration. Perhaps in this case it was n =51
simply an error involving a score of 15 being
written as 51.
Sometimes we might determine the standard deviation without the outlier included and
then comment on the presence of the outlier.
Do not forget though that sometimes the one result that is different
to the rest is the really interesting one. Suppose for example we
were testing to see the effect various drugs have on a particular
disease. The drug that produces results significantly different to the
other drugs could well be the important one!
60 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Grouped data.
Just as we use the mid-point of each interval to estimate the mean for grouped data, we
do the same thing to obtain an estimate for the standard deviation.
Thus for the grouped data given below:
Score 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89
Frequency 3 11 18 28 24 10 6
n = 100, x = 55-8, o = 14-3 (1 d.p.).
n

Ll L2 L3 1-Var Stats
24.5 3 x = 55.8
34.5 11 Ix=5580
44.5 18 2

54.5 28
lx = 331895
64.5 24 Sx =14.4008277
74.5 10 ax=14.32864264
84.5 6 n = 100

Remember: Many measured quantities are naturally grouped by rounding and the
data is often displayed as a histogram.
Frequency
Confirm that for the histogram shown 15
on the right: 10-
Mean = 50-88,
Standard deviation = 1-5 (1 d.p.). 5 z
1*
47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
Length (cm)
Exercise 3C
Find the mean and standard deviation of each of the distributions shown in questions 1
to 5. (Give answers correct to one decimal place.)
1. Score 0 1 2 3 4 5
Frequency 3 7 15 24 19 12
2. Score 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Frequency 1 3 4 8 8 4 3 1
3. Score 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Frequency 8 4 3 1 1 3 4 8
4. Score 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Frequency 1 0 4 6 10 4 2 1 1 1
5. Score 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Frequency 1 2 4 3 5 7 15 19 12 7
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Three: Measures of dispersion or spread. 61

Use the midpoint of each class interval to determine the mean and standard deviation of
the following distributions shown in questions 6 to 10. (Give answers correct to one
decimal place if rounding is necessary.)
Score Frequency 7. Score (x) Frequency
20^24 7 0 < x < 10 17
25^29 12 10<x<20 13
30^34 18 20 < x < 30 9
35^39 20 30 < x < 4 0 7
40 — 44 24 40<x<50 4
45^49 13
50^54 6

Score Frequency 9. Score (x) Frequency

0-9 3 0<x<20 1
10^19 8 20<x<40 3
20^29 15 40<x<60 10
30^39 24 60<x<80 9
40-49 34 8 0 < x < 100 7
50^59 16

10. 10H

CD
5H
Uh
Score
-7^
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

11. A golf club organises a "club members championship" each year for the top 35
ranked players in the club. In a particular year the scores achieved by these players
in the championship round were as shown below.
Score 67 69 71 72 73 74 75 76 78 82 85 91
Number of players 1 1 2 4 7 5 3 5 3 2 1 1
(a) How many standard deviations from the mean was the best (i.e. lowest) score?
(Answer correct to one decimal place.)
(b) How many standard deviations from the mean was the worst (i.e. highest)
score? (Answer correct to one decimal place.)
62 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

12. A company wishes to test a coating it is developing for seeds. The coating is
designed to provide the seeds with essential nutrients and to stimulate germination
and growth. The company arranges 200 trays each containing identical potting
mix. In each of 100 of these trays 50 coated seeds are planted and in each of the
other 100 trays 50 uncoated seeds are planted, all the seeds being of the same
quality and type. After a certain number of weeks the company counts the number
of successful germinations in each tray - a "success" being a healthy seedling at
least 6 cm in height. The results were as follows:
Uncoated Seeds Coated Seec Is
№• of successes in tray. №• of trays. №• of successes in tray. №• of trays.

21-25 7 21-25 1
26-30 21 26-30 2
31-35 28 31-35 10
36-40 23 36-40 17
41-45 15 41-45 42
46-50 6 46-50 28
Calculate the mean and standard deviation for each set of 100 trays and comment
on your results.

13. The time that thirty patients had to wait beyond their allotted appointment time at
a particular health centre was noted. The results are shown tabulated below.
Time (t mins) 0<t<10 10<t<20 20<t<30 30<t<40 40 < t < 50 50<t<60
№• of patients 8 15 4 2 0 1

Find the mean and standard deviation of this distribution of waiting times both
with and without the outlier included. (Round to one decimal place if necessary.)

14. One hundred primary schools are surveyed regarding the number of students on
the roll of each school. The information collected is shown tabulated below:
N ° of students 1 to 50 51 to 100 101 to 150 151 to 200 201 to 250
№ of schools 5 5 10 9 18

N ° of students 251 to 300 301 to 350 351 to 400 401 to 450 451 to 500
№ of schools 22 15 6 7 2

No of students 501 to 550 551 to 600 601 to 650 651 to 700 701 to 750
No of schools 0 0 0 0 1
(a) By taking the centre of each interval as the number of students in each school
in that interval, determine estimates for the mean number of students per
school and the standard deviation of the distribution.
(b) Determine the mean and standard deviation of the data once the outlier in the
data is removed.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Three: Measures of dispersion or spread. 63

Central tendency and spread - An investigation.

Forty students sat a maths test marked out of 50. The scores they achieved are shown
in the dot frequency graph below.
4n Frequency
• • •• •
• • •••••••• •
• • • u m » •••• m i m i • • •
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Score
10 20 30 40 50
Find the mean (to 2 d.p.) and standard deviation (to 1 d.p.) of the forty scores.
The teacher wanted these scores as percentages so she multiplied each score by 2.
The dot frequency graph of the percentage scores is given below.
4i Frequency •

• ••••••••• •
• • • •••••• •••• •••••••• • • •
Score
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Find the mean and standard deviation of these forty percentage scores.
A second test, given to the same forty students, was in two parts. Part A consisted of
10 mental questions and was marked out of 10. Part B was more involved and was
marked out of 90. The dot frequency for the scores achieved in part B is shown below.
4^ Frequency • # #

• •• • •• ••
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 • Score
• • •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ••• • • • M •
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Find the mean and standard deviation of these forty scores.
Part A proved to be very straightforward and all of the students scored 10 out of 10!
The dot frequency for the combined score out of 100 is given below.
4
:Frequency •
• • •• • •• • • ••
• ••• • •
———•— my • • • •• 11111111 Score
11111111111111111 111111111111 11111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Find the mean and standard deviation of these forty scores.
Suggest how the mean and the standard deviation of a set of scores are affected
if • the scores have the same number added to each of them (or subtracted
from each them),
and/or • each of the scores is multiplied by (or divided by) the same number.
Test your suggestions (conjectures) by putting a set of scores into your graphic
calculator, creating a new set of scores by adding a number to each of the scores in the
first set, and/or by multiplying each set of scores in the first set by a number, and then
comparing the mean and standard deviation of the two sets of scores.
64 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Miscellaneous Exercise Three.

This miscellaneous exercise may include questions involving the work of this
chapter, the work of any previous chapters, and the ideas mentioned in the
preliminary work section at the beginning of the book.
1. Write the following numbers in order of size, smallest first.
0-201 0-12 0-102 0-21 0-1 0-021 0-012 0-2

2. Without the assistance of a calculator, write the following numbers in order of size,
smallest first.
1 1 1 2 3 7_ 3
2 5 3 3 4 10 100 5

3. Evaluate each of the following,

(a) 3 + 2x4 (b) 5x4 + 6 (c) 3 + 5 Z

(d) 32 + 4 + 2 (e) 3 2 + ( 4 + 2) (f) (5 + 3 ) - 8 x 32

D-
4. State the coordinates of each of the points A to #
4-
A
J shown on the right. (All coordinates involve H G 3-
2-
integer values only.) 1- C
I—I—I I I n—I T
-t- I—r**x
-5 - 4 - 3 -2 1 2 3 4 5
-2-
E
• Î7
• -4-
-5-

5. The statistics regarding commercial orchard fruit in Western Australia for a

particular year are shown in the following table:
Fruit Number of trees Production Gross value of production
(1000's) (tonnes) C$1000's)
Apples 778 37418 19497
Pears 175 8399 4886
Lemons & Limes 18 1125 738
Mandarins 55 1315 1830
Oranges 183 5 304 1830
Nectarines 147 2333 2333
Peaches 126 2 507 4070
Plums & Prunes 190 3494 4392
[Source of data: Australian Bureau of Statistics.]
(a) What type of variable does the first column of the table involve?
For this particular year:
(b) How many commercial apple trees were in Western Australia?
(c) How many tonnes of peaches were produced commercially?
(d) Find the gross value per tonne for (i) oranges, (ii) nectarines?
(e) On average, how many kilograms of apples did each commercial apple tree
yield?
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Three. 65

6. List one advantage and one disadvantage of using the range as an indicator of the
spread or variability in a set of scores.

7. The dot frequency graph on the 5 ^ Frequency

right shows the scores achieved 4
by 19 students in a spelling test. 3H
2
Find the mean, median, mode 1
and standard deviation of the
distribution. (Round to two 0 7 8 9 10

decimal places if rounding is necessary.)

8. Ten scores have a mean of 85-4. However it was later found that one of the scores
had been recorded incorrectly as 75 when it should have been 57. If this error is
corrected what is the new mean of the ten scores?

9. Four maternity hospitals, A, B, C and D report to the regional health authority and
state the number of live births that occurred in a particular month and the mean
birth weight of the babies. The data was as follows:
Hospital A: 84 live births, mean weight 3«025kg.
Hospital B: 27 live births, mean weight 3-140kg.
Hospital C: 53 live births, mean weight 2-935kg.
Hospital D: 17 live births, mean weight 2-855kg.
Calculate the mean birth weight for all the live births from these maternity
hospitals in the month that the above data applies to.

10. For a period of time, a car salesman asked customers trading in their old vehicle
for a new one, how many vehicles they had owned in their lives prior to the
purchase of their new one.
The responses led to the following graph:
f Number of customers.
10 A

SA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
m. n
Number of vehicles owned prior to the latest purchase.
(a) According to the graph none of the people involved in the survey said they
had owned no vehicles prior to the latest purchase. Why is this?
(b) The salesman concluded that, on average, people purchasing a new vehicle
from him had owned approximately 4-4 vehicles before this latest purchase.
Comment on this conclusion.
66 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

11. (Pythagoras)
A vertical mast is 80 metres tall and is to be held in
place by a number of wires. These wires are each
one of three different lengths and are classified as
short, medium or long.
Each short wire is to have one end attached to a point
one quarter of the way up the mast and the other to a point on the ground, level
with the base of the mast and thirty metres from it.
Each medium wire is to have one end attached to a point twenty metres from the
top of the mast and the other to a point on the ground, level with the base of the
mast and thirty metres from it.
Each long wire is to have one end attached to a point twenty metres from the top of
the mast and the other to a point on the ground, level with the base of the mast and
sixty metres from it.
The wires are to be made a little longer than is required, brought to the site, and
then suitably adjusted. Each wire is to be made to "the accurate length plus 50 cm
then round up to the next 10 cm".
Find the length that each classification of wire should be made to.

12. The assessment of her college course involves Suzanne sitting five exams, one in
each of the units A, B, C, D and E. The twenty five students following this course all
took the five exams and their results in the exam for unit A were as follows:
55 50 54 49 14 53* 50 37 37 48
40 71 20 57 61 55 9 46 30 44
50 43 48 34 43 * Suzanne's result.
(a) Determine the mean and standard deviation for these scores.
The mean and standard deviation for the marks obtained by these students in the
other four exams are shown below, together with Suzanne's score.
Unit B: Mean 67 Standard deviation 12 Suzanne's score 61
Unit C: Mean 37 Standard deviation 8 Suzanne's score 49
Unit D: Mean 83 Standard deviation 5 Suzanne's score 80
Unit E: Mean 72 Standard deviation 10 Suzanne's score 79
00 In order to compare her marks in the five exams Suzanne decides to
standardise the marks by expressing each mark in terms of the number of
standard deviations the mark is above or below the mean. For example in a
course having a mean of 55 and a standard deviation of 12 then a score of 67
(= 55 + 1(12)) becomes 1, a score of 79 (= 55 + 2(12)) becomes 2, a score of
43 (= 55 - 1(12)) becomes -1 etc.
List the units in order from the one that Suzanne achieved her highest
standardised score to the one with her lowest standardised score and state
the standardised score for each unit.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Four: Boxplots, histograms and more about describing distributions. 67

Chapter Four.
Boxplots, histograms and more about
describing distributions.
Box and whisker diagrams (boxplots).
A simple diagram that shows the way a set of scores is distributed is a box and whisker
diagram or box plot. This type of diagram does not show all the individual scores
(unlike a dot frequency diagram which does show all of the scores) but instead it
concentrates our attention on specific features of the data.
Just as the median divides the distribution into two halves then so the quartiles divide
the distribution into four quarters. Box and whisker diagrams show the locations of:
the lowest score,
the highest score,
the median,
the lower quartile
and the upper quartile.
Using this five-number summary boxplots give a visual impression of the location of
the data and how widely spread it is. The range (highest score minus lowest score) and
the interquartile range (upper quartile minus lower quartile) can be determined.

For example consider the set of scores

12, 6, 10, 19, 9, 12, 4, 14, 8, 16, 6.

Listing the scores in order allows the quartiles and interquartile range to be determined:

6 8 10 ,12 12 14 16 19 ,

Lower Median Upper

Quartile or Quartile
or 1st quartile or 3rd quartile
2nd quartile

Interquartile range •

A box plot can then be drawn with the "box" extending from the lower quartile to the
upper quartile with a line in the box indicating the median. "Whiskers" then extend
from the lower quartile to the lowest score and from the upper quartile to the highest
score.

—i i i
68 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Example 1
Draw box and whisker plots for each of the following sets of scores.

(a) 12, 22, 22, 23, 27, 14, 27, 23, 21, 30, 26, 17, 23, 17.

(b) 7, 11, 11, 11, 8, 17, 10, 12, 10, 14, 9, 15, 9.

(c) 21, 18, 28, 30, 23, 17, 30, 27, 28, 19, 29, 20.

(a) Order the scores and find the median, lower quartile and upper quartile:

12 14 17 17 21 22 22 . 23 23 23 26 27 27 30

LQ Median UQ

Hence draw the box plot:

-i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—r-i—n—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i
10 15 20 25 30

(b) Order the scores and find the median, lower quartile and upper quartile:
7 8 9 9 10 10 11 11 11 12 14 15 17
I | I | I Ij I

LQ Median UQ

Hence draw the box plot:

i • ' • i i ' i i
~ z t d
' i ' ' i i i i ' i • i • i • • i • • • •i
5 10 15 20 25 30

(c) Order the scores and find the median, lower quartile and upper quartile:

17 18 19 20 21 23 27 28 28 29 30 30
I 1| l|l |_ I
LQ Median UQ

Hence draw the box plot:

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i
5 10 15 20 25 30
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Four: Boxplots, histograms and more about describing distributions. 69

30q
2 5 _
i
20-
Note • The box and whisker diagrams shown in the
previous example have all been drawn T
horizontally but they may also be drawn
vertically, as shown on the right.
1 0
-i

(a) (b) (c)

0-

Some graphic calculators can display data as box plots. The display below
left shows the data of example 1 (remaining data could be viewed by
scrolling down) and the display below right shows the box plots.

n CI C2 C3 C4
1 112 1 7 21
2 22 11 18
nu—•
3 22 11 28
4 23 11 30
5 27 8 23
6 14 17 17 111111111111111111111111111111111111111

12 C3.Q3 : 28.5

A possible refinement of this type of diagram is to indicate scores that may

be considered as unusually high or unusually low compared to the others,
as separate points on the diagram (i.e. show outliers as separate points.)
The whiskers are drawn to include all scores that are within 1-5 times the
interquartile range of the nearest quartile. Any scores outside that are
considered outliers and are marked separately. The diagram below shows
an example of this. The interquartile range is 8. The whiskers only extend
to include marks that are no more than 12 marks ( = 1 - 5 x 8 ) from the
nearest quartile. Any scores beyond this are marked with a x .

X X CZT3-
11 111 I I I I 111 11r r r r r T 1111111111111
0 10 20 30 40

Most of the questions in this book will involve the simpler boxplots where
the whiskers are drawn to the lowest and highest scores. However the idea
of using "more than 1-5 * interquartile range beyond the upper and lower
quartiles" as the criteria for identifying possible outliers should be
remembered.
70 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Exercise 4A.
For each of the box and whisker diagrams shown in numbers 1 to 4 state:
(a) the median, (b) the lower quartile, (c) the upper quartile,
(d) the lowest score, (e) the highest score, (f) the interquartile range.
1.
-L" I -C I
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
!. I I I I II I I II I II
1 Ii I 4.
| l l l l | l l l l | l l l i f l l l l | l l l l | l l l l | l l l l | l l l l | l l l l | l l l l |,
l l l l | l l l l | l l,
l l | l l l l | I I I I | l l l l,
|IIM|llll|IMI|llll|

10 15 20 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
100-|~
Four year 10 maths classes, A, B, C and D, take the
same test, marked out of 100. The diagram on the 90i"
right shows box plots for the results. 80-|-
(a) In which class is the student who scored the
highest mark?
70-J —
(b) In which class is the student who scored the 60-|~
lowest mark?
50-|-
(c) Which class had the highest median?
(d) Which class had the lowest median? 404-
(e) Which class had the smallest interquartile range? 3o4--
(f) Which class had the greatest range of marks?
20-|~
(g) Which class had the smallest range of marks?
10-1--
Draw box plots for each of the following data sets. a A B
6. 5, 6, 11, 12, 12, 15, 16, 18, 18, 19, 20, 22, 25, 29, 31.
7. 11, 14, 7, 16, 16, 5, 14, 14, 24, 7, 12, 15, 14, 9.
8. 7, 10, 17, 23, 9, 12, 20, 2, 15, 5, 10, 12, 1.
9. 1, 14, 11, 25, 16, 14, 1, 1, 7, 18, 20, 5.

10. The box plots on Class III HI

the right are for Class II:
scores achieved
by three classes,
Class I:
fr 11111111
•m I ; 1 1 i i i-p-n Tpm 111111
JZD-
in the same test 10 20 30 40 50
Comment on each of the following statements.
(a) Class III had more scores below the median than above it.
(b) The class I marks were more spread out than the class II marks.
(c) The class III marks were more spread out than the class I marks.
(d) The class I marks and the class II marks were similarly distributed.
(e) Based on this test the top student in class III would be the twenty fifth
student if they moved to class I.
(f) Class III had lots of students who scored a lower mark than the lowest mark
from the other two classes.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Four: Boxplots, histograms and more about describing distributions. 71

Boxplot or histogram?
The lengths of the beaks of sixty male birds of a particular
species were measured and the lengths, recorded to the nearest
centimetre, were as follows:
8 7 10 13 11 9 9 7 10 12 8 11 7 11 8
11 13 9 14 10 7 6 10 8 11 10 8 9 10 7
9 12 11 8 6 8 10 12 9 7 10 8 12 6 9
7 10 14 9 8 10 13 8 10 12 11 11 13 9 10
Below left shows the data displayed as a histogram and below right it is displayed as a
boxplot.
Frequency
i(H

5^

V/- r 1 1 I 1 1 1 1
6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Length (cm)
Length (cm]
Question: Which is the better form of display?
Answer: Well they are each useful in their own way and each allows us to visualise
how the data is distributed.
Box plots can be drawn quickly, allow a five number summary consisting of
lowest score, lower quartile, median, upper quartile and highest score to be
readily obtained and the range and the interquartile range to be
determined. Their compact nature and ease of production allows several
boxplots to be drawn in close proximity thus allowing distributions to be
compared easily.
Histograms convey the overall "shape" of a distribution allowing aspects
such as symmetry, grouping, gaps, modes etc to be noticed. They allow the
mean and the standard deviation of the data to be determined, or at least
estimated if grouped data is involved. However certain features can be
hidden if w e choose too few or two many class intervals.
Hence which is "better" depends upon how much information w e are
wanting to show, whether w e want a quickly produced visual summary of
the data or a more detailed picture.
Thus box plots and histograms are both useful methods of data display, each enabling
us, in their own way, to build up a picture of how a set of scores are distributed. They
complement each other. Sometimes both forms of display may be given for the same set
of data, as was the case above. Each form of display provides information about three
key aspects of a data set: • its location, (Where is it?)
• its dispersion, (How spread out is it?)
• its shape. (What does it look like?)
72 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

The three aspects of location, spread (dispersion) and shape, together with any other
information we may notice about a distribution, were the aspects of a distribution that
we were encouraged to consider when describing a distribution in chapter two. The
work of chapter three now allows us to include mention of standard deviation when
considering spread and the following section covers skewness, an aspect we can
consider when describing the shape of a distribution.

More about the shape of a distribution - skewness

Consider the histogram shown on the right.
30d Frequency
Using the centre of each class interval to 25
determine the mean and standard deviation 20 20
of the distribution gives: 203
Mean = 115 13 13

(As we would expect considering the 103

symmetry of the histogram.)
n
St. dev . (o ) = 16-04 (2 d.p.)
n
70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Score
Suppose we now take the scores to
the left of the central column, 40 30-g Frequency 25
scores in this case, and spread 20
them further out on this left side, 20-3 15
as shown on the second histogram. 13
10
The median score would still lie in 103
the central column, and would 3 I —
therefore be unchanged, but
50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
consider what will have happened Score
to the mean and the standard
deviation?
We now have more extreme scores to the left of the centre score and these scores will
drag the mean left, and increase the standard deviation.
Mean = 112-71 Standard deviation (cr ) = 19-58 (2 d.p.)
n

Spreading the left half of the 3 (

H Frequency
distribution further left drags
the mean further left and 20-3
increases the standard
deviation yet more. 103
Mean = 111-38
n
S t . d e v . ( 0 ) = 22-39 (2 d.p.)
n
40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Score
Whilst the first histogram was symmetrical we say that the second and third histograms
are skewed to the left, also referred to as being negatively skewed.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Four: Boxplots, histograms and more about describing distributions. 73

Skewed to the right (positively skewed).

20
20-
17
n = 80
15- Median = 9 13
Mean = 9-3875
10-

5-

i r~ i 1 1 1 1—
6 9
3 4 10 11 12 13 14 15

If a distribution is skewed to the right, i.e. positively skewed, the longer "tail" will be in
the positive direction. The mean will usually be to the right of the median, i.e. for most
positively skewed distributions we would expect
mean > median
because the "tail" of high scores to the right will tend to drag the mean right.
The box plot will tend to be longer to the right of the median than it is to the left.

Skewed to the left (negatively skewed).

20 20
20-1
n = 80
15 Median = 9
Mean =8-3625 10
10

5H

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

If a distribution is skewed to the left, i.e. negatively skewed, the longer "tail" will be in
the negative direction. The mean will usually be to the left of the median, i.e. for most
negatively skewed distributions we would expect
mean < median
because the "tail" of low scores will tend to drag the mean to the left.
The box plot will tend to be longer to the left of the median than it is to the right.

Note: The explanation of skewness given here is somewhat simplistic and does not,
for example, consider what skewness might mean for a multimodal distribution,
nor does it attempt to "quantify" skewness. However the explanation given here
is sufficient for a basic understanding of the idea.
74 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Example 2
Following a traffic warning that due to a number of accidents and roadworks long delays
were likely to occur for people making their way home, the workers of one company
decided that they would each record how long it took them to get home that evening.
The histogram below shows the distribution of recorded times.
30 J Frequency
28

25 3
22
21
20-=
17
1 5
Z
12
10-=

5 -

Minutes
—1 1 T
50 60 70 80 90 100
10 20 30 40
Describe the distribution of times.

Any relevant information

129 times were recorded. - perhaps not covered in location,
spread and shape?

An estimate for the mean time is 37-6 minutes. Comment about location.
The median time lies in the 25 to 35 minute class. Mean, median (whichever can be
determined).

Comment about spread.

The times were spread out from about 5 minutes to Range, interquartile range,
105 minutes, i.e. the range was about 100 minutes. standard deviation (whichever can
An estimate for the standard deviation (cr ) is 23-4
n be determined).
minutes.

15 - 25 minutes is the modal class (which is just the Comment on shape.

second of the ten classes). Symmetry, modality, skewness,
The long tail to the right indicates that the as appropriate.
distribution is positively skewed.
Whilst the times ranged from approx 5 minutes to
Anything else you notice of
105 minutes over half (55%) were between 5 relevance.
minutes and 35 minutes.

Descriptions could also include mention of: gaps,

clusters,
more dense/less dense regions,
extreme values or outliers.
 ISBN 9780170350457, Chapter Four: Boxplots, histograms and more about describing distributions. 75

Example 3
Compare the distributions shown in the box plots below.
Data Set A : i 1 | | 1
Data Set B : \ 1 | | 1
1 1 1 1
i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i 11 i i iiiii i
0 10 20 30 40 50

The median for data set B, 36, is much higher than that of data
set A, 24. Compare location.
Both data sets have a lowest score of 8 but set B has the
greater highest score, 45, compared to 40 for set A.

Data set B has a range of 37 compared to 32 for set A.

<— Compare spread.
Both data sets have an interquartile range of 16.

The box plot for set A is symmetrical and each quarter of the
scores span 8 marks. On the other hand the longer left <— Compare shape.
whisker of set B and the greater part of the box being to the
left of the median suggest the set B marks are skewed to the
left.

The median score in set A is the same as the lower quartile

score in set B. Anything else of
The top 25% of the marks from set B exceeded the top mark relevance.
in set A.

Exercise 4B.
Describe each of the distributions shown in questions 1 to 6.
4 Frequency
154 Frequency 14
22
12
19 20
20-Ë 17
îoq
10
1CH
si 1 r-^H
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 4 5 6 7 8 9
Marks in test Length (cm)
76 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

3. 3 0 ^ Frequency 27 30 Frequency 30

20| 18 19

10-= 10
r 12
12
10
lOri

, ,
iqi!ii|iiii|iiii|iiir|iiii|iiir]iiii|iiii|iiii|iiir|iiii|iiir|iiii|inr|
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230
Score Length (cm)

5. Score 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65

Frequency 15 12 16 15 13 14 15

Score (x) 0< x<10 10< x<20 20< x<30 30< x<40 40< x<50 50< x<60 60< x<70

Frequency 46 29 13 6 3 2 1

7. Compare the distributions shown in the box plots below.

Data Set A : I
Data Set B : I
I I 11 111 I 111 111 1111 ii 111 I I I 11111 I I 11 I I 11 11 11 11 11 i »» I
0 10 20 30 40 50

8. Compare the distributions shown in the box plots below which were formed using
the results of two maths classes, set A and set B, taking the same test, with set A
being the top set and expected to do better than set B which was the second set
Each boxplot shows any outliers that are more than
1-5 x the interquartile range from the nearest quartile
as separate crosses

SETA-

SETB-

|MII|llll|IMIlllll|llll|nM|IIMillll|llll|llll|llll|MII|IIM|llll|Mllillll|IIM|llll|llll|llM|

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Four: Boxplots, histograms and more about describing distributions. 77

9. The rainfall figures recorded at a Regional Meteorology Station for each day that
some rain fell at the location, from 1st January to 31st December of a particular
year, are shown in the table and graph below:
Rainfall (x mm) 0<x<5 5 < x < 1 0 10<#<15 15<*<20 2 0 < x < 2 5 25<x<30 60<x<65

Number of days 67 14 18 3 6 1 1

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 y
20 30 40 50 60 70
Rainfall (mm)
Write a report describing the rainfall for this region in the year for which the data
applies.

10. The table below shows the scores obtained by the 196 students sitting a particular
examination.
21 31 41 51 61 71 81 91 101 111
Score to to to to to to to to to to
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Number of students 2 3 11 12 17 32 37 41 24 17
Write a summary describing the performance of the students in this examination.

11. A survey of the age of the donors and the recipients of a particular organ
transplant procedure led to the following histograms:

20- Number of donors 20d Number of recipients

16
15: 14 15 14
13
11
10-j 10 10-
8
H 6 6 6
:
5 :
5

I D
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
Age of donor Age of recipient
Write a report describing and comparing the data.
78 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Miscellaneous Exercise Four.

This miscellaneous exercise may include questions involving the work of this
chapter, the work of any previous chapters, and the ideas mentioned in the
preliminary work section at the beginning of the book.
1. Find the mean and the standard deviation (correct to two decimal places) of the
following set of scores both with and without the outlier included.
4, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 9, 9, 34.
100-3
The diagram on the right shows boxplots for percentage
scores in three tests taken by a maths class. JL
(a) In which test was the highest mark scored?
(b) In which test was the lowest mark scored?
(c) Which test had the highest median?
(d) Which test had the greatest interquartile range?
(e) Which test had the greatest range of marks?
901
(f) Which test had the smallest range of marks?
(g) What percentage of the students scored 50% or 80{ TEST
above in test one? 70-1 2
(h) In which test did at least three quarters of the
60{ TEST T E S T
students achieve a mark of more than 60%?
50{ 1 3

40 j
If five of the scores from the central column of
the histogram shown on the right were removed u 30Ì
from the data, would the standard deviation § 20H
20-1
increase or decrease? ¥ ICH
10-t
Justify your answer with appropriate reasoning.
Score
The pie chart below left shows (for a particular year) the intended destinations for
the following year for the year 12 students in Western Australia. The pie chart
below right shows where these same students actually were the following year.
Intended location next Actual destination
Stud}fag at
Otheo
univen^ity
Return to school 1 Returned to school 2% 23*
Seek traineeshi In traineeshipl 5,
< In
empl employment
21
[Source of data: Western Australian Department of Education and Training.]
Imagine you are a newspaper reporter asked to write a short article using some of
the information contained in these pie charts. Concentrate on just one or two
sectors, eg university study or TAFE study, and write the article with an
appropriate headline included.
(There were approximately 18 000 year 12 students in WA that year.)
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Four. 79

Given that the four sets of data that were used to create the histograms shown
below were also used to create the four boxplots shown match each histogram with
its corresponding boxplot.

Histogram A Histogram B

IU|IIII|IIII|HH|IHUIHI|—>
50 60 70 80 90 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Histogram C Histogram D
50d 50d
40
>, i
§ 30i
O" =,

.© 2 0 |
101

nnpiTTj impm] llll|llll|llll|Hll|llll|IHl|llll|llll|llll|

40 50 60 0 80 90 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Boxplot 1 Boxplot 2
C — [
|mi|imH»HHH|nminiHi»Hinnm|nn|imniii|inimii| |IHI|IIII|IIII|IIII|IIIIHIIHIIII|II1HIII1|IIIHIIII|IHHIIII|IIIH
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Boxplot 3 Boxplot 4
I i-C
|IIII|IIII|IIII|I»II|IIII|IIIHIIII|IIIHIIII|IIII|IIII|IIII|IIIHIIIH
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
80 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

6. Classifying an outlier as:

any score that is more than 1-5 x the interquartile range from either
quartile 1 or quartile 3, whichever is the nearer
which scores in the following distributions would be classified as outliers?
(a) A distribution with a lower quartile of 28 and upper quartile of 40.
(b) A distribution with a median of 35, which is 5 above the lower quartile and
13 below the upper quartile.
Frequency •
• •
• •• • •
• • • • ••• ••• • • • Score
11111111111111 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ! 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 J 1 111111111111111111111111111
1 11I111 J11 1 j
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
73 63 79 91 87 75 89 77 79 57
87 82 71 85 81 98 62 85 83 87
65 93 80 89 88 42 91 68 80 75
88 83 68 82 74 80 79 78 50 88
80 49 87 77 83 78 86 62 76 80

7. A test involved ten questions and was sat by 120 students. Copy and complete the
following table showing the marks obtained. (Each question was either correct, 1
mark, or incorrect, 0 marks.)
» Whilst you may not be familiar with the term cumulative frequency used in
the third row of the table, with thought you should be able to determine what
it means.
Mark 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Frequency 3 0 5 15 21 18
Cumulative frequency 3 3 8 15 28 42 113 120
(a) How many students scored a mark of 9?
(b) How many students scored a mark less than 10?
(c) What percentage of students scored a mark greater than 7 ?
(d) What fraction of students scored 3 or less?
(e) Display the data as a boxplot.
(f) Display the data as a frequency histogram.
(g) Describe the distribution.

8. Find, correct to two decimal places, the standard deviation of the five numbers:
(a-4), (a-2), (a + 1), (a + 3), (a+ 7).
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Five: The statistical investigation process. 81

Chapter Five.
The statistical
investigation process.
Suppose we were asked to investigate
if a particular species of animal is in decline,
if cutting a lawn makes it grow faster,
if sugary drinks cause hyperactiveness,
if social media networks are addictive
if man made pollution is causing global warming,
if females have a quicker reaction time that males,
if female year 8s are better at mental mathematics than male year 8s,
if year l i s are fitter than year 8s,
etc etc

We could implement the statistical investigation process, a process that can be

described by the following steps;
<D Clarify the problem and formulate one or more questions that can be
answered with data.
<D Design and implement a plan to collect and obtain appropriate data.
(D Select and apply appropriate graphical or numerical techniques to
analyse the data.
® Interpret the results of this analysis and relate the interpretation to
the original question and communicate findings in a systematic and
concise manner.
In this chapter you will be invited to carry out a statistical investigation that will
involve collecting and comparing data across two or more groups to investigate a
question.
For example. Consider the following question:
Are year elevens fitter than year eights?.
To investigate this question we would need to collect data about a group of year
elevens and about a group of year eights and compare the findings.
For example. Consider the following question:
Do females have quicker reaction times than males?.
To investigate this question we would need to collect data about a group of males and
about a group of females and compare the findings.
Both examples involved collecting data across two groups.
82 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Implementing the statistical investigation process.

Collect data to investigate one of the questions posed below (or negotiate with your
teacher to collect data that will involve collecting and comparing data across two or
more groups to investigate an alternative question of your own).
You need to think about what data you will collect,
how you will collect it,
how you will record it.
Present your findings as a report and include in your report:
№ the question you decided to investigate,
what data you collected, how you collected it and how you recorded it,
the collected data, tabulated and/or graphed as appropriate,
» your analysis of that data,
K& your conclusions.

^> Are year l i s the fittest year group in the school?

^> Do females have quicker reaction times to males?

15 + 17
13x5
23 + ? = 71
Are female year 8s better at mental arithmetic than male year 8s?
7x5 + 8
7x(5 + 8)

^> How does your Mathematics Applications class

compare with other Mathematics Applications
classes in recent tests

^> Do males have bigger heads than females?

Are left handers generally taller than right handers

J R
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Five. 83

Miscellaneous Exercise Five.

This miscellaneous exercise may include questions involving the work of this
chapter, the work of any previous chapters, and the ideas mentioned in the
preliminary work section at the beginning of the book.
1. The times taken to perform a particular task were recorded for 174 people and the
results, in seconds, are shown below:
20-41 30-13 60-34 19-72 81-31 27-14 54-14 70-08 68-73 17-24
51-34 20-32 26-83 84-72 25-12 41-13 24-23 53-24 31-62 67-81
26-14 57-24 29-81 70-02 76-24 55-82 58-21 24-55 24-62 44-14
60-82 26-08 63-54 20-80 10-73 40-21 27-23 64-18 75-64 53-80
29-24 48-24 85-34 57-89 38-13 24-32 39-23 75-00 35-88 23-14
74-18 80-79 11-23 33-15 77-34 68-81 28-14 24-21 16-81 31-54
79-31 38-72 88-23 70-73 69-14 78-85 69-86 70-13 76-88 75-21
18-74 70-54 33-65 38-94 37-24 29-53 48-87 30-82 23-22 45-61
76-31 38-24 56-18 66-84 60-98 62-41 15-71 49-00 64-92 31-70
38-16 48-94 47-32 18-31 39-41 28-32 77-41 39-91 34-73 67-34
74-23 60-93 85-23 74-89 34-13 75-32 61-24 75-87 74-98 23-91
33-24 29-11 36-40 65-11 20-81 51-24 13-75 43-24 29-18 35-24
47-41 71-34 89-10 71-23 76-71 28-71 71-92 67-14 58-90 53-71
79-58 42-09 61-82 85-67 65-01 75-93 61-34 58-32 31-23 47-24
21-32 77-23 88-24 14-63 76-91 42-90 34-89 23-62 53-28 72-81
57-31 18-13 65-23 76-52 48-21 73-24 78-51 23-51 42-64 15-23
42-71 79-22 42-83 36-02 62-13 22-04 30-24 51-89 31-24 64-99
77-14 29-72 21-41 81-25
The histogram for these results, using the intervals
10 < time < 30 30 < time < 50 50 < time < 70 70 < time < 90
is shown below.

40

I 30|

I 2(H

1(H
Time (sees)

10 2*0 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

This histogram suggests that the times are evenly, or uniformly, distributed from a
low of about 10 seconds to a high of about 90 seconds.
However is this "uniform distribution" really the case?
Draw the histogram for this data using the intervals
10 < time < 20 20 < time < 30 30 < time < 40 etc.,
and comment on your findings.
84 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Expand and simplify each of the following:

(a) 2(x+4) + 5(x+3) (b) 5(2X+3) + 2(3JC+1)
(c) 1 2 ( x + l ) - 5 ( x + 2 ) (d) 3 ( x - 4 ) - 2 ( x - l )
(e) 3 ( 2 x + 5 ) - l ( ^ - 3 ) (f) 2 ( 3 x + 2 ) - ( 5 x + 2 )

The box plot and the histogram for a

|IIII|IIII|IIII|IIII|IIH1IIII|IIII|IIII|IIII|IIII|IIII|IIII|IIII1IIII|
set of data are shown on the right. 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
For this set of data determine 2Sj
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

(e)
(f)
the lowest score,
the median,
the highest score,
the interquartile range,
and use your calculator to determine
an estimate for the mean,
an estimate for the standard
I 20z-

| l 5 *
IO}—

—I—'—I—'—I—'—I—'—I—'—I—"—r
20 30 40 50 60 70 80
deviation. Score

Concerned about the spread of a certain disease the health department launch a
long term campaign aimed at increasing the population^ awareness of the risks.
To monitor the success of the campaign amongst various sections of the community
all newly diagnosed sufferers are noted according to a number of characteristics.
The graphs below show the percentage of newly diagnosed sufferers in each
category, before the campaign started and 5 years into the campaign.

12 MONTH PERIOD 12 MONTH PERIODS

BEFORE CAMPAIGN. YEARS INTO CAMPAIGN.
Percentage of newly diagnosed Percentage of newly diagnosed
sufferers who are... sufferers who are...
%
62%
60-|

50
42%
40

30

ffiß
20 15%

10 7%

n 1%

Male X% Smoker Heavy

disease
Ma.e jfeSS Smoker B£S
disease

(a) The percentages for each graph add up to more than 100%! Explain.
(b) Would it be correct to say that the graphs indicate that the number of newly
diagnosed sufferers who are male has decreased but the number who are
under 30 has increased? Justify your answer.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Six: Solving equations. 85

Chapter Six.

Solving equations.
The Preliminary Work section at the beginning of this book reminded us of work
encountered previously involving
using a formula to determine the value of a variable, or pronumeral, that
appears in the formula by itself and on one side of the equals sign, given the
values of the variables, or pronumerals appearing on the other side.

In the examples given there we used A = P + / to determine A, given P and /,

C = 2irr to determine C knowing TT and given r,

2
s = ut + ^ at to determine s, given u, a and t.

Suppose instead, in this last formula, we were asked to determine u given s, t and a.

Substituting the given values into the formula gives us a statement of equality, called an
equation, which will have to be solved to determine the unknown quantity.

1 o

For example, if s = 63, t= 3 and a = 10, s = ut + ^ a r becomes

2
63 = u(3)+! (10)(3)

i.e. 63 = 3u + 45
Solving this equation means finding the value of u for which 3w + 45 does equal 63.
What is the required value of u for which
3w + 45 = 63 ?

Note: The word variable was used in chapter one when considering data. In that
case there were various responses that could be given to a question like "What
is your favourite colour?" Hence the use of the word variable there.
In the formula A = P +1, A can take various values, dependent upon the values
of P and /. Hence the use of the word variable in this situation. Given specific
values of P and /, the particular value of A can be determined.
86 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Solving equations.
To solve 3u + 45 = 63 did you proceed mentally,
or did you perhaps use the ability of some calculators to solve equations
or did you carry out a step by step process to isolate u ?
These three approaches are shown below and in the examples that follow.

Solving 3u + 45 = 63 mentally:
We know that eighteen plus forty five equals 63.
Thus 3u = 18.
But three multiplied by six is eighteen.
Hence u = 6.

Or, solve(63=3-u+45, u)
Using the solve facility on a calculator. {u=6}

Or..
• Using a step by step process of doing something to both sides of the equation in
order to isolate the unknown whilst retaining the correctness of the equality
statement.
Starting with the given equation: 63 = 3u + 45
We subtract 45 from each side to isolate 3w: 18 = 3u
We divide each side by 3 to isolate u: 6 = u
Thus u = 6

Example 1
Solve the following equations
(b) 5 x - 7 = 23, (c) 1 5 - 2 * =4,
(a) x + 9 = 21,

(a) # + 9 = 21
Mentally:
We know that twelve add nine equals twenty one. Thus #=12.

solve(x+9=21, x)
Using the solve facility: {x=12}
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Six: Solving equations. 87

Step by step approach to isolate x:

We are given the equation: x+9 = 21
We subtract 9 from each side to isolate x: x = 21-9
= 12
Thus x = 12

5x- 7 = 23
Mentally:
We know that tfa'rty take seven equals twenty three.
Thus 5x=30.
But five times six equals 30 and so x = 6.
solve(5x-7=23, x)
Using the solve facility:
{x=6}

Step by step approach to isolate x:

We are given the equation: 5 x - 7 = 23
We add 7 to both sides to isolate Sx: 5x = 2 3 + 7
= 30
Now we divide both sides by 5 to isolate x: x = 30 + 5
= 6
Thus x = 6

15-2* = 4
Mentally:
We know that fifteen take e/even equals four.
Thus 2x =11 and so x = 5-5. ^
Using the solve facility: solve(15-2x=4, x)
{#=5.5}

We are given the equation: 15 - 2x = 4

We add 2x to both sides to make the x term positive: 15 = 4 + 2*
We subtract 4 from both sides to isolate 2x: 15-4 = 2x
11 = 2x
Now we divide both sides by 2 to isolate x: 5-5 = X
x = 5-5
88 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Equations with brackets or fractions.

Some equations may involve brackets. For example 3(2x + 1) - 5 40.
2x+ 3
Some equations may involve fractions. For example 4.

Example 2
Solve the following equations (a) 3 ( x - l ) = 21,
(b) 3(2x+l)-5 = 40,
r , 2*+3
(c) —p— = 4.

(a) 3 ( x - l ) = 21

Mentally:
We know that three times seven equals twenty one.
Thus x - 1 = 7.
But eight take one equals 7 and so x = 8.

Using the solve facility: solve(3(x-l)=21,x)

{x=8}

Step by step approach to isolate x\

We are given the equation: 3(x-l) 21
Expand to remove bracket: 3x- 3 21
Add 3 to both sides to isolate 3x: 3x 24
Now divide both sides by 3 to isolate x: x = 8

(b) 3 ( 2 x + l J - 5 = 40

Mentally:
We know that three fifteens take away five is equal to 40.
Thus 2 x + l = 15.
But fourteen add one is equal to fifteen.
Hence 2x = 14 and so x = 7.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Six: Solving equations. 89

solve(3(2x+l)-5=40,x)
Using the solve facility: {x=7}

Step by step approach to isolate x:

We are given the equation: 3(2x+l)-5 40
Expand to remove bracket: 6x + 3 - 5 40
Hence 6x- 2 40
Add 2 to both sides to isolate 6x: 6x 42
Now divide both sides by 6 to isolate x: x = 7

2x+3
= 4
~5~

Mentally:
We know that twenty divided by five is equal to four.
Thus 2x + 3 must equal 20.
But seventeen plus three is equal to twenty.
Hence 2x = 17 and so x = 8*5.

Using the solve facility:

Step by step approach to isolate x\

2x+3
We are given the equation: = 4
5
Multiply both sides by 5 to remove fractions: 2x+ 3 20
Subtract 3 from both sides to isolate 2x\ 2x 17
Now we divide both sides by 2 to isolate x\ x 8-5
90 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

If the equations are more involved the mental approach can be too difficult but we can
still use either • the solve facility on a graphic calculator,
or • the step by step process to isolate the unknown,
as shown below.

Example 3
Solve the following equations: (a) 2 ( x + 3 ) - 3 ( 2 x + l ) = -5
X 3 2X
(b) ; 10 +
21

(a) Using the solve facility: solve(2(x+3)-3(2x+l)=-5, x)

{#=2}

Step by step approach to isolate xi

We are given the equation: 2 (x + 3 ) - 3 ( 2 x + l ) = -5
Expand to remove brackets: 2x + 6 - 6x - 3 = -5
Collect like terms: -4x+ 3 = -5
We add 4x to both sides to make the x term positive: 3 = -5 + 4x
Add 5 to both sides to isolate 4x: 8 = 4x
Now we divide both sides by 4 to isolate x: 2 = X
x = 2

(b) Using the solve facility:

{x=63}

Step by step approach to isolate x\ V»

x _3_ 2X_
We are given the equation:
7 10 21
3 2x
Multiply both sides by 210 to remove fractions: 210 x - 210 x — + 2 1 0 x —
7 10 21

i.e.: 30x 63 + 20x

Subtract 2 Ox from each side: lOx 63
Now we divide both sides by 10 to isolate x: x = 6-3
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Six: Solving equations. 91

Example 4
A firm manufacturing a particular motorbike determines that the profit, $P, made from
the production and sale of x of these bikes is given by
P = 5400x - 238000
Calculate the number of these bikes the firm must produce and sell to make a profit that
exceeds one million dollars.

Either Equation:
P=5400-x-238000
Use the ability of some calculators to oP=1000000
determine the value of x when P = 1000 000 ®x=229.259259259259
in the given formula. Lower=-9E+999
Upper=9E+999

Or
Substitute P = 1000 000 into the given formula and use the step by step approach to
determine Xf as shown below.
We are given the formula: P = 5400* - 238000
Substitute P = 1000 000: 1000 000 = 5400* - 238 000
Add 238 000 to both sides to isolate 5 400x: 1238000 = 5400*
x * 229-3
However the situation requires x to take positive integer values and so:
The firm must produce and sell at least 230 of these bikes to make a profit that exceeds
one million dollars.

Example 5

Formula: Find t given that s = 35, u = 10 and v = 4.

By calculator. Substitute and then isolate t.

Equation: \

o s=35
o u=10
o v=4 35 = It
• t=5
Lower=-9E+999 t = 5
Upper=9E+999
<
92 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Example 6
2
Formula: S = 2nr + 2nrh
Find h given that 5 = 545 and r = 5 giving your answer correct to 1 decimal place.

Equation:
Either 2
S=2-Ti-r +2'TT-r-h
Determine the value of h for the given values of
5 and r using the ability of some calculators to o S=545
determine unknown values in a formula given o r=5

sufficient information. • h=12.3478887970166

Lower=-9E+999
Upper=9E+999
Or
Substitute S = 545 and r = 5 into the given formula and use the step by step approach to
determine h, as shown below.
2
We are given the formula: S = 2irr + 2nrh
Substitute S =545 and r = 5: 545 = 2TT(5) + 2n{S)h
2

/. 545 = 50Tt + 10ir/2

Subtract 50it from both sides to isolate IOTT/I: 545-50IT = lOuft
545 - 50tt
Now we divide both sides by IOTT to isolate h: = n
h = 12-3 (to one d.p.)
Thus when S = 545 and r = 5, h = 12-3 (to one d.p.).

Linear equations.
The six equations shown below are all examples of linear equations in one variable.
2x+17 = 5 5 p - 7 = 32 15-3z=6
w 2n+3
— =5 2(3qr-5] + l = 15 —— = 4
2 5
Each equation, after expansion of any brackets and separation of fractions, only involves
terms that are either just a number, or the variable multiplied or divided by a number.
2 3
Linear equations do not involve the variable squared (x ), cubed (x ), square rooted
a s a X
(Vx), in the denominator of a fraction ( ^ ~ ^ > power (2 ) etc.

Each of the above equations can, with a bit of work, be written in the form ax + b = 0, the
basic form of a linear equation in one variable:
2x+12 = 0 5p-39 = 0 -3z + 9 = 0
w-10 = 0 6q-24 = 0 2n-17 = 0

(As we will see later in this text, and as you may already be familiar with, equations of
the form y = ax + b give straight line, or linear, graphs.)
The emphasis in this text will be on solving linear equations.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Six: Solving equations. 93

Exercise 6A
(Use this exercise to practise the various methods shown in the previous pages.)
1. Solve the following equations.
(a) x+ 5 = 11 (b) S-x=31 (C) * + 3 = 31
(d) 3 x + 7 = 25 (e) is-2x=e (Q 3x - 7 = 2
(g) 2(x+3) = 14 (h) 3(x-l) = 21 CO 5fx+2) = 15
Ü) 2 ( x - 5 ) = 16 (k) 3(l + x ) = 18 0) 5(2*-1) = 9
X X 3x „
(m) 3 = 5
(n) 2 1 (o)
2 = 10 =
' 1 5

Sx X 3x- 5
(P) y = 1 (q) J =12
W 2 = 8

(s) 3{x+ 2) + 5(2x- 1) = 27 (I:) 7(2* + 3) - 3(2* + 1) = 10

X X 6 AX 3 J
(u) - + 5 = 11 (v) —= — (w) — + — = — -
2 7 21 3 4 (
X 2X-1 3x + 1 5x-l
(x) - - =2 (y) = 24
5 4
2 5

2. i4 = P + /
(a) Find P given that A = 676 and / = 26.
(b) Find A given that P = 1250 and / = 85.
(c) Find / given that P = 1185 and A = 1240.

v = u + at
(a) Find v given that i/ = 14, a = 2 and t = 3.
(b) Find u given that v = 30, a = 3 and t = 4.
(c) Find a given that v=30, u = 16 and t = 7.
(d) Find a given that v = 8, u - 20 and t = 4.
(e) Find t given that v = 23, u = 5 and a - 6.
(f) Find t given that v = 12, u = -10 and a = 2.

(a) Find r given that C = 25. (Answer correct to two decimal places.)
(b) Find r given that C = 95. (Answer correct to two decimal places.)
(c) Find C given that r = 8. (Answer correct to two decimal places.)
(d) Find r given that C = 128it.

A = 2nrh
(a) Find A given that r = 1 and /i = 4. (Answer correct to 2 d.p.)
(b) Find r given that A = 125 and h = 7. (Answer correct to 2 d.p.)
(c) Find /2 given that 4 = 200 and r = 6. (Answer correct to 2 d.p.)
94 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

1
2
(a) Find t given that s = 56, i/= 3 and v = 5.
(b) Find u given that s = 92, v = 14 and t = 8.
(c) Find v given that s = 22-5, u = -6 and t = 5.

7. If three resistors, R v R and / ? are placed in an

2 3

electrical circuit as shown in the diagram they

are said to be in series. The total resistance, R, is
then given by: -A/Wl—MA/H
R — R^ + /?2 R<£ *1
(a) Find /? if / ? = 2,
x R = S,
2 /? = 4.
3

(b) Find R if i? = 10, R = 15, J? = 20.

x 2 3

(c) Find ^ if /? = 32, fl 2 = 8, /? = 14.

3

(d) Find i? if R = 80,

3 /? = 25, /? = 28.
x 2

8. 2
S = 2-FTr + 27tr/2
(a) Find /2 given S = 250 and r = 4. (Answer correct to two decimal places.)
(b) Find ft given 5 = 1000 and r = 4. (Answer correct to two decimal places.)

A certain mass of gas is held under pressure at a constant temperature, V, the

volume of the gas, is related to the pressure according to the rule:
K x P = 150.
Find (a) FgiventhatP = 6, (b) P given that V= 15,
(c) Kgiven that P = 7-5, (d) P given that V- 60.

10. When a fork lift truck lifts an object of

mass m kg through a height h metres it
gives the object potential energy equal to P
Joules where P = 9-8 mh.
(a) Find P when m = 50 and h = 1-5.
(b) Find P when m = 400 and h = 2. /? metres
(c) Find m when P = 2 940 and h = 2.
(d) Find h when P = 13 230 and m = 600.

11. A car rental firm charges $C for renting a particular vehicle where C depends on d,
the number of days hired, and k, the number of kilometres travelled. C is
calculated according to the rule: C = 30 + 70d + 0-1/c.
(a) Find the cost of renting the vehicle for 7 days and travelling 500 km.
(b) Find the cost of renting the vehicle for 3 days and travelling 1200 km.
(c) A person wishes to rent the vehicle for six days but does not want the hire
costs to exceed $700. How far could the person travel in the car in the six
days?
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Six: Solving equations. 95

12. When an agent of a particular real estate company sells a house for A thousand
dollars the commission the agent receives is $P where
P=600 + 44
(a) Find the amount the agent receives in commission for the sale of each of the
following houses:

$625 000 $700 000 $375 000

(b) An agent sells a house and receives a commission of $2380. How much was
the house sold for?
(c) An agent sells a house and receives a commission of $4000. How much was
the house sold for?

13. If, in an archaeological dig, human bones are found, or if in a macabre murder case
parts of a body are discovered, these bones can be used to estimate the height the
person was when alive. In particular the bone in the upper arm from elbow to
shoulder, called the humerus, is a good indicator of height.
If the humerus is of length h cm then a reasonable estimate for the height of a male
with this length humerus is: (2-9/2 + 71) cm,
and a reasonable estimate for the height of a female with this length humerus is:
(2-75/1 + 71) cm.
(a) In an archaeological dig the remains of a male are uncovered and the
humerus is found to be 34 cm long. Estimate the height of the male.
(b) What would be the expected humerus length of a 1-81 metre tall female?

14. A company has five thousand calendars printed. If it sells x of these calendars,
where x is from a low of zero to a high of 5000, the profit produced will be $P
where P is given by: P = 12-7x - 29 750
(a) What will be the profit if the firm sells 2 500 of the calendars?
(b) What will be the profit if the firm sells 3 500 of the calendars?
(c) What will be the profit if the firm sells all but 800 of the calendars?
(d) What is the least number of the calendars the firm needs to sell to make a
profit that exceeds $9 000?
(e) If the firm are left with 3200 of the calendars unsold determine whether they
have made a profit or a loss and state how much?
(f) What is the greatest profit the firm can make from this venture?
(g) If the firm sold none of the calendars how much would they lose?
(h) What is the least number of calendars the firm must sell to avoid making a
loss?
96 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Miscellaneous Exercise Six.

This miscellaneous exercise may include questions involving the work of this
chapter, the work of any previous chapters, and the ideas mentioned in the
preliminary work section at the beginning of the book.

Solve the following equations.

(a) 3 x - l = 20 (b) Sx + 6 = 24 - Ax
(c) 3x+7 = 21-x 6 ( 2 x + l ) - 5 = 31
x—2 2 x _ 5
(e) ^ - - 3 =1 CO 9 " 3

2
Formula: i4 = 4bh + ò
(a) Find A given that b = 3, h = 5. (b) Find h given that A = 119,6 = 7.

The following nine scores are listed in ascending order, from left to right.
a + 2, a + 3, b, c - 1, c - 1, c + 1, d, e - 1, a + e.
The box and whisker diagram for these nine scores is as follows:

I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — \ — I — I — I — i — I — I — I
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Determine a, b, c, d and e.

To pass a particular course a student needs to gain a mean of at least 60% in the six
tests that form the course assessment. In the first five tests the student achieves
marks of 65%, 58%, 71%, 60% and 59%. What percentage mark does the student
require in test six in order to pass the course?

60
The box plots on the right are for four sets of
50
data, A, B, C and D. Which of the data sets...
(a) seems to involve the greatest variability? c40H
(b) has the smallest interquartile range? <L>
830
(c) has the smallest range?
(d) contains the lowest of all the scores? 20
(e) couldthefollowingapplyto: 10
More than half of the scores in set _ exceed Set A SetB Set C Set D
all of the scores in set .
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Six 97

6. The marks obtained by 47 students in an examination marked out of 140 are shown
below:
25 32 50 54 59 66 67 69 71 73 75 75
76 76 78 80 81 82 83 83 84 85 88 88
89 89 89 89 90 92 94 95 96 99 100 104
L06 108 109 109 111 111 113 114 115 115 117
With the mean of these marks being x and the standard deviation a, grades are
awarded to these 47 students as follows
exam mark > X + 1-250 Grade A
x + 0-5a < exam mark < X + l-25o Grade B
x - 0-5a < exam mark < X + 0-5a Grade C
x - 2a < exam mark < X -0-5a Grade D
exam mark < X -2a Fail grade
Determine the number of students obtaining each grade.

7. A real estate agent in a particular region wants to publish the average price of
houses sold in the town each month. Past figures indicate that each month
somewhere between 10 and 50 houses are sold each month. Most houses in the
area are of a similar nature except for a small number of beachside luxury
properties. These do not come up for sale very often but when they do they are
priced very much above most others in the region.
Which average, mean, median or mode, would you advise the agent to use for the
average monthly price and why?

8. The salaries of the 187 full time employees of a large manufacturing company were
distributed as follows:
Category Salary $S Number of Employees.
A 40000 <S< 50000 23
B 50000 <S< 60000 64
C 60000 <S< 70000 43
D 70 000 <S< 80000 25
E 80000 <S< 90000 14
F 90000 <S< 100 000 9
G 100000 <S< 110000 5
H 110000 <S< 120000 3
I 120000 <S< 130000 1
(a) Calculate the mean and standard deviation of this distribution.
(b) With increased automation in the manufacturing processes the company no
longer requires such a large workforce. Through voluntary redundancy and
non-replacement of retirees the company reduced its workforce to 173 by
losing 5 employees from category A, 4 from category B, 3 from category C and
2 from category F. Calculate the mean and standard deviation of the salaries
of this workforce of 173.
98 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

9. One hundred and twenty seven people applied for a particular job vacancy and the
company involved decided to invite what they considered to be the best 50
applicants to take an aptitude test. On test day 47 of the invited 50 turned up and
the marks obtained (out of 75) were as shown in the following diagram:
Frequency
, , j. , R , , : r
,w
:,
! ! ! ! ! ! !
" y "
\ "
i \ \ I \ \ -•• - - -f - -
; ; — ' r # '
r ' r 9 . . . '_ _ _
r # • • • ' r — - • - • • -
Mark
1 1 1 I 1 1 1 I M !!1 1 i l I T T I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 I l 1 T i i" 1111111- 1 1 M ITT1
1 II III1 1 1 I 1

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
The company decides to invite for interview any of the applicants who achieved a
mark in the test that is more than 1 standard deviation above the mean. How many
of the applicants do they invite for interview?

10. Describe each of the following distributions.

(a) t Frequency
(b) 70
60
Frequency 63
54 52
5H 50
4 40
3 30
21
2 20
H • • • 10 8
i—i—i—i—i—i—r • I 1 =r-
5 10 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Marks in test Time to solve puzzle (seconds)

11. The graphs below show the age distribution of the human population of two
countries, A and B.
C
c
I 30-d
C%)
Country A 130- Country B
a.
O

I 20^ f
o

o
20^

CD
bJD
110-3
CD
U
BCD 10^
U
CD 5-,
CU CD

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Age in years Age in years

Ca) Which of the two countries has the greater population?

If country A has a total population of approximately eighty two million people
approximately how many of these are 70 or over?
Ce) Produce a report describing the population distributions of each country,
commenting on any similarities and differences between the distributions of the
two countries and comment on possible implications for future government policy
given these population distributions.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Seven: Using equations to solve problems. 99

Chapter Seven.
Using equations to solve problems.
Pyramids
The pyramid pattern shown on the right is to be
completed by adding the 2 and the 5 and putting 2+5 5+7
the answer in the box indicated by the arrows,
adding the 5 and the 7 and putting the answer in
the box indicated by the arrows etc.

The completed pyramid is shown on the right. 2 5 7 1

7 12 8

19 20

39

The pyramids shown below all follow this style. Copy and complete each pyramid.

1 1 3. 1 7 5

13

2 7 12

16

21 27

6. 7

12

23

50
100 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Pyramids 1 to 7 should not have caused you too much trouble but now try numbers 8 to
14 below. They are not so easy and may involve fractions.

8. 3 5 12 9. 11 12 15

57 83

10. 9 16 11 11. 3 4 5

83 24

same number contained

12. in each of these boxes.

13.
34

106
14. 3 4 2

\
same number contained
in each of these boxes.

76
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Seven: Using equations to solve problems. 101

How did you get on with the pyramids on the previous pages? Did you develop any
techniques for finding the missing numbers in pyramids 8 to 14?
When asked to complete a pyramid
like the one on the right a common 7 4 1 3
initial reaction is "we don't have
enough information". In fact, as you
probably found out from the similar
questions on the previous page, there
is enough information but the empty
box in the first line can make it seem
that we cannot "get started".
To overcome this "getting started" 55
difficulty we could use trial and
adjustment. For example we could try some number, say 2, in the empty box in the first
row and complete the pyramid using this number. If the last box is then less than 55 our
initial guess needs to be increased. If the last box is greater than 55 then our initial
guess needs to be decreased. Thus we "get started" by trying a number and then, based
on information this number produces, we adjust and improve our initial trial. Hence the
name trial and adjustment.
Alternatively we could overcome the "I can't get started" problem by using a symbol, for
example a letter, to represent the unknown number in the top row of the pyramid.

7 4 1 X 3
Following through the pyramid
using this symbol, say x, we
11 5 1+x x+3
obtain the entry for the last box
in terms of x.
16 6+x 4+2*

Thus, for this pyramid , the last 22+x 10+3x

box, 32 + Ax, must equal 55.
32+4*
Thus 32 + Ax = 55
Solving this equation by one of the methods of the previous chapter, i.e. mentally, using
the solve facility on a calculator or using a step by step process to isolate x gives the
solution to this equation as
7 4 1 5-75 3
x = 5-75
The pyramid can then be completed: 11 5 6-75 8-75

16 11-75 15-5

27-75 27-25

55
102 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

This technique of introducing a symbol, frequently x, is a useful mathematical technique

for solving questions in which we seem to have sufficient information but we can't seem
to "get started".

Exercise 7A
Find the value of x in each of the following pyramids.

1. 5 4 X 9 2. 7 X 5 4

59 62

3. 3 5 X 4 4 _ 7 X 1 3

28-9 18

7 X 5 3 4

89

5 X 7 1 4

66
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Seven: Using equations to solve problems. 103

7. The "hexapatterns" shown below all

follow the pattern shown on the right
The symbols • and * all represent
numbers.
(a) What number does # represent?
(b) What number does • represent?
(c) What number does * represent?
(d) What instruction should go in

(e) What instruction should go in place of "??" ?

(f) Copy and complete the "hexapatterns" E to L shown below.

Number puzzles.
So far in this chapter we have seen an x introduced to enable us to "get started" on
certain problems. Once started we then obtained an equation which allowed x to be
determined. This technique of introducing an x in order to get started can be used to
solve other types of puzzles and problems.
104 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Example 1
I think of a number, multiply it by three, add seven to the answer and then add the
number I first thought of. If my answer is 51 what number did I think of?
Question We need to multiply the number by three and then add seven etc. but how
can we get started if we do not know what the number is?
Answer To allow us to get started let x be the number first thought of.
Let x be the number first thought of x
Multiply by 3 3x
Add seven to the answer 3x+7
Add the number first thought of 3x+ 7+x
The result is 51 3 x + 7 + x = 51
Collect like terms 4 x + 7 = 51
Solving: Step by step. OR By Calculator.

4x+ 7 51 solve(4x+7=51, x)
Ax 51-7 {#=11}
Ax 44
x 11

The number I first thought of was 11.

Note • In the last example we did not leave the answer as x = 11. The initial problem
asked us to find the number thought of and had no mention of x which we
introduced to help solve the question. Our final sentence should clearly
answer this question and not simply say "x = 11" unless of course the question
itself had introduced, and asked us to find, x.
Example 2
I think of a number, subtract it from twelve, multiply the result by five, add the number I
first thought of and end up with 24. Find the number first thought of.
Let x be the number first thought of x
Subtract it from 12 12-x
Multiply by 5 5(12-x)
Add the number first thought of 5(12 -x) + x
The result is 24 5(12 - x ) + x = 24
Solving:
5(12-x) + x = 24 solve(5(12-x)+x=24, x)
6 0 - 5 x + x = 24 {x=9}
60 -Ax = 24
60 = 24 + 4x
36 = Ax
x = 9
The number I first thought of was 9.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Seven: Using equations to solve problems. 105

Note • Trial and adjustment is a perfectly acceptable alternative method for solving
this type of question.
For example 2:
Try3: Subtract3 from 12 9
Multiply by 5 45
Add number first thought of 48
Thus 3 was not correct as we want to end up with 24.
Try 5: Subtract 5 from 12 7
Multiply by 5 35
Add number first thought of 40
Thus 5 was not correct but was better that 3.
Continuing in this way will eventually give us the correct answer of 9. Trial
and adjustment is a very useful technique but it can be a lengthy process,
particularly if the answer is not an integer. In the examples that follow the
calculator approach or the step by step method will tend to be shown.
Example 3
I think of a number, add five, multiply the result by four, and end up with an answer that
is 29 more than the number I first thought. Find the number first thought of.

Let x be the number first thought of. Check carefully that you
Thus 4 0 + 5 ) = x+29 understand how this equation
has been arrived at.
Solving:
solve(4(x+5)=x+29, x)
{x=3}

The number I first thought of was 3.

Example 4
I think of a number, add fifteen, divide the result by two, and end up with four more than
the number I first thought. Find the number first thought of.
Let x be the number first thought of. Check carefully that you
x + 15 understand how this equation
Thus = x+4
has been arrived at.
Solving:
Multiply by two x + 15 = 2x + 8
Subtract x 15 = x + 8
Subtract 8 7 = x
x = 7
The number I first thought of was 7.
106 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Exercise 7 B
1. If x represents "the number" write each of the following statements in terms of x.
Example: Three times the number then add one. Answer: 3x + 1
(a) Multiply the number by five then add six.
(b) Take the number away from fourteen.
(c) Add six to the number and then multiply by five.
(d) Double the number then take away seven.
(e) Take seven from the number and then double your answer.
(f) Double the number, add five and then multiply your answer by three.

2. If x is used to represent "the number I think of" in each of

the statements A to H below, select the equation from the
box on the right that matches each statement and then
solve the equation.
A: I think of a number, double it and add one and my
answer is 10.
B: If I take one from the number I think of and double
the result my answer is ten.
C: I think of a number and subtract it from ten and my
answer is one.
D: I think of a number, add one and then double the
result and my answer is ten.
E: I think of a number, divide it by two and then
subtract one and end up with 10.
F: I think of a number, take ten away and my answer is
one.
G: I think of a number, subtract one and then divide by
two and my answer is ten.
H: Twice the number I thought of exceeds ten by one.

3. I think of a number, multiply by three, subtract eleven from the answer and then
add the number I first thought of. If my answer is 25 what was the number first
thought of?

4. I think of a number, add seven, multiply the result by two and end up with an
answer that is 17 more than the number I first thought of. Find the number first
thought of.

5. I think of a number, double it, add seven and end up with an answer that is 17 more
than the number I first thought of. Find the number first thought of.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Seven: Using equations to solve problems. 107

6. I think of a number, subtract four, multiply the result by three and end up with an
answer that is two less than the number I first thought of. Find the number first
thought of.

7. I think of a number, subtract five, divide the answer by two and end up with seven
less than the number I first thought of. Find the number first thought of.

8. I think of a number, add two, multiply the answer by three and then subtract
eleven. This gives an answer equal to twice the number first thought of. Find the
number first thought of.

9. I think of a number, double it, add three, multiply the result by two, take away the
number I first thought of and end up with twenty seven. Find the number first
thought of.

10. I think of a number, multiply it by three and then subtract one. If one quarter of
this answer is added to the number I first thought of the answer is 22-5. Find the
number I first thought of.

11. I think of a number, subtract it from fourteen, multiply the result by three and find
that my answer exceeds the number I first thought of by four. Find the number I
first thought of.

12. I think of a number, double it and add three. I find that if I take twenty one from
my answer I end up with half of the number I first thought of. Find the number I
first thought of.

Solving problems.
All of the questions of the previous exercise were of the "think of a number" style. They
could all be solved by introducing an x to represent the number. This allowed us to "get
started", form an equation and determine x. The following examples show this same
technique used to solve a variety of problems.

Example 5
Jackie has saved $28 more than John. Between them they have saved $154. How much
has each person saved?

Let the amount John has saved be $x

The amount Jackie has saved will then be $(x + 28)
Between them they have saved $154. Thus x + (x + 28) = 154
i.e. 2x+28 = 154
This equation can be solved to give x = 63
John has saved $63 and Jackie has saved $91.
108 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Note: It is not the intention here to claim that the introduction of x is the only way to
solve the problem. As has been mentioned before, "trial and adjustment" can be
used. Alternatively the answer can be "reasoned through". For example, the
previous question could be solved as follows:
If we take Jackie's extra $28 from the $154 then the answer, $126, is their total
if they both had John's amount. Thus John's amount must be $126 + 2 = $63.
Hence Jackie must have saved $63 + $28 = $91.
The arithmetic involved, i.e. taking 28 from 154 and then dividing by two, is the
same as we would do to solve the equation 2x + 28 = 154 by the step by step
process, but the answer was "reasoned through" rather than obtaining and
solving an equation in x. If you choose this "reasoning" method be sure to
explain what you are doing so that others can follow your reasoning.
Example 6
Rosalyn is 8 years older than Jennifer. In six years' time their ages will be such that
Rosalyn will be twice as old as Jennifer. How old is Jennifer now?
Let Jennifer's age now be x years
Thus Rosalyn's age now is (x + 8) years
In 6 years' time Jennifer will be (x + 6) years
In 6 years' time Rosalyn will be (x + 8) + 6 years
Thus (x+8) + 6 = 2(x+6)
This equation can be solved to give x = 2
Jennifer is 2 years old now.
Note: Alternatively "trial and adjustment" can be used or the answer can be "reasoned
through" as follows:
If Rosalyn is 8 years older than Jennifer now, she will always be 8 years older.
Thus, in 6 years' time, when Rosalyn is twice as old as Jennifer, the difference in
their ages will be both 8 years and one lot of Jennifer's age. Thus in 6 years'
time Jennifer will be 8 and Rosalyn will be 16. Thus Jennifer is 2 years old now.
Example 7
An amateur drama group hire a theatre for their production. They expect to sell all of
the 1200 tickets, some at $10 and the rest at $7. The group require the ticket sales to
cover their $4150 production costs, to allow a donation of $4000 to be made to charity
and to provide a profit of $1000 to aid future productions. If they are to exactly achieve
this target and their expectations regarding ticket sales are correct how many of the
total 1200 tickets should they charge $10 for and how many should they charge $7 for?
Let the number of $7 tickets be x
These will give an income of 7x dollars
The number of $10 tickets will then be (1200 - x )
These will give an income of 10(1200 - x ) dollars
Thus 7x+ 10(1200-x) = 4150 + 4000 + 1000
which can be simplified to 12 0 0 0 - 3 x = 9150
Solving gives x = 950
The group should sell 950 tickets at $7 each and 250 tickets at $10 each.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Seven: Using equations to solve problems. 109

Exercise 7C
1. Tony and Bob each put some money towards the purchase of a new car they need
for their business. Tony puts in $5 500 more than Bob. Together they put in a total
of $18 500. How much does each contribute?

2. Three people, Sue, Lyn and Paul run a part time business. At the end of their first
year they decide that the profits should be shared out such that Lyn gets one and a
half times as much as Sue, and Paul gets $5 000 more than Sue. If the profits for the
year are $47 000 how much should each receive?

3. Bill is 29 years older than his daughter Rebecca. In fifteen years' time their ages
will be such that Bill will be twice as old as Rebecca. How old is Bill now?

4. A manufacturer sells a particular product for $40 per unit. The manufacturer's
costs for producing the units consist of a fixed $5 000 plus a cost of $22 per unit. If
the manufacturer produces and sells x units find,
(a) an expression in terms of x for the cost to the manufacturer for producing
these x items,
(b) the value of x for the manufacturer to at least "break even". (Assume that x
must take integer values.)

5. A firm manufactures two types of chair, the deluxe and the standard. In one week
the firm manufactures a total of 120 of these chairs, x of the standard and (120 - x)
of the deluxe. Each standard chair requires 3 hours of work and each deluxe
requires 4 hours of work.
(a) Find an expression in terms of x for the number of hours required to make the
x standard chairs.
(b) Find an expression in terms of x for the number of hours required to make the
(120 - x) deluxe chairs.
(c) If the 120 chairs required 405 hours of work altogether find how many of each
type of chair were made.

6. A farmer wishes to fence off a rectangular area with the length 10 metres longer
than the width. If the farmer has 360 metres of fencing available for this task what
should be (a) the width of the rectangle,
(b) the length of the rectangle,
(c) the area of the rectangle.

7. If Heidi's current age in years is multiplied by five and two is subtracted from the
answer the result is equal to her Dad's age in years. If Heidi is currently x years old
find an expression for her Dad's age.
In 8 years' time the ages will be such that Heidi's Dad will be three times as old as
Heidi. How old is Heidi now?
110 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

8. An amateur drama group hire a theatre for their production. They expect to sell all
850 tickets, some at $12 and the rest at $8. The group require the ticket sales to
cover their $3760 production costs and to make a profit of $4000. If they are to
exactly achieve this target and their expectations regarding ticket sales are correct
how many of the 850 tickets should they charge $12 for and how many should they
charge $8 for?

9. A farmer has a certain number of acres that she wishes to use to grow wheat, barley
and lupins.
Whatever acreage she decides to use for the lupins she likes to have 2 000 acres
more than this for barley.
She also likes to use twice as many acres for wheat as she does for barley.
If she uses x acres for lupins find (a) an expression in terms of x for the number
of acres she uses for barley,
(b) an expression in terms of x for the number
of acres she uses for wheat,
(c) If she decides to use a total of 18 000 acres for the three products determine
how many acres she uses for each.

10. A firm making fertiliser produces a new fertiliser QuickGrow. Each 50 kg bag of
QuickGrow contains x kg of compound X and (50 - x) kg of compound Y. Each
kilogram of X contains 150 g of a particular element and each kilogram of Y
contains 80 g of this element. The company wants each 50 kg of Quickgrow to
contain 6-24 kg of this element. Find
(a) an expression in terms of x for the amount of the particular element
contained in x kg of compound X and state the units,
(b) an expression in terms of x for the amount of the particular element
contained in (50 - x) kg of compound Kand state the units.
(c) How much of each compound, X and Y, should each 50 kg of Quickgrow
contain to give the desired total amount of the particular element?

11. A book shop owner orders some hard-back and some soft-back versions of a book.
The hard-back version costs the shop owner $20 each and the soft-back $12 each.
The total order was for 300 books.
When the order arrives there were only 200 books! The shopkeeper wishes to
query the order but cannot find his copy of the original order. However his records
do tell him that it was going to cost him $5 080. How many of each type of the book
was his original order for?

12. An investor has $5 000 to invest and decides to invest some of it with company A
and the rest with company B. After one year each $1 invested with company A has
grown to $1-20, each dollar invested with company B has grown to $1-05 and the
$5 000 has grown to $5 670. How much of the original $5 000 was invested with
each company?
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Seven: Using equations to solve problems. Ill

Equations from simple interest formula.

In Unit One of this Mathematics course you would have determined the Simple Interest,
$1, earned when $P is invested for T years in an account paying R% per annum simple
interest.
PRT
The formula used in this situation is: I = ——
100
If instead we use R in decimal form we use I = PRT. For example if the interest rate
is 6% the first formula would use R = 6 but the second would use R = 0-06.
In Unit One we were determining I given P, R and T. If instead we want to determine P,
or R or T, given I and the other two, we can substitute values into the appropriate
formula and solve the resulting equation.

Example 8
How much money needs to be invested for 3 years at 6% simple interest to earn interest
of $864.

Using I = PRT
Given I = 864, R = 0-06, T = 3 then
864 = P x 0 - 0 6 x 3
i.e. 864 = 0-18P
864
and so P =
018
= 4800

The investment needs to be $4800.

Example 9
How long does an investment of $12 500 need to be invested at 3-8% per annum simple
interest to earn interest of $2 375?
Using I = PRT
Given P = 12500, R = 0-038,1 = 2375
then 2375 = 12500 x 0-038 x T
i.e. 2375 = 475T
2375
and so T =
475
= 5
The investment needs to be for 5 years.

•
•••••
Alternatively questions like the previous two examples could
be solved using the built in capability of some calculators to
perform simple interest calculations.
•••••
•••••
•••••
•••••
112 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Equations from ratios.

The Preliminary work at the beginning of this text reminded us of the idea of a ratio. In
particular the following example was given:
Suppose the ratio of males to females in a school is 17 : 21.
If we know that there are 231 females in the school we can determine the number
of males
males : females = 17: 21
= ?:231
The number of males = 17 x 11, i.e. 187.
Alternatively, if we let the number of males be m we could set up, and solve, an equation,
as follows:
males : females = 17 : 21
m:231 = 17:21
m 17
Hence
231 21
m 17
231 x —
231 21
17
x by 231 to eliminate fractions: 231 x m 231 x —
21
187

Thethe
Suppose number of males
previous is 187,
situation hadasinstead
before.given us the ratio as:
females : males = 21:17.
We would then have proceeded as follows:
231 :m = 21:17
231 21
Hence = —
m 17
Now with the variable in the denominator this is not a linear equation but this need not
trouble us. We could solve the equation by:
^ first multiplying by 17m to eliminate the fractions, as shown below left,
, „ a c b
or using the fact that if r = T then it follows that - - , as shown below right,
b d a c
Given 231 :m = 21:17 Given 231:777 = 21: 17
231 21 231 21
771 17 771 17
231 21 771 17
x by 17m 17m x = X 17777 Hence
771 17 231 21
771 17
Hence 17x231 = 21777 x by 231 231 x = — x231
231 21
Solving gives 777 = 187
Hence 777 = 187
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Seven: Using equations to solve problems. 113

a c
Notice that if
b d
a
Then multiplying by bd: bdx - bdx ~
d
b
gives ad = be
Notice that this final statement could have been obtained by "cross
multiplying" the original "fraction equals fraction" equation. a^c
Cross multiplying is a useful short cut but it needs to be used with care and
with an understanding of why it works. Only use it in situations that are
"single fraction = single fraction".

Example 10
Find the values of a and b in the following
(a) a : 4 = 7 : 20 00 15 : 46 = 1:2

(a) Given a :4 = 7:20 (b) Given 15:46 = 1:2

a 7 15 _ 1
then then
4 20 46 ~ 2

Hence 20 x a = 7x4 Hence 15x2 = 46x1

28 30
= — 6 = —
a 4
20
= 1-4 = 7-5

In your study of unit one of this course you would have encountered the idea of similar
triangles. Situations involving determining unknown lengths in similar triangles can
often involve setting up then and solving a statement involving ratios, as the next two
examples show.

Example 11
In the diagram shown on the right AB = 5 m, BC = 9 m, FLà
and BE = 3 m. Find the length of CD, justifying your
answer. 3m
s 5 m rB 9m r
In triangles ABE and ACD: ZEAB = ZDAC [same angle)
ZEBA = ZDCA (=90°)
Hence the third angles will be equal and so AABE ~ AACD, corresponding angles equal.
Hence AB : AC = BE: CD
Letting the length of CD be x m: 5:14 = 3.x
_5_ _ 3
i.e.
14 ~ x
Hence Sx = 42
and so x = 8-4
CD is of length 8*4 m.
114 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Example 12. So how tall is the street light?

On a sunny day, at the same time that a street light standing on horizontal ground casts a
shadow of length 9-1 metres, a 1-6 metre stick held vertically on the same ground casts a
shadow of length 2-6 metres.

What does this information suggest that the height of the street light is?

In triangles ABC and DEF: Z.CAB = ZFDE (angle sun's rays make with the ground)
ZCBA = Z.FED (=90°)
Hence the third angles will be equal and so AABC~ ADEF, corresponding angles equal.
Hence AB : DE = BC : EF
Let the height of the street light be h metres.
2-6:9-1 = 1-6: h
2-6 1-6
i.e. — —
9-1 h
Hence 2-6/3 = 9-1 x 1-6
and so h = 5-6
The information suggests that the height of the street light is 5-6 metres.

Exercise 7D
1. Find the values of a, b, c,... / in the following.
(a) a: 9 = 2 = 3 (b) b: 10 = 2 : 5 (c) 4: 3 = 8 : c
(d) d : 3 = 5:2 (e) 2e:9 = 4:5 (f) / : 2 = 7:5
(g) 6:^ = 4 : 1 (h) 17:2/2 = 5:1 (i) 5:8 = 3 : /

2. Determine how much money needs to be invested for 3 years at 8% per annum
simple interest to accrue interest of $1008.

3. What annual rate of simple interest would cause an investment of $6400 to grow
to $7360 in two years?
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Seven: Using equations to solve problems. 115

4. Sally invests a sum of money into an account paying 8-2% simple interest. After
three years the account has earned interest of $209-10. What was the initial sum
invested?

5. For how long must an investment of $10 000 be invested in an account paying
8-6% per annum simple interest for it to become $13 870?

6. How many days must a sum of $8650 be left to accrue interest at a rate of 5% per
annum simple interest to become $8823?

7. What annual rate of simple interest is needed to see an initial investment of

$6720 become $7011-20 in 8 months.

8. $65000 is invested in an account paying simple interest at a rate of R% per

annum. Nine months later the account is closed and the total balance of principal
plus interest is then $68997-50. Find R.

9. What annual rate of simple interest is required to see an investment of eight and
a half thousand dollars grow to eight thousand eight hundred and six dollars in
219 days?

10. The ratio of males to females in the audience for a particular event was 5 : 7.
If there were 1045 males in the audience how many females were in the
audience?

11. Suppose the ratio of male students to female students in a school is 15 : 17. If
there are 345 male students in the school how many female students are there in
the school?

12. So how tall is the tree?

At the same time as a tree, stood on horizontal ground, casts a shadow of length
24 metres, a 1-8 metre stick held vertically on the same ground casts a shadow of
length 3-2 metres.
What does this information suggest that the height of the tree is?
(Your working should include justification
that triangles assumed similar are indeed
similar.)

^1 1 O
116 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

13. So how tall is the building?

When a vertical sign post that is
known to have a height of 3
metres casts a 1-8 metre shadow
a nearby building casts a shadow
of length 15 metres.
How tall is the building?
7 œ œ œ
t
(Your working should include
justification that triangles / œ œ œ
I
assumed similar are indeed
similar.)
A / V
H
1
D E

14. So how tall is the flag pole? I.

A stick of length 2-1 metres held vertically on horizontal ground casts a shadow
of length 0-6 metres.
At the same time, a nearby flagpole casts a shadow of length x metres.
If the height of the flagpole is h metres find an expression for h in terms of x.
I f x = 1-5 find h.
(Your working should include justification that triangles assumed similar are
indeed similar.)

15. So how tall is the flag pole? II.

Standing on level ground, and
with the sun shining, Panji starts
at the base of a flagpole and
walks along the flagpole's
shadow until the tip of his own
shadow is at the same point on
the ground as the tip of the
shadow cast by the flagpole.
Panji, who's own height is 1-75
metres, is then 2 metres from the
tip of his shadow and 6 metres
from the base of the flagpole.
How tall is the flagpole?
(Your working should include
justification that triangles assumed similar are indeed similar.)
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Seven: Using equations to solve problems. 117

16. So how wide is the river?

As part of an initiative test a team of trainee
soldiers is set the task of estimating the width of a
river, from one side of the river. To do this they
note a tree at waters edge on the far side (point B in
the diagram on the right) and put a pole at point A
on "their" river bank, directly opposite B. They
then locate some suitable point C on the bank on
their side and a point D as shown. Standing at D
and looking at the tree on the opposite bank allows ^/
them to locate, and mark, point E. B
They then measure AE as being 34-6 metres, EC as
19-2 metres and CD as 29-8 metres.
How wide is the river?
(Your working should include justification that triangles assumed similar are
indeed similar.)

17. So how tall is the pylon?

Roz places a small flat mirror on level ground between herself and an electricity
pylon. Roz notices that with herself, the mirror and the pylon in line she can see
the top of the pylon in the mirror when she is 3-5 metres from the mirror and the
mirror is 17-5 metres from the middle of the base of the pylon.
If Roz's eye height is 172 centimetres how tall is the pylon?
(Your working should include justification that triangles assumed similar are
indeed similar.)

18. Mary takes out a loan which involves simple interest charged at the rate of 8%
per annum. After 18 months Mary repays $1344 which clears the loan and
interest.
How much did Mary borrow in the first place?

19. Mai takes out a loan which involves simple interest charged at the rate of 5% per
annum. After 219 days Mai repays $7004 which clears the loan and interest.
How much did Mai borrow in the first place?
118 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

THINK OF A NUMBER
Think of a whole number between one and ten (and remember it).
Double it
Add3
Double your answer
Add on the number you first thought of
Add four
Divide by 5
Addl
Take away the number you first thought of.
Your answer is 3 (or at least it should be if you have followed the
instructions correctly!)
Why does the above puzzle always work no matter what whole number between
one and ten is chosen as the starting number? Write an explanation of why the
puzzle works.
Does it work for numbers other than whole numbers between one and ten?
Explain.

A TRICK INVOLVING FIFTEEN COINS

Ranii placed fifteen coins on the table and said to her sister Jenna,
"While I shut my eyes you put some of the coins in your left hand, the rest in your
right hand, and then put your hands behind your back so that I cannot see them."
Jenna followed the instructions and then Ranii said,
"Now multiply the number of coins you have in your left hand by two, add on the
number of coins you have in your right hand and tell me the answer."
Again Jenna followed the instructions and announced,
"That makes 22."
Performing some simple arithmetic Ranni was quickly able to announce,
"You have 7 in your left hand and 8 in your right"
"That's right," exclaimed Jenna, "How did you know that?"
How did she know it? Explain what she did and why it works.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Seven. 119

Miscellaneous Exercise Seven.

This miscellaneous exercise may include questions involving the work of this
chapter, the work of any previous chapters, and the ideas mentioned in the
preliminary work section at the beginning of the book.
1. Suppose the ratio of male students to female students in a school is 21 : 19. If
there are 720 students in the school altogether how many female students are
there in the school?

2. Find the value of x in each of the following.

x 7 x 3 5 4 2 5
W 3 =
5 W 10 =
4 W - = 7 № - = 7
3. Find m if 5(m + 3) + 2(3 - 2m) = 36.

4. The mean of ten numbers is 10-8. Seven of these numbers have a mean of 12 and
the other three numbers are a, (a + d) and (a + 2d].
Determine (a + d).

5. A number of adults, some male and some female, were asked ten questions about a
particular issue. The number answered correctly by the adults are shown in the
frequency distribution table below and, below that is the frequency table for the
females in the group.
Frequency distribution for entire group.
Number correct 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Frequency 3 1 4 12 20 25 25 32 16 14 13

Frequency ta ble for the females in the grouip.

Number correct 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Frequency 0 0 0 10 17 10 8 9 7 12 13
(a) How many females were asked the ten questions?
(b) How many males were asked the ten questions?
(c) Determine the range of the female scores.
(d) Determine the range of the male scores.
(e) Naomi claims that:
The range of the male scores is bigger than the range of the female scores and
therefore the male scores are more spread out than the female scores.
Comment on her claim.

6. I think of a number, multiply it by two, add one and then double the result. To this
answer I add on half of the number I first thought of and end up with 83. Find the
number I first thought of.
120 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

7. To the nearest $50, how much needs to be invested into an account paying 6%
simple interest for the account to be worth at least $19 000 in 5 years?

8. A company invests $80000, some into an account paying 6-3% per annum simple
interest and the remainder in an account paying 5-4% per annum simple interest.
After 2 years the $80 000 had grown to $89 612.
How much went into each account?

9. A maths exam was sat by 2145 candidates. The exam was marked out of 120 and
the marks gained were distribu ted as follows.
Class interval 1-20 21-40 41-60 61-80 81-100 101-120
№• of candidates 113 263 340 720 478 231
(a) What is the midpoint of the 61- 80 class?
(b) Use the midpoint of each interval to determine a mean and standard
deviation for this grouped distribution.

10. The scores achieved by two classes in a maths test are given below:
Class One
39 33 35 44 5 37 40 24 41 30 42
12 46 52 16 58 35 22 44 37 26 28
40 50 31
Class Two
41 45 48 40 24 47 42 37 44 43 39
45 49 41 51 50 43 48 45 32 36 46
Draw a box and whisker diagram for each set of results and write a brief report
comparing the distributions.

11. The scores obtained by the fifty students who sat a mathematics test gave rise to
the following boxplot:
I 1
11 • 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 • 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 • 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 • 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Construct a possible histogram for this set of fifty scores using the class intervals:
10 < score < 20, 20 < score < 30, 30 < score < 40, etc.

12. Two loads, load A and load B, of a particular valuable metal are for sale.
The weight of load A is greater than that of load B but load B is of a higher quality
and therefore has a greater price per kilogram.
The ratio of the weights of the loads is as follows:
weight of load A: weight of load B = 15 * 8
The ratio of the per kilogram price of the two loads is as follows:
price of each kg of load A: price of each kg of load B = 3 : 5
If the price of load A is $72 000 and the price of load B is $x, find x.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 121

Chapter Eight.
Linear relationships.
Situation One.
Suppose that each copy of a particular book weighs 1-5 kg.
15-4 Total weight
If we place copies of this book on a set of scales, each time (wkg)
we add one more book so the weight shown will increase
by 1-5 kg, as shown in the graph on the right.
10-
Copy and complete the following table for the situation:
Number of copies, c. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number of kg, w. SA
Which of the following rules agree with the figures in your
Number of copies (c)
table? •I » I i » I I '»
w = 2c c= w w = 1-5 c 1 2 3 4 5 10

c=l-Sw c + w=l-5

Situation Two.
At 8 a.m. one morning there are 20 large concrete blocks in a
builders yard that need to be delivered to a worksite. A truck
from a transport company is due to arrive at the builders yard
in one hour to pick up four blocks, take them to the worksite
and then return for four more one hour later, repeating the o f- ioH
process until all twenty have been removed from the builders IL 4>
yard. Check that you agree that the graph on the right is S ' 3
sd
2
consistent with this information.
Copy and complete the following table for this situation: ~m~4 s
Hours past 8 a.m.

Number of hours past 8 a.m, h. 0 1 2 3 4 5

Number of blocks at builders yard, n.
Which of the following rules agree with the figures in your table?
n = 20/2 n = -4/2 + 20 n = 4/2 - 20 n = 24/2 n = 20-/2

Situation Three. •NCost in dollars ($c)

The graph on the right shows the amount charged by a 200
plumber working at your house for up to 2 hrs.
Copy and complete the following table for this situation:
Number of hours, h. 0 0-25 0-5 0-75 1 1-5 2
Cost in dollars, c.
Number of hours (h)
Which of the following rules agree with your table? T — i — I — I — I — i T 7
v

c = 80 + 6O/2 c = 8O/2 + 60 c = 60 - 8O/2

Why are the dots joined in this graph and not for situations one and two?
122 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Situation Four.
Three electricians, Sparky, Flash and Voltman, have different ways of calculating a
customer's bill.
Sparky charges a standard rate per hour and has no other charges.
Flash has a fixed, or "standing" charge and then charges a certain amount per hour
on top ofthat.
Voltman has a higher standing charge than Flash but then charges less per hour.
These three methods are shown graphed below:

1 2 3 4 5

• Which line, I, II or III, corresponds to (a) Sparky, (b) Flash, (c) Voltman?
• Ignoring the standing charges who charges most per hour?
What feature of the graph shows this?
• With the charge, or cost, being $C and the time being t hours the equation of line I is
C = 60t+120.
Determine the equations of lines II and III.
• If you were considering using one of the three electricians for a job and wanted to
keep the cost to a minimum which of the three could you dismiss from your
considerations?
 ISBN 9780170350457 Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 123

Straight line graphs.

The situations on the previous two pages each gave rise to graphs for which the plotted
points lay in a straight line. This is because in each situation, for each unit increase
horizontally the vertical change remains constant. For example, for the first three
situations:
Situation one. Situation two. Situation three.

t
200-j
20-t->!
150 H
15H
100 H

I
50

Each time we move

TS" T 3 4
right 1 unit we move
Each time we move Each time we move up 80 units.
right 1 unit we move right 1 unit we move (Moving right one quarter of a
up 1*5 units. down 4 units unit sees a vertical rise of just 20
units.)

The gradient of a straight line.

This vertical rise for each horizontal unit increase is called the gradient or slope of the
straight line. For example:

Note carefully the use of the negative gradient in the third case to indicate that the line
moves down as we move to the right.
124 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Table of values.
Using points with whole number coordinates to create a table
of values for the three graphs just encountered, with c as the
horizontal coordinate and w the vertical coordinate, the table
for the first graph (shown again on the right) is:

1 1 1 1

c 0r^K 1 r~\2 3 4
w 2 3 4 5 6
w w w v >
1 1 1 1
Notice how the gradient of the line, i.e. the constant increase in the w-values for each
unit increase in the c-values, is evident from the table.
For the otherj^o graphs the tables (and graphs) are shown below

6H W (4.6)1

;]
2

1
(1-0)

1 2 3 4

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

c 1 2 3 4 c 0 1 2 3 4
w 0 2 4 6 w 6 4-5 3 1-5 0
w v > v >
2 2 2 -1-5 -1-5 -1-5 -1-5

Notice again how the gradient of 2 and of-1-5 are evident from these tables.
<** The gradient of a straight line graph is the vertical rise in the graph for each
unit moved to the right. (A fall in the graph for each unit moved right
indicates that the gradient is negative.)
This gradient, or slope, is sometimes described as "the rise divided by the run".
With the horizontal coordinate increasing by 1 unit each time, the table of
values for a straight line graph will show a constant difference pattern in the
vertical coordinate equal to the gradient of the line. (If, for a constant
increase in the values of the horizontal coordinate, the values of the vertical
coordinate do not show a constant difference pattern the table of values is
not for a straight line graph.)
 ISBN 9780170350457 Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 125

Exercise 8A
For each of questions 1 to 20 determine the gradient of the given straight line.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
126 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 127

17. (70, 90) 18.

, (70, 50)

(20, 40)

(40, 0)

19. 20. (-3,60)- *

(1, 20)

1-4,-5)

(3, -60)

For questions 21 to 34 state whether or not the given values (x, y) would lie in a straight
line if plotted and, for those cases for which a straight line would be formed, what would
be the gradient of that straight line?
21. X 0 1 2 3 4 5 22. X 0 1 2 3 4 5
y 4 6 8 10 12 14 y 19 17 15 13 11 9

23. X 0 1 2 3 4 5 24. X 6 7 8 9 10 11
y 0 1 4 9 16 25 y 5 7 1 3 16 10

25. X 7 8 9 10 11 12 26. X 0 2 4 6 8 10
y 12 17 22 27 32 37 y 20 19 17 14 10 5

27. X 1 3 5 7 9 11 28. X 3 4 6 9 13 16
y 50 40 30 20 10 0 y 3 5 7 9 11 13

29. X 6 5 4 3 2 1 30. X 2 3 4 5 6 7
y 12 15 18 21 24 27 y -17 -14 -11 -8 -5 -2

31. X 1 3 4 5 6 7 32. X 4 2 6 1 3 5
y 8 12 14 16 18 20 y 17 11 23 8 14 20

33. X 11 13 9 12 10 8 34. X 8 14 4 10 6 12
y 24 48 8 35 15 3 y 11 26 1 16 6 21
128 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

What's my rule?
Notice that the straight line graph on the right passes
through the following points (as well as others):
(-3,-5), (-2,-3), (-1,-1), (0,1),
(1,3), (2,5), (3,7).
For every one of these points the x and y coordinates
fit the rule y = 2x+l.
Indeed every point lying on the given straight line will
have coordinates that fit the rule
y = 2x+l
and all points not on the line will not fit the rule.
For example: The point (1-5,4) lies on the line and
4 = 2x1-5 + 1
The point (-2-5, -4) lies on the line and
-4 = 2x(-2-5) + l
The point (2,3) does not lie on the line and
3 * 2x2+1
The point (-3,0) does not lie on the line and
0 * 2x(-3) + l
We say that the rule for the straight line shown is y = 2x + 1.

Note that the line with a rule of y = 2x + 1 has • a gradient of 2

and • cuts the vertical axis at (0,1).

Similarly: y = lx + 4 has • a gradient of 1

and • cuts the y-axis at (0,4).

y = 0-5x- 2 has • a gradient of 0-5

and • cuts the 3^-axis at (0, -2).

y = -2x + 1 has • a gradient of -2

and • cuts the ^-axis at (0,1).

To generalise:
The straight line with the rule y = mx + c
has • a gradient of m
and • cuts the 3^-axis at the point (0, c).
And:
If a straight line has gradient m and cuts the j-axis at the point (0, c) it has
the rule: y = nwc + c
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 129

Note: In saying that the rule for a straight line has the form y = mx + c the choice of
the letters m and c is not important We could equally well have said that
straight lines have rules of the form
y = px + k, y = ax + b, y = bx + a, y = cx + d, y = rx + s, etc.
or as
y = k + px, y = b + ax, y - a + bx, y = d + cx, y = s + rx, etc.
It is the form of the rule that is important, not the use of m and c.
However y = mx + c is one of the expressions more frequently used, as is
y = a + bx, so in this text we will tend to use one or other of these two.
For the straight line shown on the right:
Gradient = 2 (Each move of one unit to the right sees
the line go up 2 units.)
The line cuts the vertical axis at (0, -2).
Thus the rule for the line is y - 2x - 2.
The points (2, 2) and (4, 6) lie on the line. Confirm that
these values for x and y do indeed fit the rule.
Choose another point on the line and similarly confirm
that its coordinates fit the rule.
Choose a point that does not lie on the line and confirm
that its coordinates do not fit the rule.
For the straight line shown on the right:
Gradient = -1-5 (Each move of one unit to the right
sees the line go down 1-5 units.)
The line cuts the vertical axis at (0,3).
Thus the rule for the line is y = -l-5x + 3.

The points (2, 0) and (-2, 6) lie on the line. Confirm that
these values for x and y do indeed fit the rule.
Choose another point on the line and similarly confirm
that its coordinates fit the rule.
-5-1
Choose a point that does not lie on the line and confirm
that its coordinates do not fit the rule.

Table - Rule - Graph.

If the x and y values are linked by a rule of the form y = mx + c then:
A straight line, or linear, relationship exists between x and y.
•GF Graphing, with the x values on the horizontal axis and the y values on the vertical
axis, produces a straight line with gradient m and cutting the vertical axis at the
point with coordinates (0, c).
We call c the vertical intercept, or ^-intercept.
With the x values increasing by 1 the common difference in the y values is equal
to m, the gradient of the line.
130 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Example 1
For each of the following tables determine whether the relationship between the two
variables is linear and, for any that are, determine the rule.
X 0 1 2 3 4 5 (b) P 3 4 5 6 7 8
y -2 1 4 7 10 13 t 8 15 24 35 48 63
r 2 4 1 5 3 6
s 17 31 10 38 24 45

(a) X 0 1 2 3 4 5 00 p 3 4 5 6 7 8
y -2 1 4 7 10 13 t 8 15 24 35 48 63
Difference 3 2j I 1 •
Difference 7 c) 11 13 15
Constant difference pattern Difference pattern is not constant
thus relationship is linear. thus relationship is not linear.
The rule will be of the form
y = 3x+c.
To fit the tabulated data the
rule must be y = 3x - 2.

(c) First present r values in order: r 1 2 3 4 5 6

s 10 17 24 31 38 45
Difference 7 7 7 7 7
Constant difference pattern
thus relationship is linear.
The rule will be of the form
s = 7r + c.
To fit the tabulated data the
rule must be s = 7r + 3.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 131

Lines parallel to the axes. /

I. Lines parallel to the x-axis.

Consider the line parallel to the x-axis and passing 5-
through (-2, 3), (1, 3) and (4, 3) as shown on the right. (-2,3) * (1,3) (4,3) _

The rule for this line is y = 3 because the y coordinates

of all points lying on this line will equal 3.
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 /
5
Note that this is consistent with the y = mx + c idea
because the line has a gradient of zero and a y intercept
of3.

The graph shown on the right shows the

horizontal lines: 5-
p
J

p
J
y = 6,

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 /
and y = -2. 5
P y

II. Lines parallel to the y-axis.

The diagram on the right shows some lines drawn
A
parallel to the y-axis. y i

The gradient of each of these vertical lines is undefined 5-

because we cannot find the vertical rise in the line for
each horizontal unit increased because the line rises
vertically for zero increase horizontally! Hence we
• 1 1 1
1 1 1 ?
should not expect the rules for vertical lines to be of the -
form y = mx + c because the gradient, m, is undefined.
1 f
Indeed straight lines parallel to the j'-axis are the only
straight lines having rules that are not of the form
y = mx + c. y
y
Lines parallel to the^-axis have rules of the form x=c. 5-
CO LO
The graph on the right shows the vertical lines: 1 II II
II
H H
x- -2 H

1 I ?
1 1 1
1
I

and x = 5.

Even though these vertical lines have rules of a different form, points lying on each
line must still "obey" the rule. For example, for a point to lie on x = 3 the point
must have an x-coordinate equal to 3.
132 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Use of a calculator with a graphing facility.

Calculators with a graphing facility can display graphs of lines given the rules for the
lines. For example, entering the following rules into such a calculator
y = 2x-3, y = 2x-l, y = 2x+l, y = 2x + 3 and y = 2x + 5
allows the graphs of these lines to be displayed.
/
• yl = 2x-3
• y2 = 2 x - 1
• y3 = 2JC + 1
• j/4 = 2x + 3
• ;y5 = 2x + 5
j>6 =
y7 =
\
What feature of the five rules allows us to anticipate that the lines would be parallel to
each other?

Note: The display on the right shows the Y1=X

line y = x. As we would expect this
line has a gradient of 1 and cuts the y-
axis at the point (0, 0), i.e. the origin.
The line passes through all those
points for which the x-coordinate
equals the ^-coordinate, for example X=l Y=l
(0,0), (1,1), (2, 2) etc.

Because the same scale is used on each axis the line y = x makes an angle of
45° with each axis. However, do not expect this 45° property of the line y = x
to be evident if different scales are used on each axis. Both of the displays
shown below show the line y = x but with different scales used on each axis,
and with the two displays using different scales, the two displays appear
different and neither shows the 45° nature of the line.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 133

Exercise 8B
For each of questions 1 to 10 determine:
(a] the gradient of the line,
(b] the coordinates of the point where the line cuts the vertical axis,
(c] the rule for the line.
1.

3.

-5 —I -5-1

5. 6.

.-5-1 -5-J

7. 8.
(4, 24)

(1, 50)
134 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

11. Determine the rules for each of the lines A to H shown below.
E F y G H
•A i

•B

•C
^ I I I I
5

-5-1

For each of the tables shown in questions 12 to 25 determine whether the relationship
between x and y is linear and, for any for which it is, determine the rule for the
relationship.
12. X 1 2 3 4 5 6 13. X 1 2 3 4 5 6
y 4 7 10 13 16 19 y 21 17 13 9 5 1

14. x 0 1 2 3 4 5 15. x 0 1 2 3 4 5
y -3 2 7 12 17 22 y 25 16 9 4 1 0

16. X 1 2 3 4 5 6 17. x 5 6 7 8 9 10
y 2 3-5 5 6-5 8 9-5 y 5 10 20 40 80 160

18. x -2 -1 0 1 2 3 19. x 0 2 4 6 8 10
y 0 1 2 3 4 5 y 1 3 6 10 15 21

20. x 1 3 5 7 9 11 21. x 0 5 10 15 20 25
y 12 10 8 6 4 2 y 21 31 41 51 61 71
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 135

X 2 5 1 6 4 3 23. x 6 3 5 2 1 4
y 10 19 7 22 16 13 y 18 3 13 -2 -7 8

X 5 13 9 3 11 7 25. x 16 7 1 13 4 10
y 8 24 16 4 20 12 y 49 22 4 40 13 31
For 26 and 27 find (a) the gradient of the line,
(b) the coordinates of the point where the line will cut the y - axis,
(c) the rule for the line.

In each of questions 28 to 33 you are given a table of values, OR a rule OR a graph.

Use the one you are given to complete the other two. (When drawing the graph assume
all x values are possible, not just the integer values given in the table.)
28. I Table: I 29. Table:
X -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 X -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
y y
Rule: Rule: y =
Graph: r
/

25- y

N. 20-j

Nio^

5^

1 1 1 1 1 \ _ 1 1 >
4 -3 -2 -1 : 1 11 3 4
-5-j

-10-
136 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 137

34. On squared paper, and with each axis from -6 to 6, use gradients and intercepts to
sketch the following four lines on the one graph:
y = 2x+ 3 y - -2x+ 1 y - -0-5x+ 4 y = O-Sx-4
Now use your graphic calculator to check the correctness of your sketch.

35. The display on the right shows the lines

y = 3x y - Ax
y = 3x- 2 y = 2*5x+4
2
+
j> = - l - 5 x + 3 y = -^^ 2
labelled A to F.
Allocate the correct rule to each line.

36. The display on the right shows the lines

y = 0-5x+2 y = 0-5x-2
y = - 2 y = -x+2
y - 2x-2
labelled A to E.
Allocate the correct rule to each line.

38. Both of the displays shown below show the line y = 2x + 3. How is it that they can
look different? Explain.
138 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

More about y = mx + c, the equation of a straight line.

From earlier work we know that straight lines have equations that are of the form:
y = mx + c

® Why should equations of the form y = mx + c produce straight line graphs?

A straight line must clearly have a constant gradient Thus wherever we are on the
line, if we journey one further unit horizontally, then the line will always rise a
constant vertical amount
Consider the equation y = mx + c.
If x changes from 2 to 3, y changes from (2m + c) to (3m + c), a rise of m.
If x changes from 3 to 4, y changes from (3 m + c) to (4m + c), a rise of m.
If x changes from 98 to 99, y changes from (98m + c) to (99m + c), a rise of m.
Each unit increase in the x-coordinate produces an increase of m units in the y-
coordinate, i.e. a straight line of gradient m.
If an equation cannot be expressed in the form y = mx + c then the y-coordinate will
not rise by a constant amount for each unit increase in the x-coordinate.
2
For example, consider y = x .
If x changes from 2 to 3, y changes from 4 to 9 i.e. a rise of 5.
If x changes from 3 to 4, y changes from 9 to 16 i.e. a rise of 7.
If x changes from 98 to 99, y changes from 9604 to 9801 i.e. a rise of 197.
Each increase of one unit in the x-coordinate does not produce the same change in
the y-coordinate. i.e. not a straight line graph.

© The equation of a line is like the membership ticket for the line.
As was mentioned earlier, if a point lies on a particular line then the coordinates of
that point will "fit" the equation of the line and if it does not lie on the line the
coordinates will not "fit" the equation. The equation of a line is the rule which all
points lying on the line must "obey". In this way the equation is like the
membership ticket for the line. If a point does not fit the equation it cannot lie on
the line.

Example 2
State whether each of the points A to C lie on the line y = 2x + 7.
A (1, 8) B(3,13) C (-5, -3)

If A (1,8) lies on the line then x = 1 and y = 8 must "fit" the equation.
Substituting x = 1 into y = 2x + 7 gives y = 9.
Thus point A (1,8) does not lie on the line y = 2x+7.
If B (3,13) lies on the line then x = 3 and y = 13 must "fit" the equation.
Substituting x = 3 into y = 2x + 7 gives y = 13.
Thus point B (3,13) does lie on the line y = 2x + 7.
If C (-5, -3) lies on the line then x = -5 andy = -3 must "fit" the equation.
Substituting x = -5 into y = 2x + 7 gives y = -3.
Thus point C (-5, -3) does lie on the line y = 2x + 7.
 ISBN 9780170350457 Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 139

It may not look like y = mx + c but it may still be linear.

Straight lines have equations that can be written in the form y = mx + c.
Consider each of the following equations: 2;y + 3x = 12
5 x - 2y = 15
y 1 _ 2x
3 ~ 2 5

Each of these can be rearranged into the form y = mx + c:

2^ + 3x = 12 Sx-2y = 15
2y = - 3 x + 12 5 x - 15 = 2y
x 3
y = -1-5*+6 y = 2-5x-7-5 by

Hence whilst they may not initially look like y = mx + c each of the three equations are
equations of straight lines.

Determining the equation of a straight line.

We can determine the equation if we know:
the gradient and the vertical intercept (see example 3 that follows)
or the gradient and one point on the line (see example 4)
or if we know two points on the line (see example 5).

Example 3 (Given the gradient and the vertical intercept.)

State the equation of the straight line that cuts the y-ax\s at the point (0, 1) and has a
gradient of 6.

A line with gradient m and cutting the ^-axis at (0, c) has equation y - mx + c.
Thus the given line has equation y = 6x + 1.

Example 4 (Given the gradient and one point on the line.)

Find the equation of the straight line through the point (4, -3) and with a gradient of-2.

A straight line of gradient m has an equation of the form y = mx + c.

Thus the given line will have an equation of the form y = -2x + c.
The line passes through the point (4, -3).
Thus the values x = 4 and y = -3 must "fit" the equation, i.e. (-3) = -2(4) + c
giving c = 5.
Thus the given line has equation y = -2x + 5.
140 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Example 5 (Given two points that lie on the line.)

Find the equation of the straight line through the points (-2,8) and (4, -1).

Starting at the point with the lower ^-coordinate (-2,8), and moving to the point (4, -1),
we travel across 6 units and down 9 units. Thus in moving across 1 unit we travel down
9 3 3
g units, i.e. 2 units. The gradient of the line is - .
Thus the given line will have an equation of the form y = - l « 5 x + c.
The line passes through the point (4, -1).
Thus the values x = 4 and y = -1 must "fit" the equation, i.e. -1 =-1-5(4)+ c
giving c =5.
Thus the given line has equation y = -l-5x + 5.
(The reader should confirm that using the point (-2,8) and saying that the values x = -2
and y = 8 must "fit" the equation also gives c = 5.)

A useful rule.
A useful rule to remember when determining the gradient of the line through two
points, A and B is:
the change in the y-coordinate in going from A to B
Gradient =
the change in the x-coordinate in going from A to B

Thus if A has coordinates (xi, yi) and B has coordinates {xi, yi) then
the gradient of line through A and B = .

X2 - X±
y — y y^ — y2
Note: In this formula — would also give the correct answer but — and
X\ — X2 X2 ~~ X\
y —y
2 ±

would not. Hence make sure that "whichever point you get the first y-
X\ — X2
coordinate from is also where you get the first x-coordinate from".

Calculator routines.
Your calculator may have programmed routines that allow the equation of a line to be
determined simply by inputting the coordinates of two points on the line, or inputting
the gradient and the coordinates of just one point on the line. Such routines can be
useful but make sure that you understand the underlying ideas and can apply them
without the assistance of calculator programs if required.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 141

Exercise 8 C
1. Calculate the gradient of the straight line through each of the following pairs of
points.
(a) (4,6) and (2, 2) (b) (6,7) and (5,3) (c) (4, 5) and (2,1)
(d) (6,7) and (2,5) (e) ( 5 , 3 ) and (1,2) (f) (5,3) and (4, 2)
(g) (4, 3) and (2,7) Ch) ( 5 , 2) and (3, -3) (i) (4, 2) and (-2, -1)
0 ) (1, -7) and (-1,1) (k) (-1, -2) and (1, 3) (1) (2, -3) and (6, -1)
2. State the gradient and the coordinates of the y-axis intercept of each of the
following straight lines.
(a) ;y = 3 x - 1 7 (b) y = -2x+13 (c) y = S-7x
(d) 2x + 3y = 24 (e) 5y + 2x=8 (f) 2x-3^ + 9 = 0
x y x 2x y
(g) -+y=U (h) - + j = 3 (0 T + i = 4
3. What is the equation of the x axis?
4. What is the equation of the y axis?
5. State whether each of the points A to E lie on the line y = 3x - 5.
A (6,12) B(5,ll) C(2,l) D (-3,-13) E(-l,-8)

6. State which of the points F to J do not lie on the line y = - x + 6.

F(l,5) G(0,6) H(2,8) I (-1,4) J (6,0)

7. Write down the equation of the straight line with gradient 3 and cutting the ^-axis
at (0,4). Does this line pass through the point (-1,1) ?
8. Write down the equation of the straight line cutting the j>-axis at (0, 2) and with
gradient 0-5. Which of the following points lie on this line ?
A (2,1), B (2, 0), C (4, 2), D (-6, -1), E (4,4).
9. Given that all of the points A to F given below lie on the line y = 2x - 5 determine
the values of a, b, c, d, e and /
A (3, a), B (2, b), C (-4, c), D (2-5, d), E (e, 13), F {f, - 5 ) .
10. Find the equation of each of the following straight lines.
(a) Gradient 1, through (3,5). (b) Gradient-1, through (6,-1).
(c) Gradient -2, through (3,2). (d) Gradient 5, through (-2, -2).
l 1
(e) Gradient j> through (8,9). (f) Gradient - through (-3,0).
3 1
(g) Gradient i> through (9,2). (h) Gradient - 3 , through (7,-1).

11. Find the equation of each of the following straight lines.

(a) Through (2,5) and (6,9). (b) Through (0, -1) and (2, -9).
(c) Through (14,1) and (16,-5). (d) Through (1,1) and (2,3).
(e) Through (1,2) and (13,6). (f) Through (3,-2) and (-1,6).
(g) Through (3,9) and (0,4). (h) Through (0,5) and (2, -5).
142 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Linear relationships in practical situations.

154 Total weight
Situation One at the start of this chapter involved copies (wkg)
of a particular book. Each copy weighed 1-5 kg so one
book would weigh 1-5 kg, two books 3 kg, three books
10H
4-5 kg, four books 6 kg and so on.
In this example the relationship between the total
weight, w kg, and the number of copies, c, is exactly s-1
linear with all points exactly lying on the straight line
w = 1-5 c Number of copies (c)
n—I—I—I—I—I—i—I—
This is an example of a linear relationship in real life. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Some other situations may involve data that does not exactly fit a straight line but for
which a straight line may be a reasonable model to use to summarise what is going on,
and that might allow reasonable predictions and statements to be made.
Suppose, for example, that in the process of monitoring the survival of a particular
endangered species of animal the numbers of these animals held in zoos around the
world is recorded every two years over a period of twenty years. Suppose the numbers
were as shown in the graph below left. Whilst the values do not exactly lie in a straight
line, the rule N = 28 + 1-St could be a reasonable linear model to use for this data, as
shown below right.

Number of animals (JV) Number of animals (AT)

60 60 -4

50 50

40 -4 40 -4

30 -4 30 -4

20 20

io -4 10

Years (t) Years [t]

"1 I I I I I I I T 1 I 1 I I I1
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
8 10 12 14 16 18 20

In this linear model (N = l-5t + 28):

the vertical intercept is 28, indicating that the number of these animals kept
in zoos at the beginning of the 20 year period was approximately 28,
and the gradient is 1-5, indicating that on average each 1 year increase saw an
increase of 1*5 in the number of these animals kept in zoos (i.e. an increase
of approximately 3 every two years).
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 143

Exercise 8D
1. If we plot degrees Centigrade, (°C), on the
x-axis and degrees Fahrenheit, (°F), on the 200 H
y-axis, the graph for converting from one
scale to the other is a straight line.
(a) Given that 100°C is the same as 212°F
and 0°C is the same as 32°F find the
equation of the line in the form
F = mC + b,
where m and b are constants.
(b) What does the value of m tell us about
°C and °F temperatures?
(c) Convert 55°C to °F.
(d) Convert -10°C to °F.
(e) Convert 59°F to °C.
(f) Convert -4°F to °C.
(g) Is there a temperature for which the
number of degrees Centigrade is the
same as the number of degrees
Fahrenheit, and if so what is that
temperature?

2. When a particular spring has a mass of M kg suspended from one end the total
length of the spring is L metres where
L = kM + L where k and L are constants.
0 Q

(a) What will the value of k tell us about this situation?

(b) What will the value of L tell us about this situation?
0

(c) A graph of M plotted on the x-axis and L on the y-zx\s passes through the
points (2, 0-85) and (3,1-05).
LA

1-0- •(3,1-05)

•(2,0-85)

0-5

Calculate k and L and hence determine how much the spring is extended
Q

beyond its natural length when a mass of 250 g is suspended from it.
144 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 97801703S04S7.

3. The diagram on the right shows

the proposed layout of a small
airfield. The diagram shows the
main runway, the approach lights,
the warning lights and the
administration building.
The second diagram shows the
proposal as a graph with lengths
in metres and the admin building
as the origin.
Find:
(a) the coordinates of the points
A, B, C, D, E and F, (all divisible
by 20).
(b) the equation of the straight
line through A and B,
(c) the equation of the straight
line through C and D,
(d) the equation of the straight
line through E and F.

4. If we plot the "Number of metered units", N, on the x-axis and the "Amount to be
paid", $i4, on the y-axis then the graph for calculating a telephone bill from one
particular company is a straight line with equation
A = mN + c,
where m and c are constants.
In the context of this question:
(a) what does the value of m tell us about A and N7
(b) what does the value of c tell us?
iV(units)
(c) If the bill for 100 units is $64 and for 150 units is
$76, determine the equation of the line.
(d) What would be the bill for 200 units?
(e) If the bill was for $82 how many units were
1 5 0
used?

loo H (150,76)
(100,^4)

50 H
N(units)
iii iI i i i I ii I I I I I I I I I
100 200
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 145

The diagram below left shows the proposed road system for a new housing estate
off an existing road "Baxton Drive". The computer models this system graphically
as shown below right, with 1 unit on each axis representing 25 metres.

Find the equation of the straight line through

(a) AandB, (b] AandC, (c) AandE,
(d) EandD, (e) B,CandD.

Susie Fuse, an electrician, charges her

customers a standard call out fee plus a certain
amount per hour. With this method of charging u
the cost to the customer, $C, and the time taken
to do the job, T hours, are linearly related and c
follow a rule of the form C/J
O
C=m7+c.
Explain what information m, the gradient, and c,
the intercept with the vertical axis, are giving in Time in hours
this context.

$1000H
For a job that takes her three hours Susie
charges $440 and for a job that takes her four
and a half hours hours she charges $620. $500 H
Write the rule C = mT + c with m and c evaluated.
146 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

7. A taxi company charges a fixed start fee (called the "flag fall" in the taxi industry) of
$4-90 followed by a charge of $1-85 per kilometre.
If the cost for a journey of x kilometres is $C, write a rule in the form
C= c + m i

8. A water tank initially contains 1000 litres of water.

The tank develops a leak at its base, which causes water to leak out at a constant
rate of 200 millilitres every minute.
If V litres is the volume of water in the tank t minutes after the leak commenced
write a rule relating Fand t.

9. It costs a small business $800 to run the business each week.

The company imports just one type of product from overseas and sells each one for
$75 more than it buys each one for.
Express $P, the weekly profit the company makes, if it sells n of these products in
that week.

10. A company sells copies of a book that it prints on a book by book basis, as orders
arrive. Each book costs the company $12 to produce in this way.
The company sells each book for $22, which includes 10% goods and services tax.
The company forwards the goods and services tax amount to the government and
the company keeps the rest.
If the company makes a profit of $P when it sells x copies of this book write a rule
for P in the form P = mx

11. To cook a joint of meat a recipe book advises preheating the oven to 180°C and
then, when the oven temperature has reached this temperature, place the meat in
the oven for "20 minutes per kilogram + 20 minutes over".
Express as a rule the time, t hours, a joint of meat weighing k kilograms should be
placed in the hot oven for it to cook according to these instructions.

12. A linear relationship exists between the profit, $P, that the organisers of a concert
make, and N, the number of tickets they sell. With P plotted on the vertical, y, axis
and N on the horizontal, x, axis the line of this relationship P($)
1500
passes through the points (900,400) and ( 1100,1300). ^j (1100,1300)

Find the equation of this line in the form

1000
P = mN + c, where m and c are constants. ~*
(a) What does the value of m tell us in this context? 500-^ (900,^400)
(b) What does the value of c tell us in this context?
1 1111 1
(cl What will be the profit when 1500 tickets are sold? •»»• 1 1* JJ
500 1000
(d) If the concert hall has a maximum capacity of 2500
what profit will the organisers make if they give away
150 complimentary tickets and sell all the rest?
(e) What is the least number of tickets the organisers could sell and still not
make a loss?
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eight: Linear relationships. 147

13. The owner of a computer shop calculates that his weekly profit from computer
sales is linearly related to the number of computers sold that week.
If he sells 10 computers in a week his total profit is $560.
If he only sells 5 computers in the week he makes a profit of $10.
The rule relating his total profit for the week, $P, to the number of computers sold,
x, is given by:
Total profit in dollars (P) = mx - c,
$c being the fixed weekly cost of running the shop.
(a) Calculate m and c.
(b) What is his weekly profit from computer sales in a week that he sells 20
computers?

14. The membership secretary of a club monitors the growth in membership over a 5
year period. Plotting the 5 years (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) on the horizontal "t" axis and the
1
membership numbers on the vertical, "AT, axis the secretary finds there is an
almost perfect linear relationship between t and N. Express the relationship in the
form N = mt + c given that when t=l,N = 250 and when t=S,N = 410.
What do the values of the gradient, m, and the vertical intercept, c, tell us in the
context of this question?
Use your equation to predict the value of N when t = 10, assuming the linear
relationship continues.

15. The table below shows the profit, $P, that a company makes from the sale of x
copies of a particular book it has had printed.
X 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
p -3750 -2250 -750 750 2250 3750 5250 6750 8250
(a) Determine the rule for the relationship between P and x.
(b) How many copies of the book must the company sell to achieve a profit of more
than $10 000?

16. The monitoring of the numbers of a particular endangered species of animal found
that over a number of years, from the time the monitoring started, the numbers
thought to be in existence in the wild showed a steady decline. Indeed with N
representing the number of these animals thought to be in existence in the wild, t
years into the monitoring program, N and t were approximately following the rule:
Af=5740-350t.
(a) Interpret what the numbers 5740 and 350 mean in the context of this
situation.
(b) Graph the rule N = 5740 - 35Ot with N plotted on the vertical axis and t on
the horizontal axis.
(c) State the coordinates of the point where the line N = 5740 - 350t cuts the
horizontal axis and explain the significance of this point in the context of this
question.
148 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Miscellaneous Exercise Eight.

This miscellaneous exercise may include questions involving the work of this
chapter, the work of any previous chapters, and the ideas mentioned in the
preliminary work section at the beginning of the book.
1. Determine the equation of each of the straight lines A to I shown below.

2. A particular straight line with a gradient of b and cutting the y-axis at the point
with coordinates (0, a) has equation y = a + bx.
The line passes through the point (5, -2).
Which of the following equations must be true?
Equation 1 Equation 2 Equation 3
5 = a - 2b y = S-2x a + 5b + 2 = 0

Find the values of a, b, c,... h in the following.

(a) a: 2 = 6:5 (b] 6 : 7 = 3 = 6 (c) 5:2 = 15: c (d) d: 2 = 19:10
(e) e:3 = 9 : 2 (f) 2 : 3 = 9 : / (g) 4'.g = 8:9 (h) 4:h = 9 : 8

The ratio of females to males in a particular workforce is 7 : 9.

There are 252 males in this workforce.
How many females are there in this workforce?

5. In the first three units of a course a student achieves a mean of 64%. In the next
two units the student achieves a mean of 51%. What is the least mark the student
needs to achieve in the sixth and final unit to gain an overall mean of at least 60%?
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Eight. 149

6. Four distributions of marks have both their dot frequency diagrams and their box
plots shown below. Without the assistance of a calculator, match each dot
frequency with its corresponding boxplot.
Frequency
Dot frequency 1:
1111111111111111111J111111111J11111111111111111111
10 20 30 40 50
Score

5H
Frequency
Dot frequency 2:
••••• • • • • ••••
0 11 I 11 111111111111
10 20 30
I I I 11 11 I I I 111111
40 50
11 I I I 11 I 111111 111
Score

5_j Frequency
Dot frequency 3: • ••• • •
•••• •
• •••• •
11111111111111111111111 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 10 20 30 40 50
Score

Frequency
si
Dot frequency 4: •• • • ••••
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
0 10 20 30 40 50
Score

1
Box plot A: !~
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I [ I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
0 10 20 30 40 50

1 1
Box plot B: *~
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

0 10 20 30 40 50

1 1 1
BOX plot C:
111111 I I 1111 I I 1111111 I I 11 I I 1111 111 I I I 111 11 11 I I I I I 11

0 10 20 30 40 50

1 11
Box plot D: —
I I II I I I I I I I II I I I M I I I I I II I II I I I I I I I I II I I I I I I 1 I II I I I
0 10 20 30 40 50
150 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

7. Forty one students sat a test. The boxplot of their results is shown below.

I ' l U I IX ^
I i i i i I i i i i I rTTTT" i i i i | T T T T i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i T T T T i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
st th
With the student who gained the top mark ranked 1 , the students ranked 1 9 and
st
2 1 in the test scored identical marks.
The top twelve students scored twelve different marks.
th
The student ranked 1 1 in the test scored 47.
(a) What was the top mark achieved in the test?
th
(b) What score did the student ranked 20 achieve?
th
(c) What score did the student ranked 1 0 achieve?

8. The three "octapatterns" below all

follow the pattern shown on the right. Divide *~>+
Take 1
Copy and complete each of the
octapatterns shown below.
Add ( L^/\^J^Multiply
s t a r t i n g W \ ^ X ^ by 2
M
number ^/Add3

9. Certain types of cricket chirp more frequently as the temperature rises. For a
particular species the number of chirps per minute (N) is found to be related to the
Celsius temperature (C°) according to the rule:
N*7C-16
(a) If we were to graph N = 7C - 16, with C on the horizontal axis and N on the
vertical axis it would give a straight line with gradient 7 and intersecting the
vertical axis at -16. Interpret these two numbers in the context of this
"chirping crickets" situation.
(b) What does the rule suggest as the temperature below which we would not
expect a cricket to chirp?
(c) Roughly how many chirps will a cricket of this species make per minute if the
temperature is (i) 14°C,
(ii) 28°C?
(d) Estimate the temperature if a cricket of this species is chirping
(i) 200 times per minute,
(ii) 50 times per 20 seconds.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Nine: Piecewise defined relationships. 151

Chapter Nine.
Piecewise defined relationships.
For each of the three situations given below choose the one graph from the six shown
that best fits the situation. Then, for each situation, having chosen the most appropriate
graph, make a sketch of the graph and include labels and numbers on each axis. (If you
think that none of the graphs fit the situation draw your own appropriate graph.)
Situation One.
The income tax system in Australia is what is known as a "progressive system". This
means that the rate of income tax increases as a person's taxable income increases.
For this situation suppose that the following progressive system were to apply:
Taxable income Rate at which tax is deducted.
$0 to $20000 Nil
$20001 to $50000 20% of every dollar over $20000.
$50001 to $80000 $6000 plus 40% of every dollar over $50000.
Over $80000 $18000 plus 60% of every dollar over $80000.
Situation Two.
To deliver a parcel from town A to town B a company charges $7-50 for the first
kilogram, or part thereof, and then a further $2-50 per kilogram, or part thereof, after
that. Thus a parcel weighing 0-56 kg will cost $7-50, a parcel weighing 2-4 kilograms
will cost $12-50 (= $7-50 + 2 x $2-50), a parcel weighing 5-1 kilograms will cost $20 (=
$7-50 + 5 x $2-50) etc.
Situation Three.
John has bought a new racing bike and has sold his old one to Peter. Peter lives 12
kilometres from John's house, along an almost straight road. John rides the bike to
Peter's house, stays there for 30 minutes having a chat with Peter, and then walks back
to his own house. He cycles at a steady 12 km per hour and walks at a steady 6 km per
hour.
152 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Piecewise defined relationships.

The three situations on the previous page (and five of the six graphs) involved
circumstances in which the relationship between two variables involved a number of
different linear relationships. Which relationship applied depended on where on the
horizontal axis we were. In this way different rules applied for different pieces of the
horizontal axis. Such relationships are said to be piecewise defined.
One of the six graphs on the previous page is not a piecewise defined linear graph -
which one?
Two of the six graphs on the previous page are also called step graphs, which two?
Consider for example the graph on the right.
In this case, for x less than -4 one rule applies, for x
from -4 to -1 another rule applies etc.
We write this as: For x < -4 y = x+ 2
for -4<x<-l y = -2
for-1 < x< 2 y = 2x
for x > 2 y = 0-5x+3
(Note that whilst in the above listing we have attached
the x = -4 value to the y = - 2 rule it could equally
well have been attached to the y = x + 2 rule.
Similarly the x = -1 and x = 2 values could be
differently "attached".)
In the piecewise defined relationship shown on the
right the filled circle shows where the value for x = 2
is, and the open circle shows where the value for x = 2
is not. (Did you notice this aspect in one of the
situations on the previous page?)
In this case
For x < -3 y = -3 -7 -6

for -3 < x < 2 y = 2x + 3

for x > 2 y = -x + 6
The above examples involved abstract lines without
any real context attached but, as the first three
situations demonstrated, piecewise defined
$300-1
relationships do occur in real life.
For example consider the situation of a company $250 H
paying commission for sales achieved by its sales $200H
people according to the following rules:
$150-3
Sales Commission
$0 -»$1000 5% of sales $100H

$1000 -> $2 000 $50 + 10% of each $1 over $1000 $50 q

$2 000 and over. $150 + 15% of each $1 over $2 000 Goods soldv
p 11111111111 111111 n 11111 /
The graph of this situation is shown on the right. $1000 $2000 $3000
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Nine: Piecewise defined relationships. 153

Exercise 9 A

1. Copy and complete the following

statements for the piecewise defined
function shown on the right
For x < 0 y =
for 0 < x < 4 y =
for x > 4 y =

Copy and complete the following

statements for the piecewise defined
function shown on the right
For x < -4 y =
for y =
for y =
for y =

-6-J

Draw the following piecewise defined function:

For x < -5 j = -x - 5
for -5 < x < 3 y =x+5
for x>3 y = 8

Draw the following piecewise defined function:

For x < 0 y -3
for 0 < x < 4 y 2x
for x= 4 y 10
for x> 4 y -x + 7

The fare charged by a taxi company depended

upon the number of minutes the journey lasted.
The graph shown sketched on the right shows
the charge in dollars graphed against the time of
the journey in minutes. Write a few sentences
describing your interpretation of the situation
based on the information given by the graph
154 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

The distance time graph on the right is ^

for two brothers journeying from home -Sehotrf
to the same school. One brother leaves 6
early and walks to school and the other
CD
leaves later and cycles. e 2^
(a) Does the broken line " " o
represent the journey of the walker So
or the cyclist? 8
(b) Estimate the time when the cyclist c 1 H
passes the walker.
a C5
/

(c) How many minutes did the walker

take to walk to school? Time (a.m.) v
(d) What was the steady speed 'll I I I I I I I I I I I I f I 11111111111111 /
maintained by the walker during his 8.30 8.40 8.50 9.00
walk?
(e) How many minutes did the cyclist take to ride to school?
(f) What was the steady speed maintained by the cyclist during his ride?

7. The distance time graph shown

on the right is for the motion of
a cyclist travelling from town A
to town B, 60 km away, and a
delivery truck making the
round trip from A to B and back
to A again.
(a) When did the cyclist leave
town A?
(b) When did the cyclist reach
town B?
(c) The cyclist stopped twice Time
for a rest. How long was '(a.m.)
each stop ?
(d) What speed did the cyclist maintain (i) prior to the first stop,
(if) between the two stops,
(in] after the second stop?
(e) What speed did the delivery truck maintain (i) from town A to B,
(ii) from town B back to A?
(f) Estimate the time and distance from A of the place where the delivery truck
passed the cyclist when they were both travelling towards B.
(g) Estimate the time and distance from A of the place where the delivery truck
passed the cyclist when the truck was returning to A.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Nine: Piecewise defined relationships. 155

8. A long straight road links three towns A, B and C with B between A and C. From
town A it is 130 km to B and a further 140 km to C. A truck leaves A at 8 a.m. and
travels to B. For the first half hour the truck maintains a steady speed of just 60
km/h due to speed restrictions. After this the truck is able to maintain a higher
speed and arrives in town B at 9.30 a.m. Unloading and loading in town B takes 1
hour and then the truck travels on to C maintaining a steady 80 km/h for this part
of the journey.
A car leaves A at 9 a.m. that same morning and travels directly to C. Subject to the
same speed restrictions it too maintains a steady 60 km/h for the first half hour.
After this first half hour the car then maintains a steady 100 km/h all the way to
town C.
Draw a distance time graph for this situation and use your graph to answer the
following questions:
(a) When does each vehicle reach town C?
(b) What steady speed did the truck maintain from 8.30 a.m. to 9.30 a.m.?
(c) What was the average speed of the truck from A to B? (to nearest km/h.)
(d) When and where did the car pass the truck?

The graph on the right Tax to pay

shows a typical income
20000
tax system. The higher
an individual's taxable
income the more tax the 15000 - f
person must pay.
Use the graph to
estimate the tax payable loooo 4 -
by someone with a
taxable income of
(a) $30 000,
(b) $40 000,
^ , Taxable income
(c) $48000,
10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000
(d) $3 000.
(e) If a person has to pay tax5000
of $204 000 what is their taxable income?

10. Draw the graph for the commission paid by a company to its sales people if
n11 n i n 1
11
1
payments are made according to the following rules:
1
1 111111
n1111111111111111 i n 11111111 n 1 1 1 1 1 1
Sales Commission
$0 -> $5 000 4% of sales
$5 000 -> $10 000 $200+ 6%ofeach$lover $5 000
Over $10 000. $500 + 10% of each $1 over $10 000
156 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

11. When a real estate agent arranges for the sale of a house the owner of the house
pays the agent a fee, often based on the amount the house sells for.
Let us suppose that one agent's fee structure is as shown in the graph below.

$30000H-
($1000000, $30000)

$20000H

$10000-H

$1000000

For the first $

From $
From $
to $ i

and over the fee

1 1 1
Express this piecewise defined relationship as follows with the blanks completed.
of the sale price the agent's fee is a fixed $
the fee is $
is $
$500000
plus
plus
r
.
% of the amount over $
% of the amount over $ .

12. Suppose water is flowing at a

constant rate into a container. Height of water
For a container shaped as shown
on the right the graph of the
height of the water level plotted
against time would be as shown.
Sketch the graph of the height of
the water level against time for
each of the following containers.

(a) (b) (c) (d)

 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Nine. 157

Miscellaneous Exercise Nine.

This miscellaneous exercise may include questions involving the work of this
chapter, the work of any previous chapters, and the ideas mentioned in the
preliminary work section at the beginning of the book.
Find the rule that exists between P and t given the following table
t 2 3 4 5 6 1 7
p 1 4 7 10 13 1 16

2. Given that the relationship between x and y is linear find the values of a, b, c,... g.
X 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 / 3
y a b c 14 d 24 e 54 494

Write the equations of each of the lines A to J shown in the graphs below.

G
y t H

8 10 *

+ + + -4 H

A company determines that the cost, $C, for the production of x radios of a
particular type is given by: C = 5200 + 16x
(a) Interpret the 5200 and 16 in this equation in the context of this question.
Find the mean cost per radio when (b) 100 radios are produced,
(c) 500 radios are produced,
(d] 1000 radios are produced.

The ratio of year eight students in a school to non year eight students in the school
is 7 : 2 5 . If there are 960 students in the school altogether how many year eight
students are there in the school?

6. What number gives you the same answer when you add sixteen to it as when you
multiply it by 5?

7. I think of a number, double it, add five, multiply the result by four, take away the
number I first thought of and end up with sixty two. Find the number first thought
of.
158 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

8. A set of numbers consists of 2 fours, 8 fives, 11 sixes, 9 sevens and a number of

eights. If the mean of the set is 6-2 determine the number of eights in the set.

9. The histogram and the 20~ (18)

box plot for a data set | l 5 € (13)
are shown on the right. (11)
O) z
Determine ÉrlO-E (6)
(a) the median, u
5
- (2)
(b) the range, Score
(c) the interquartile 10 20 30 40 50
range,
(d) the modal class.
(e) Use your calculator to determine an estimate for the mean.

10. Two sets of students sat the same test and the boxplots of their marks are shown
below.

Boxplot for set B: | 1

Boxplot for set A: I 1

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
10 20 30 40 50 60

(a) What percentage of students in set A exceeded the highest mark obtained by
students in set B?
(b) Which two features of the boxplots suggest that the marks in set B were more
variable (i.e. more spread out) than those in set A?

If the top 25% of the students in set B, as defined by the test results, were all moved
to set A how would:
(c) the median mark of those left in set B compare with that of set B before the
move?
(d) the range of the scores of those left in set B compare with that of set B before
the move?
(e) the range of scores of the new set A compare with the range of the scores of
set A before the move?
(f) the interquartile range of the new set A compare with the interquartile range
of the scores of set A before the move?
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Ten: Trigonometry for right triangles. 159

Chapter Ten.

Trigonometry for right triangles.

Situation One
An emergency services team is called to an area that has experienced strong winds,
torrential rains and some flooding. In one place a bridge has been washed away and
needs to be replaced to maintain an essential supply route. The team contacts an army
engineering unit for assistance. The unit can bring up and lay a ready made pontoon
bridge provided they know the width of the river the bridge has to span.

The emergency services team use a # p jWyffip JSpp ^ j j ^

1
direction compass and tape measure to /f
measure the angles and distance shown RiveT
A / I
in the diagram (i.e. zABC = 90°, zCAB = ( i^ / /
55° and AB = 20 metres). ^ /
s
Determine the width of the river. —m ^ All^f > > ?f*

Situation Two
A company manufacturing steel frameworks is asked to quote a price for the
manufacture and delivery of fifty roof frames like the one shown sketched below.

G F

< 9 metres •

In order to quote a price for the job the company needs to know, amongst other things,
the total length of steel required to make each frame. Determine the total length of steel
required for each frame, add 10% for joints and wastage and then round up to the next
whole metre.
Note: AD is horizontal, BG and CF are vertical, AB = BC = CD and Z.AHB = zDEC = 90°.
160 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

How did you get on with the situations on the previous page?
Did you think of drawing scale diagrams to determine the required lengths?
Perhaps instead you have encountered some trigonometry work in earlier years and
remembered how to apply that to determine lengths of sides in right triangles.
Perhaps you used you calculator to determine lengths of unknown sides in right
triangles.

In this chapter we will consider the use of trigonometry to determine sides and angles in
right triangles.

Right angled triangles.

The four triangles OAH, OBG, OCF and ODE shown below all have angles of 25°, 65° and
90°. As you know from unit one of this course, the four triangles are similar.
Each triangle is an enlargement, or reduction, of the others.

In the above diagram measure the length of ED and the length of OD and use you
, „ length of ED
calculator to determine: l e n J t h o f O D .
f

Did you get an answer of approximately 0-47?

On a piece of A4 paper accurately draw a large triangle with angles of 25°, 65° and 90°.
Label your triangle XYZ as shown in the diagram below.
.Z
^-^65°

^-^25°
X

e n S
Measure the lengths of XY and YZ and determine: ! ?°!w
length of XY
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Ten: Trigonometry for right triangles. 161

Did you again find that your answer was approximately 0-47 ?

_ , , length ofYZ
e
Ask others in your class what value they got for j ^ g ^ f XY " 0

Is everyone getting an answer of approximately 0-47?

Even though each person's triangle may be a little smaller or larger than another
person's all triangles with angles of 25°, 65° and 90° are similar to each other and are
like photographic enlargements or reductions of each other.

Again as we know from unit one of this course, if two sides in a triangle are in a certain
ratio then the corresponding sides in any similar triangle will also be in the same ratio.

Thus for the diagram on the previous page, the ratio of any two of the sides in AOAH, e.g.
HA
0^ , will be the same as the ratio of the two corresponding sides in any of the other
triangles,
HA _ GB _ FC _ ED
e g
" ' OA " OB " OC " OD
and will be equal to the corresponding ratio in any other triangle with angles of 25°, 65°
. HA GB FC ED YZ
a n d 9 0 L e = = 4 7
• - OA = OB = OC OD XY * ° '

Any triangle with angles of 25°, 65° and 90° will give this same answer when the length
of the side "opposite the 25° angle" is divided by the length of the side "between the 25°
angle and the right angle".

We call this ratio the tangent of 25°, abbreviated to tan 25°.

A more accurate value for tan 25° can be found from a calculator:

tan 25
0.4663076582
162 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Trigonometry.
The tangent of an angle is one of three ratios commonly used in the branch of
mathematics called trigonometry.
The three ratios are,
the tangent ratio (or tan), the sine ratio (or sin) and the cosine ratio (or cos).

ZY ZY XY
tan 25° = ^ sin 25° = ^ cos 25° =
The values of these ratios can be obtained from a scientific, or graphic, calculator.
Correct to two decimal places: r >
tan 25
tan 25° = 0-47 0.4663076582
sin 25
sin 25° = 0-42 0.4226182617

cos 25° = 0-91 cos 25

0.906307787

Copy and complete the

lines marked below for
APQR shown.
Measure the lengths as
accurately as possible and
perform the division
using your calculator.
Then see how the
answers you obtain
compare with the values
given above.
Side PQ is of length cm
Side RQ is of length cm
Side PR is of length cm
RQ
tan 25° = = •
=
sin 25° = PR •

¿2D =
cos 25° PR ~ •
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Ten: Trigonometry for right triangles. 163

Hypotenuse, opposite and adjacent.

In a right triangle we call the side opposite the

right angle the hypotenuse.
We then label the other two sides with respect to
the angle we are considering:

With respect to angle A we say that CB is the

opposite side and AB is the adjacent side.
side adjacent
to angle A

If, on the other hand, we are considering angle C it

is now side AB that is the opposite side and BC is
the adjacent side.
side opposite
angle C

We then define the sine, cosine and tangent ratios as follows

Opposite
Sin x = Hypotenuse
Adjacent
COS x = Hypotenuse
Opposite
tan x = Adjacent
Hence

_ Opposite _ CB _ Opposite _ DE
sinx s m
Hypotenuse " AC y- Hypotenuse " DF
Adjacent _ AB Adjacent EF
cos x = Hypotenuse ~ AC c o s
y - Hypotenuse "* DF
Opposite _ CB Opposite DE
tanx- Aj d a c e n t - A B tan y - A d ] a c e n t = E F

1
The sine, cosine and tangent ratios can be remembered using the mnemonic
SOHCAHTOA
as shown on the next page.

A mnemonic is a sequence of letters or words used to help us remember something.

164 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

SOHCAHTOA

Opposite Adjacent Opposite

Sin = Cos = Tan =
Hypotenuse Hypotenuse Adjacent

The following examples show how these ratios can be used to determine unknown sides
and angles in right angled triangles.

Example 1
Find the value of x in each of the following, correct to one decimal place.
(a) (b)

xm

5m xm

(a) We require the side opposite (b) We require the side adjacent
the 40° angle and we know to the 35° angle and we know
the adjacent. Thus we use the hypotenuse. Thus we use
the tangent ratio because it the cosine ratio because it
involves these two sides. involves these two sides.
OPP Adj
tan 40° = Adj cos 35° =
Hyp
x
tan 40° = I cos 35° = ^
Multiply both sides by 5 to Multiply both sides by 12 to
eliminate fractions. eliminate fractions.
5 x tan 40° = x 12 x cos 35° =x
we write this as we write this as
5 tan 40° = x 12 cos 35° = x
Thus x = 4-2 (correct to 1 dp) Thus x = 9-8 (correct to 1 dp)
or, using the solve facility on a calculator:

solve|ten(40)=f solve|cos(35)=Y2i

{#=4.195498156} {#=9.829824531}
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Ten: Trigonometry for right triangles. 165

Example 2
Find the value of x in each of the following, correct to one decimal place,
(a) (b) \17m
8m

xm

(a) We require the side opposite (b) We require the side opposite
the 70° angle and we know the 65° angle and we know
the hypotenuse. Thus we use the adjacent. Thus we use
the sine ratio. the tangent ratio.
Opp Opp
t a n 6 5
° • Adf
sin 70° = |
tan 65° =
i.e. 8 sin 70° = x i.e. 17 tan 65° = x
Thus x = 7-5 (1 dp) Thus x = 36-5 ( l d p )
Example 3
Find the value of x in each of the following, correct to one decimal place.

8-2 m,
5-3 m

xm

(a) We require the side adjacent to the (b) We require the hypotenuse and we
40° angle and we know the opposite know the side opposite the 25° angle.
Thus we use the tangent ratio. Thus we use the sine ratio.
OPP
tan 40° =
Adj sin 2^° =
sin - H y p
5-3 8-2
tan 40° = —
x sin 25° = —
Multiply both sides by x to x
eliminate fractions. Multiply both sides by x to
x tan 40° = 5-3 eliminate fractions.
Divide both sides by tan 40°. x sin 25° = 8-2
Divide both sides by sin 25°.
x
" tan 40° _ 8
' 2

x
Thus x = 6-3 (1 dp) " sin 25°
(Or alternatively use the solve Thus x = 19-4 (1 dp)
facility on a calculator to solve (Or alternatively use the solve
facility on a calculator to solve
5-3
tan 40° = — ) J
8-2
x sin 25° = — ) J
x
166 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Example 4
Find the value of x in each of the following,

(a) We know the side opposite the (b) We know the side opposite the
required angle and we know required angle and the side
the hypotenuse. Thus we use adjacent to the required angle.
the sine ratio. Thus we use the tangent ratio.
4-5
n
o 4

sin X =
tan x = g
= 0-45
We require the angle whose sine = 0-6
is equal to 0-45. We require the angle whose tangent
Using "inverse sine" or "arc sine" is equal to 0-6.
on a calculator, often shown as Using "inverse tan" or "arc tan"
1
sin" , arcsin or perhaps ASIN on a calculator, often shown as
we obtain x = 27 (nearest integer) 1
tan"" , arctan or perhaps ATAN
/ > we obtain x = 34 (nearest integer)
1
s i n - (4.5*10) / 1
\
tan" (4*6)
26.74368395
33.69006753

Notes regarding calculator usage.

1. We can use the solve facility on some graphic calculators to solve equations such as
4-5 a n c
4
sin x° = * tan x° = g . However, this needs care. In this chapter we are
using sine, cosine and tangent in situations involving right triangles. We therefore
know that when solving an equation like sin x = 0-45 our answer must be between
0° and 90°. However, in more advanced mathematics (some of which we will see in
the next chapter), meaning can be given to the sine, cosine and tangent of angles
that are bigger than 90° and even to the sine, cosine and tangent of negative angles!
Whilst there is only one value of x between 0° and 90° for which sin x = 0-45 there
are many angles outside this interval which have a sine equal to 0-45. The solve
facility on a graphic calculator may give us one of these other answers instead. (See
displays at the top of the next page.)
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Ten: Trigonometry for right triangles. 167

Eq: sinX=4.5*10 Eq: sinX=4.5*10

X = 153.256316 X = 746.743684
Lft = 0.45 Lft = 0.45
Rgt = 0.45 Rgt = 0.45

However when an equation has more than one solution like this we can influence
the one a calculator will give. On some calculators this is done by inputting an
initial value of # and the calculator will tend to give the solution that is closest to
this value. On other calculators we can instruct the calculator to only look for
solutions in a particular range. In the display below left for example only solutions
to the equation sin x = 0-45 in the interval 0° to 90° are asked for whereas below
right solutions in the range 0° to 180° are requested.

solve(sin(#)=0-45,#]| 0<#<90 solve(sin(#)=0-45,#)| 0<#<180

{#=26.74368395} {#=153.256316, 26.74368395}

Some calculator programs allow the user to put in the known sides and angles of a
triangle and, provided the information put in is sufficient, the program will
determine the remaining sides and angles.

Other calculators can create a scale drawing of a geometrical figure and lengths and
angles can then be determined from this drawing.
These programs can be useful but make sure that you understand the underlying
ideas of sine, cosine and tangent and can reproduce the full method when required
to do so.

Get to know your calculator.

168 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Remember: When determining the lengths of sides in right triangles the Pythagorean
theorem can also be of use in situations where we are given the lengths
of two sides and need to find the length of the third, as was mentioned in
the Preliminary work section at the beginning of this book.

Applications.
The previous examples all involved abstract triangles in which we had to determine an
unknown side length or angle size. Some questions will be more applied and will refer
to a particular situation in which a right angled triangle is involved. A simple, neat, clear
diagram will then need to be drawn.

Example 5
A ladder of length 5 metres leans against a vertical wall and just reaches the top of the
wall. If the wall is 4-4 metres high calculate the angle the ladder makes with the
horizontal ground (to the nearest degree) and the distance from the foot of the ladder to
the wall (in metres correct to one decimal place).

First draw a diagram:

Knowing the hypotenuse and the side opposite the
required angle we choose the sine ratio.
s i n j c o = ±i H 4 . 4 m

Solving gives x * 62

Using Pythagoras' theorem. m

52 = 4 . 2
4 + 2
Y

Solving gives y * 2-375

The ladder makes an angle of 62° with the horizontal ground and the foot of the ladder
is 2-4 metres from the wall.
Notice • The final answers are not given as x = 62 and y = 2«4. The letters x and y
were not part of the original question, we introduced them to help us obtain
a solution. The final answer is given as a sentence that gives what was asked
for.
• Having determined x, we could alternatively have then used "tan" or "cos" to
determine the value of y:
4-4 y n
tanx =— cos x = c 5
y
Multiply both sides by y to Multiply both sides by 5 to
eliminate fractions. eliminate fractions.
y tan x° = 4-4 5 cos x° = y
Being sure to use the accurate value of x, not the rounded value of 62,
solving gives:
y* 2-375, as before. y * 2-375, as before.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Ten: Trigonometry for right triangles. 169

Exercise 10A
1- Use your calculator to determine the following correct to 2 decimal places,
(a] sin 20° (b) cos 10° (c) tan 20° (d) tan 40°
(e) tan 72° (f) cos 53-4° (g) sin 50° (h) cos 40°
2. On a sheet of A4 paper accurately draw a large right triangle with angles of 35°, 55°
and 90°. Measure the lengths of the three sides and using these measurements,
and your calculator, determine estimates for
sin 35° cos 35° tan 35° sin 55° cos 55° tan 55°
and then check that your estimates are close to the accurate values the sin, cos and
tan buttons on your calculator gives for these things.
3. Given that in each of the following x is one angle in a right triangle determine x in
each case, giving your answer correct to one decimal place.
(a) sin x° = 0-2 (b) cos x° = 0-4 (c) tan x° = 1-3 (d) sin x° = 0-3
(e) cos x° = 0-25 (f) sin*° = 0-8 (g)tanx° = 2 (h)cosx° = 0-9
4. Determine the value of x in each of the following, giving your answers correct to
one decimal place.
X
(a) sin 25° = I (b) cos 70° = x (c) tan 30° = 5
10
7-3
(d) sin 20° = - (e) cos 50° = 9
x (f) tan 30° = x
x
Given that in each of the following x is one angle in a right triangle determine x in
each case, giving your answer correct to one decimal place.
2 5 7
(a) sin x° = g— (b) cos x° = -j (c) tanx° = g

The right triangle shown on the right is scalene (i.e.

the three sides of the triangle are of different lengths.)
Write each of the following in terms of two of a, b and c. a cm
(a) sinP (b) cosP (c) tanP
(d) cosQ (e) sinQ (f) tanQ ccm

7. Which of the following statements are true for the right

triangle shown on the right?
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 qcm

rem
In each of the following determine x by:
(i) accurately drawing the triangle, and (ii) using trigonometry.

(a) (b)
xcm 3 cm

7 cm
5 cm
170 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Find the value of x (and y if applicable) in each of numbers 9 to 30 clearly showing

your use of trigonometry or Pythagoras in each one. (Give answers correct to one
decimal place if rounding is necessary.)
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Ten: Trigonometry for righ t triangles. 171

m
^- 10 m — 15 m — • «— *

31. Triangle ABC is right angled at B. If AC = 17-6 cm and zCAB = 32° find
(a) the length of AB, in centimetres correct to one decimal place,
(b) the length of BC, to the nearest millimetre.

32. Triangle DEF is right angled at D. If ED = 7 cm and FD = 5 cm find

(a) the size of zFED, to the nearest degree,
(b) the length of FE, to the nearest millimetre.

33. The diagram shows a ladder leaning against a vertical wall and
making an angle of 62° with the horizontal ground.
If the ladder is 8 metres in length calculate
(a) how high the ladder reaches up the wall, to the nearest
centimetre,
(b] the horizontal distance from the foot of the ladder to the
wall, to the nearest centimetre.
172 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

34. The outdoor light that illuminates the driveway of a two-storey house has a light
globe that needs replacing. A ladder of length 5 metres is placed with its foot on the
horizontal ground and 2 metres from the vertical wall of the house. In this position
the ladder just reaches the light.
Find (a) the angle the ladder makes with the ground, to the nearest degree,
(b) the height of the light above the ground, in metres and correct to one
decimal place.

35. A person flying a kite holds the line 1 metre above level ground and has 45 metres
of line out. If the line is straight and makes 62° with the horizontal what is the
height of the kite above ground level (to the nearest metre)?

36. To reduce the force acting on the end of a h— 2 m —

garden fence due to the wind the fence can
be "raked down".
The diagram on the right shows a fence 1-8 m
raked down from a height of 1-8 metres to i
1 metre in a horizontal distance of 2 m.
Find (a) the acute angle AB makes with the horizontal, to the nearest degree,
(b) the length of AB, to the nearest centimetre.

37. The diagram on the right shows a simple bridge design

AD and BC are horizontal.
FB and EC are vertical.
^BAF = ^CDE = 50°.
AD = 24 m and AF = FE = ED.
Calculate the lengths of AB, BF and FC giving all
answers to the nearest centimetre.

38. The diagram shows a road

bridge that can be opened to
allow tall ships to pass
underneath.
AB = AE = 20 metres and h is
the distance from C, the mid­
point of AB, to D, the point on
the bridge vertically above C. Road level
If h needs to be 8 m find 6 in
degrees correct to one
decimal place.
For this value of 6 find the
length of AD as a percentage of AE (to the nearest percent).
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Ten: Trigonometry for right triangles. 173

39. A vertical mast stands on level ground and is supported by

a number of wires, as shown in the diagram. All these
wires have one end attached to the ground, six metres
from the base of the mast, and their other ends are
attached to points that are either one third or two thirds of
the way up the mast.
If the height of the mast is fifteen metres find:
(a) the length of one of the "short wires" (nearest centimetre) and the angle it
makes with the ground (nearest degree),
(b) the length of one of the "long wires" (nearest centimetre) and the angle it
makes with the ground (nearest degree).

40. The diagram on the right shows

the timbers forming part of a roof.
The framework is symmetrical,
AE is horizontal, HB, GC and FD
are vertical and zBAH = 40°.
AH = HG = GF = FE = 2m.
Find the length of AC, CG, BH and
HC giving your answers to the
nearest centimetre.

41. A vertical pole of height 20 metres stands on horizontal ground and is supported
by a number of guy wires. Each wire has one end attached to a point three-
quarters of the way up the pole and the other end attached to one of the
fastenings situated on the ground, 8 m from the base of the pole. Find the acute
angle each wire makes with the horizontal, giving your answer to the nearest
degree.

42. A mast AD is to stand vertically on horizontal ground. Part

of the mast, CD in the diagram, is to be below ground. A
straight support wire has one end fastened to the ground, at
point E in the diagram, and the other to a point B on the
mast. Angle BEC is to be no less than 42° and no more than /
52° and BC will be no less than 9-9 metres and no more than E
10-2 metres.
Based on these figures determine
(a) the largest possible length of the support wire EB (nearest cm),
(b) the shortest possible length of the support wire EB (nearest cm).
174 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

s 15°
43. A pendulum of length 80 cm swings 15° either side of the \
\
vertical. \
\
What is the vertical rise the bob of the pendulum makes \
\
above its lowest position, to the nearest millimetre?

44. The diagram shows a mobile

crane lifting an 8 metre pole
into the vertical position. The
cable from the crane is
attached to a point C where AC
is four fifths of AB. At the
instant shown in the diagram
CD = 8 metres. How high is
point D above the horizontal
ground (to the nearest metre)?

45. (Challenging.)
The framework shown below is to be made out of lengths of steel.
h 10 m H h 10 m —
T \30° 30>^
T
£
LO
\90>^
1 /40° 90° /30° 3 0 ^ 90° 40^\

The framework consists of a right angled triangle on each end with three
rectangles in the middle.
The company contracted to make it needs to know the total length of steel
required.
Find the length of steel required, to the nearest whole metre.

46. (Challenging? Maybe, but hint makes it okay.)

Given the diagram shown on the right
determine the values of x and y giving each
answer correct to one decimal place.
Hint: Obtain the height in terms of y from one
triangle, and then find the height in h 72° 31 c

terms of y from another triangle and 25-3 cm

then ...
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Ten: Trigonometry for right triangles. 175

Accuracy and trigonometry questions.

So far all of the examples and almost all of the questions in this chapter have stated the
degree of rounding that the answers should be given to. If this is not stated you should
"round appropriately". Just what is appropriate depends upon the accuracy of the data
we are given and what is appropriate for the situation. For example, if a question gives
us a right triangle with one side of length 3*2 cm and one angle of size 36°, our calculator
may give us the length of some other side as being 2-32493609 but it would be quite
inappropriate to claim this sort of accuracy because it is far beyond the accuracy of the
information used to obtain it.
In general, if we are not told the accuracy to give an answer to, our final answer should
not be more accurate than the accuracy of the data we use to obtain it. If a question
gives us a length in cm, to 1 decimal place, we should not claim greater accuracy for any
lengths we determine. Sometimes we may need to use our judgement of the likely
accuracy of the given data. Given a length of 5 cm we might assume this has been
measured to the nearest mm and hence give answers similarly to the nearest mm.
(Theoretically a measurement of 5 cm measured to the nearest mm should be recorded
as 5-0 cm but this is often not done.)
In situations where accuracy is crucial any given measurements could be given with
"margins of error" included, for example 3-2 cm ± 0-05 cm, 36° ± 0-5°. More detailed
error analysis could then be carried out and the margins of error for the answer
calculated. However this is beyond the scope of this text and, as mentioned earlier: If a
question does not state the degree of rounding required your final answers should be
rounded "appropriately".
You are already used to rounding appropriately in some situations not involving
trigonometry. For example if asked for the sale price in an "8% off everything sale" for
something usually costing $25-45 you would give the answer as $23-40, not the $23-414
value a calculator gives for $25-45 * 0-92. If asked how many chocolate bars costing
$1-40 each we could purchase with $8 we would not give the calculator answer of
5-714285714 bars, even though we would know that the values of $1-40 and $8 were
exact. Instead we would say that 5 bars could be purchased and, if we wanted to give more
information, we could add that $1 change would be given.

Some questions requiring the use of trigonometry involve situations that mention
bearings and/or angles of elevation or depression. It is often these concepts that
cause errors more so than the trigonometry itself. The next few pages cover these
concepts

Bearings.
From one location, the direction we would need to travel to reach a second location can
be given as a bearing. These are angles, expressed as three figures, and are measured
from North, clockwise, as shown on the next page.
176 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

North North North

I
I D
Bearing of B from A is Bearing of C from A is Bearing of D from A is
055° 110° 230°

Alternatively bearings can be expressed as a certain number of degrees (between 0 and

90) to the East or West of North or South. Thus the above three figure bearings could be
expressed as the following compass bearings:
Bearing of B from A is Bearing of C from A is Bearing of D from A is
N55°E S70°E S50°W

Example 6
c
From town A, town B lies 7-2 km away on a bearing of 070
From town B, town C lies 8-4 km away on a bearing of 160°
Find the distance and bearing of C from A.
North
First make a sketch of the situation:
c
North
Note that with the given bearings ^ABC = 90
1
In AABC, by Pythagoras theorem 2
A C = 7-2 + 8-4
2 2

Thus AC * 11-06 km
8-4
Also tan zBAC = 7-2

giving Z.BAC * 4 9 . 4 0
Thus the bearing of C from A is approximately 119°, i.e. (49 + 70°). c

Town C is 11-1 km from A, on a bearing of 119°.

Elevation and Depression.

• Angles of elevation are measured from the horizontal, up.

• Angles of depression are measured from the horizontal,

down.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Ten: Trigonometry for right triangles. 177

Example 7
From a point on level ground, 40 metres from a tree, the angle of elevation of the top of
the tree is 27°. Calculate the height of the tree.

First make a sketch of the situation:

With respect to the 27° we know the length of the Tree
adjacent side and require the length of the opposite
side. Thus we choose the tangent ratio. 40 m
_ height of tree
tan 27° =
40
Solving gives: height of tree «20-4 metres
The height of the tree is approximately 20 metres.

More vocabulary.
• Note also that if a question refers to a line subtending an angle at a point this is the
angle formed by joining each end of the line to the point.

Line AB subtends Chord DE subtends

Z.ACB at C. Z.DFE at the centre, F.

If points are referred to as being collinear this means they lie in a straight line.

Exercise 10B
1. From the diagram on the right find: North

(a) the bearing of B from A,

(b) the bearing of C from A,
(c) the bearing of D from A,
(d) the bearing of E from A,
(e) the bearing of F from A,
(f) the bearing of G from A,
(g) the bearing of A from B,
(h) the bearing of A from C,
(i) the bearing of A from D,
0) the bearing of A from E,
(k) the bearing of A from F,
(1) the bearing of A from G.
Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

(a) What is the angle of elevation (b) What is the angle of depression
of the aeroplane from A? of the ship from B?

i / 70°

H2N^ 30°

(c) What is the angle of depression of (d) What is the angle of elevation
point C from the top of the tower? of the top of the flagpole from D?

75°

ft

When the angle of elevation of the sun is

28° a vertical flag pole casts a shadow of
length 22-4 metres on horizontal ground.
Calculate the height of the flagpole.

Find the angle of elevation of the sun if a 2-0 metre pole held vertically on
horizontal ground casts a shadow of length 4-1 metres. Give your answer correct to
the nearest degree.

A flagpole stands vertically on level ground. When the sun's elevation is 24° the
flagpole casts a shadow of length 22-5 metres. Find the height of the flagpole.

A and B are two points on horizontal ground. A mast of length 540 cm is to stand
vertically with its base at B. From A, the top of the mast will have an angle of
elevation of 17°. A straight wire is to run from the top of the mast to the point A.
How far is this, rounded up to the next metre?

At 9 a.m. one morning two ships leave a harbour and head out to sea. One ship
travels at a steady 4 km/h on a bearing 110° and the other ship maintains 5 km/h
on a bearing 200°. To the nearest kilometre how far apart are the ships one and a
half hours later?

The three points A, B and C lie on horizontal ground and form a straight line with B
between A and C. A vertical tower of height 40 metres stands at C. The angle of
elevation of the top of the tower is 18° from A and 35° from B. How far is B from A
(to the nearest metre)?
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Ten: Trigonometry for right triangles. 179

9. From ship A, ship B lies 12-2 km away on a bearing N58°W.

From ship B, ship C lies on a bearing S32°W.
If the bearing of C from A is S59°W how far is ship C from ship A?
10. Three collinear points A, B and C lie on horizontal ground with B between A and C.
A vertical tower of height 42 metres stands at B. The angle of elevation of the top of
the tower is 28° from A and 17° from C. How far is C from A (to the nearest metre)?

11. Three collinear points A, B and C lie on horizontal ground with B between A and C.
A vertical tower of height 36 metres stands at C. The angle of elevation of the top of
the tower is 15° from A and 40° from B. How far is B from A (to the nearest metre)?

12. Two vertical towers stand on level ground. From the top of one tower, of height 40
metres, the top and base of the second tower have angles of elevation and
depression of 20° and 30° respectively. Find the height of the second tower.

13. A tree stands vertically on a hillside that is

inclined at 20° to the horizontal. When the
angle of elevation of the sun is 39° (i.e. 39° with
the horizontal) the tree casts a shadow of
length 35-3 metres straight down the slope.
How tall is the tree?

14. A forest warden on fire look-out duty in an observation tower notices smoke
directly North of his position. From a second tower, situated 5-3 km due East of the
first, another warden sees the smoke on a bearing 335°. How far is the smoke from
the first observation tower?

15. An observer in an aircraft flying at an altitude of 500 metres notices two ships at
sea. At the moment the observer sees the ships as being "in line" he records their
angles of depression as 30° and 40° respectively. How far apart are the ships?

16. A vertical flagpole stands on top of a vertical tower of height 40 m. At a point level
with the base of the tower and 60 m from it, the flagpole subtends an angle of 10°.
How long is the flagpole?
17. A and B are two points on level ground, 19-6 metres apart. A vertical flagpole at B
subtends an angle of 40° at the eye of a person standing at A and whose "eye
height" is 1-6 m. Find the height of the flagpole.
18. From a point on level ground the angle of elevation of a vertical flagpole is 40°.
From the same position find the angle of elevation of the point three quarters of the
way up the flagpole.
180 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Miscellaneous Exercise Ten.

This miscellaneous exercise may include questions involving the work of this
chapter, the work of any previous chapters, and the ideas mentioned in the
preliminary work section at the beginning of the book.
1. Determine the value of x in each of the following, giving your answers correct to

2. Find the mean and the median of the following six amounts:
$13 600 $5 700 $23400 $2100 $14600 $98700

3. The 35 students in a class sat a test that was marked out of 40. The 20 boys had a
mean score of 24-35 and the class mean was 23. What was the mean score of the
girls in the class?

4. Solve the following equations.

(a) 7 x - 1 5 = 132 (b) 3(2x-l) + 2x=17
2x+1 5
= 5 № = 8
(c) - 3 - *

Formula: v = u + 2as
2 2

(a) Find s given that v = 13, u = 5 and a = 24.

(b) Find a given that v = 21, u - 17 and 5 = 19.

6. I think of a number, multiply it by three, add seven and then divide the answer by
two. At the end of all this the number I end up with is eleven more than the number
I first thought of. Find the number first thought of.

7. John takes out a loan which involves simple interest charged at the rate of 7-5%
per annum. After 4 years John repays $11180 which clears the loan and interest.
How much did John borrow in the first place?
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Ten. 181

Multiply
by 2

8. The "rectapatterns" shown below all

follow the pattern shown on the right. Add S-
Copy and complete the eight starting [ ^Add
"rectapatterns" shown below. number V^. Start J 7

here

(a) (b) 00 (d)

92 17

7-5

(e) te) (h)

36

14 59 83

The diagram below shows the percent of total national income earned by each
tenth of the population of a particular country in one year, richest at the top.
10% 37-9%
10% 15-6%
10% 11-4% I
10% 9-0%
10% 7-3% f
10% 5-9% j
10% 4-70/0r Poverty Line j
10% 3-7%
10% 2-8% !
10% 1-6% j
Source of data: The New Internationalist Magazine.
For the particular year and country involved:
(a) What percentage of the population lie below the poverty line?
(b) What is the "37-9%" in the above graph telling you?

10. Find the equation of the straight line with gradient 0-5, passing through (3,4).
Each of the points F(?,f), G{-9,g), H(/i,9), I(/, 1-5) and J(3-8,j) lie on this line.
Determine the values of f, g, h, i and j .

11. A group of students sat an exam. The mean score for the boys was 56% and for
the girls was 62%.
(a) If the group had the same number of girls as it had boys what would be the
mean of the whole group?
(b) If the mean for the whole group was actually 59-8% were there more boys
than girls in the group or were there more girls than boys?
182 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

12. Find the equations of the lines A to J shown below.

13. Scientists investigating levels of pollution in a particular stretch of river estimate

that N, the number of fish that part of the river can support, depends on P, the
number of tonnes of pollutant in that part of the river, according to the rule:
N * 60000-2100 P
(a) How many fish does this rule suggest this stretch of the river can support if
P = 5.
(b) If the level of pollution reaches 18 tonnes what number of fish could this
stretch of the river support according to the above rule.
(c) If fish numbers are not to drop below 45 000 what does the formula suggest
the pollution level must not exceed?

14. The diagram below shows a headlamp beam adjusted down to avoid dazzling
oncoming drivers.

The light beam is angled at x° below the horizontal and the distances h, d, c and y
are as shown in the diagram. Assuming that the beam does not spread out at all
and that the ground is horizontal, find d and c given that:
x = 4, h = 80 cm and y = 20 cm.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eleven: Trigonometry for triangles that are not right angled. 183

Chapter Eleven.
Trigonometry for triangles that are not right angled.
c
Area of a triangle.

From unit one of this course, and

from earlier years, you are already
familiar with the formula for the
area of a triangle:
base
x a s e x
Area of a A = 2 ^ perpendicular height
C
Suppose instead you are asked to determine
the area of a triangle for which you are not told
the perpendicular height but instead know two
sides and the angle between them, as shown
on the right. How would you proceed then?

Exercise 11A < 10 cm >

1. Find h in triangle ABC shown above and hence determine the area of the triangle.

6 cm 7-5 cm 74 mm
184 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Triangles that are not right angled.

On the previous page we were asked, amongst other things, to determine the area of
AABC, given the lengths of BA and BC and the size of zABC. (i.e. given two sides and the
angle between them.)
C

By drawing the perpendicular from C to AB we obtain right triangles. This allows

trigonometry to be used to determine the height, and hence the area, of AABC.
C

(Alternatively AABC could be drawn accurately from the given information and the
perpendicular height could be measured.)

This approach of drawing the perpendicular from one vertex to the opposite side allows
trigonometry to be used for a triangle that is not right angled. We will use this approach
in this chapter to obtain three formulae that are useful when dealing with triangles that
are not right angled.
We will consider; » a formula for the area of a triangle,
<sr the sine rule formula,
the cosine rule formula.
Note: In obtaining these formulae we will use the usual
convention for naming the sides and angles of a
triangle, i.e. in triangle ABC the three angles are
labelled A, B and C according to their vertex and the
sides opposite these angles are labelled a, b and c
respectively.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eleven: Trigonometry for triangles that are not right angled. 185

Area of a triangle given two sides and the included angle.

Consider AABC with the perpendicular from B to AC

meeting AC at D (see diagram).
In ABDC, sinC = -
Multiplying by a to isolate h, h
= asinC
1
Using Area of triangle = ^ base x height

we have Area of triangle = ^b^asinC

ab sin C
Thus: Area of a triangle = — ^ — a
i.e. the area of a triangle is half the product of two sides
multiplied by the sine of the angle between them.

Example 1 14 cm
Find the area of the triangle shown sketched on the right. 35
20 cm
20 x 14 x s i n 35°
Area =
2
* 80-3 c m

Now that we are dealing with any triangle, not just right triangles, we could have an
obtuse angle between the two sides of known length, as shown below.

6 cm

10 cm

Applying our formula will involve the sine of an obtuse angle:

10 x 6 x sin 120°
Area =

c
How does your calculator respond when asked for sin 120° or sin 130° or sin 140
186 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

\
Did you notice that sin 120° = sin 60°
sin 130° = sin 50°
r
sin 120 0.8660254038
sin 140° = sin 40°
sin 60
0.8660254038
in fact, to generalize: sin(180°-C) = sin C
sin 130
0.7660444431
sin 50
This fact means that we can use our area 0.7660444431
formula,
1
A = -ab sin C,
2
for all triangles, even those for which angle C is obtuse.

Consider the acute angled AABC below left and the obtuse angled AABC below right.

= -ab sin C
2
1
Thus for all triangles our area formula A = - ab sin C applies.

However, the fact that sin(180° - C)= sin C does present a difficulty if a question gives
the area of a triangle and the lengths of two sides of the triangle and asks for the size of
the angle between the two sides of known length. Which answer do we give - the acute
angle or the obtuse angle?

2
For example, suppose AABC has an area of 3 cm and is such that a = 4 cm and b = 3 cm.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eleven: Trigonometry for triangles that are not right angled. 187

1
Using Area = — ab sin C
sin 150
1 0.5
3 = -x4x3sinC
2 sin 30
3 = 6 sin C 0.5

and so sin C = 0-5

Now comes our dilemma:
Does C = 30° or does C = 150° ?

The dilemma is genuine because for the information we are given there are two possible
triangles that "fit the facts":

4 cm 4 cm

The two triangles each have a base of 4 cm and are the same height as each other. Hence
2
their areas will indeed be equal, and in this case each equal to 3 cm .

The information we have been given about triangle ABC is said to be ambiguous. (The
word ambiguous meaning open to more than one interpretation.) However, there is no
need to panic. In this unit we will be given sufficient information for such ambiguity to
be avoided, as in the next example.

Example 2
2
Triangle DEF is such that e = 16 cm, d = 12 cm, the area of the triangle is 78 c m and
Z.DFE is an acute angle. Find the size of Z.DFE giving your answer to the nearest 0*1°.

Using Area = - ab sin C

2
1
78 = - x l 2 x l 6 s i n Z D F E
2 16 cm
sinZDFE = 0-8125
and so, given that Z.DFE is an acute angle, using a calculator:
Z.DFE = 54-3° (to nearest 0-1°)
12 cm

(If instead we had been told that ZDFE was an obtuse angle our final answer would have
been 125-7°, i.e. 180° - 54-3°. Had we not been told anything about ZDFE then two
possible triangles would exist that each satisfied the given facts.)
188 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Example 3
Given that the triangle sketched on the right has an area
2
of 7 c m find x correct to one decimal place. 4 cm

Area = | (x) 4 sin 70°

7 = | (x) 4 sin 70° xcm

i.e. 7 = 2 x sin 70°

Solving this equation gives x= 3-7, correct to 1 d.p.

Note: It is also possible to determine the area of a triangle, given the lengths of the
three sides of the triangle, using a result known as Heron's V formula:
I a+b+c
Area of AABC = V s(s-d){s-b)(s-c) where s= ^ .
One of the questions of a later exercise in this chapter, and one of the questions
in a later Miscellaneous Exercise, reminds you of this formula and requires you
to use it.

Exercise 11B
Find the area of each triangle in questions 1 to 11, giving your answers in square
centimetres and correct to one decimal place. (Diagrams not necessarily to scale).

1.

7-3 cm
7-2 cm

17-3 cm 14-2 cm

7.

9-3 cm

10. AABC given that AB = 8 cm, BC = 7 cm, AC = 5 cm and LBAC = 60°.

11. APQR given that PQ = 7 cm, PR = 8 cm, RQ = 3 cm and ZPRQ = 60°.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eleven: Trigonometry for triangles that are not right angled. 189

Find the value of x in each of the following, correct to one decimal place, given that the

2 2 2
Area = 19-6 c m Area = 40-9 c m Area = 24-5 c m

Find the size of Z.ABC in each of the following, correct to the nearest degree, given that
each triangle is acute angled and the area of each triangle is as stated. (The diagrams are
not necessarily drawn to scale.)
15. A 16. A 17.

2 2 2
Area = 97-4 c m Area = 45-2 cm Area = 69-9 c m

18. If farming land in a particular region costs $12 300 per hectare find the cost of each
2
of the following areas, to the nearest $1000. (1 hectare = 10 000 m .)

19. A triangular block of land has two sides of lengths 45 m and 30 m and the angle
included between them is 70°.
A second triangular block has two sides of lengths 48 m and 35 m and the angle
included between them is 50°.
Which block has the greater area and by how much (to the nearest square metre)?

20. The owners of two neighbouring triangular blocks of

land, shown as A and B in the diagram on the right, are
offered a total of $1 250 000 by a property developer
for the two blocks together. If they were to accept this
offer and divide the money between them in the ratio
of the land areas of the blocks how much would each
owner receive?
190 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 97801703S04S7.

21. (Note: A square of side 100 metres has an area of 1 Hectare.)

A farmer wishes to lease one Hectare of his land to an investor who wishes to use it
to grow Tasmanian Blue Gum trees. The investor intends harvesting these fast
growing trees and selling the wood to a paper making company as woodchip. The
farmer, for his part, simply has to fence off suitable land for the investor to use.
Rather than having to use new
fencing around the whole area C
the farmer chooses a triangular
site that allows existing fencing
to be used on two sides (AB and
AC in the diagram). The farmer
measures the distance AB as 173
metres and measures Z.CAB as
40°. He wishes to locate point C so that AABC will have an area of one Hectare. He
asks you to calculate the length AC for him. Calculate this length, rounding your
answer up to the next whole metre.

The sine rule.

If we were given the triangle on the right and were asked to find
a we could accurately draw the triangle and measure the
required length. However, great accuracy is not easy to achieve
and drawing can be time consuming. Once again we could
proceed by drawing the perpendicular from B to AC so that our
right triangle trigonometry work can be used, as shown below.

Draw the perpendicular from B to meet AC at D (see diag).

h
In AABD sin 60° 8
h 8 sin 60°
h
InABCD sin 50° = za
8 sin 60° i ( • rem 8xsin(60) ^
sin 50° = solvel sin(50) = — - ,x\
a
Solving gives a « 9-04 cm {x= 9.044126999}

As we will see on the next page, if we apply this technique to a general triangle ABC we
obtain the sine rule:
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eleven: Trigonometry for triangles that are not right angled. 191

Consider a triangle ABC as shown below left for an acute angled triangle and below right
for an obtuse angled triangle.

Drawing the perpendicular from B to Drawing the perpendicular from B to

meet AC at D: meet AC produced at D:
B B

(180°- Q

From AABD; sini4 =

h = csini4
h ®
From ACBD: sin C =
a
h = asinC ®
Thus for both the acute triangle and the obtuse triangle:
From® and© csini4 = a s i n C

T h U S @
¡ ^ = 8 1 ^
Ifinstead we draw the perpendicular from A to BC we obtain
h r
sin B sin C ®
From ® and @ it follows that

a
sin A sin B sin C
This is the sine rule.
Rather than learning this formula notice the pattern:
Any side on the sine of the opposite angle is equal to any other
side on the sine of its opposite angle.
192 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Example 4
Find the value of x in the following, giving answers correct to one decimal place.

(a) By the sine rule (b) By the sine rule

* 8-2 10-3 7-1
c
sin 70 sin 60 c
sin 120 c

sin XT
Multiply by sin 70° to isolate x Multiply by (sin x°) (sin 120°)
_ 8-2 sin 70°
x 10-3 sin x° = 7-1 sin 120°
~ sin 60°
= 8-9 ( t o l d p ) sinx° * 0-5970

x = 36-7 (to 1 dp)

Or, using the "solve" ability of some calculators:

( x = 8.2 > 10.3

solve solve = - U - ,x] |o<x<180
1^11(70)
1(70) sin(60) ' * ) ^sin(120) sin(:xO } I
{x = 8.897521316} {x= 143.346877, ^=36.65312298}

Note • In part (b) we went from sin x° a 0-5970 to x = 36-7 (to 1 dp) despite there
being another value of x between 0 and 180 for which sin x° = 0-5970, and that
is (180 - 36-7), i.e. 143-3, as the calculator shows when asked for solutions in
the interval 0 < x < 180. However, in the given triangle x cannot be 143-3
because the triangle already has one obtuse angle and cannot have another.
However, whilst this may not always be the case, and an ambiguous situation
could occur when both answers are possible, this unit will not include such
situations and sufficient information will be given to be able to dismiss one of
the solutions.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eleven: Trigonometry for triangles that are not right angled. 193

As was mentioned in the previous chapter on right triangles, some calculator programs
allow the user to put in the known sides and angles of a triangle and, provided the
information put in is sufficient, the program will determine the remaining sides and
angles.

Also some calculators allow us to create a scale drawing of the triangle and find lengths
and angles that way.
These programs can be useful but make sure that you understand the underlying idea of
the sine rule (and the cosine rule which we will see later in this chapter) and can
demonstrate the appropriate use of these rules when required to do so.

Example 5
8-7 cm. 9-5 cm
Find the value of x in the triangle shown on the right.
(Give the answer correct to one decimal place.) 50°

Note first that x°, being opposite a side of length 8-7 cm, must be less than the 50° which
is opposite a side of length 9-5 cm. (For any two sides of a triangle, the larger of the two
sides has the larger opposite angle.)
9-5 8-7
By the sine rule sin 50° sinx°
Multiply by (sin 50°) (sin x°) 9-5 sin x° = 8-7 sin 50°
8-7 sin 50°
sinsr 9-5
Thus x * 44-6 (correct to 1 d.p.)

Or, using the "solve" ability of some calculators: 9.5

solve = J L Z _ ,x) |n<a;<180
l^sinfSO) sin(x) ) I
We then dismiss the obtuse angle because x had
to be smaller than 50. (Or, had we not noticed {x = 1 3 5 . 4 4 9 6 7 7 5 , x = 4 4 . 5 5 0 3 2 2 5 3 }
this from the side lengths, we would reject the
obtuse angle as the angle sum of the triangle
would exceed 180°)

Thus, as before, x = 44-6 (correct to 1 d.p.).

194 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

The cosine rule.

Again consider a triangle ABC as shown below left for an acute angled triangle and
below right for an obtuse angled triangle. However, in this case, we use the fact that for
cosines: cos (180° - Q = -cos C

Again we draw the perpendicular from B Again we draw the perpendicular from B
to meet AC at D: to meet AC produced at D:
B

(180°-Q

2 From ACBD: a = tf + oc
2 2
®
From ACBD: a = ft + x 2 2
®
2 2 2 From AABD: c = h + {b + xf
2 2

From AABD: c = h + {b-x) 2

2 = h + {b + x) (b + x)
= h + {b-x){b-x) 2 2 2
2 2 2 2 i.e. c = h + b + x + 2bx 2

i.e. c = h + b + x -2bx
2 2 2 Using ®: c = a + b + 2bx ©
2 2 2

c = a + b -2bx ®
Using ®:
From ACBD: cos (180° - Q = ~
cos C = ~
From ACBD:
JC = - a c o s C ©
x = a cos C ©
Using © a n d ® :
Using® and©; 2 2 2
2 2 c = a + fc -2afccosC
c = a + b - 2ab cos C
2

2 2 2
Thus for both the acute triangle and the obtuse triangle c = a + 6 - 2aft cos C.

2 2 2
This is the cosine rule: c = a + b - 2ab cos C

2
Similarly 2
o = b + c - 2bc cos A
2 2
and è = a + c - 2ac cos B
2 2
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eleven: Trigonometry for triangles that are not right angled. 195

As was said with the sine rule, rather than learning the rule as a formula instead notice
the pattern of what it is telling you:

The square of any side of a triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the
other two sides take away twice the product of the other two sides
multiplied by the cosine of the angle between them.

Example 6 xmm
Find the value of x for the triangle shown sketched on 22 mm
the right.
39 mm

By the cosine rule: r222+392 - 2 x 2 2 x 3 9 x c o s ( 1 0 0 )

2
x 2 2
= 2 2 + 39 - 2 (22) (39) cos 100°
2302.980273
* 2302-98
x = 48 to the nearest integer. Vans
47.98937667

Example 7
5*2 cm 6-9 cm
Find the value of x for the triangle shown
sketched on the right.
8-3 cm

By the cosine rule:

2 2 2
8-3 = 5-2 + 6-9 -2(5-2) (6-9) cos x° 2 2
5.2 +6.9 -8.3 2

2 2
5-2 + 6 - 9 - 8 - 3 2
2x5.2x6.9
cosx° =
2 (5-2) (6-9) 0.08026755853
1
* 0-08027 cos" (ans)
x = 85 to the nearest integer. 85.39605483
196 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Note • If you prefer to use the solve facility on your calculator make sure you can
obtain the same answers as those shown.
• With the cosine rule, when solving equations of the form cos x = c we do not
have to worry about there being two solutions in the range 0 ° to 180°. The
cosine of an acute angle is positive whilst the cosine for an obtuse angle is
negative. Thus an equation of the form cos x = c does not have two solutions for
x in the range 0° to 180°. If c is positive the one solution will be an acute angle
and if c is negative it will be an obtuse angle.

Example 8
The sketch on the right shows a system of three
triangles with lengths and angles as indicated.
BAE is a straight line.
Find the length of CD.
B 37 mm A 48 mm E

Thoughts:
CD is one side of AACD. In this triangle we know the lengths of AC and
AD so if we knew the size of zCAD we could apply the cosine rule to find
the length of CD. We can find the size of zCAD if we first find the size of
zCAB and the size of zDAE.

For AABC, applying the cosine rule: (41 2

+ 37 2 2
- 68 ) * (2x41x37)
2 2 2
68 = 41 + 37 -2x41x37coszBAC -0.5187870798
-1

41 2
+ 37 -682 2 c o s Ans
coszBAC = 121.2509263
2 X 41 X 37 Ans A
ZBAC * 121-3° 121.2509263

2 2 2

For ADAE, applying the cosine rule: (33 + 48 - 21 ) * (2x33x48)

2 2 2
0.9318181818
21 = 33 + 48 -2x33x48coszDAE -1
c o s Ans
33 2
+ 48 -212 2
21.27996647
cosz.DAE =
2 X 33 X 48 Ans-» B
21.27996647
Z.DAE « 21-3°
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eleven: Trigonometry for triangles that are not right angled. 197

For ACAD, applying the cosine rule: 2 2

33 +41 -2x33x41cos(180-A-B)
CD 2 2 2
= 33 + 41 -2x33x41cos^CAD 622.297976
* 622-3 VÀns
CD a 24-9 24.94590099
CD is of length 25 mm, to the nearest
millimetre.

Notice from the calculator displays that the more accurate values for zBAC and zDAE
were stored and later recalled for use, thus avoiding the risk of introducing unnecessary
rounding errors.

Exercise 11C
The sine rule.
Given that each of the following equations are formed by applying the sine rule to an
acute angled triangle solve for x, giving your answer correct to one decimal place in each
case.

x 7-3 x 12-1 12-3 x

c 2. sin 78° sin 60° " sin 65°
sin 50 sin 75° sin 32°

8-2 _ 10 7-8 8-3 6-8 7-2

4. 5. sin 50 c
sinx°
s\nx° ~ sin85 c
sinx° sin 50 c

Find the value of x in each of the following.

7. 8.

a: cm

10.

56 mm
x is between 0 and 90.
198 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

11. 12.

10-4 cm
xis between 90 and 180.
13. 14.

15. The diagram shows a pole AB with end A fixed on

horizontal ground and the pole supported by a wire
attached to end B and to a point C on the ground
with AC = 420 centimetres.
The pole makes an angle of 50° with the ground and
the wire makes an angle of 30° with the ground, as
shown in the diagram. 9 „on $
Points A, B and C all lie in the same vertical plane.
Find the length of the pole giving your answer to the nearest centimetre.

' Green

16. Rather than risking the direct shot over a

lake a golfer prefers to take two shots to
get to the green as shown in the diagram 108°
cu
on the right. B
IN
How much further is this two shot route
than the direct route?

The cosine rule.

Given that each of the following equations are formed by applying the cosine rule to an
acute angled triangle solve for x in each case, giving your answers correct to one decimal
place.
2
17. x = 7 + 8 - 2 (7) (8) cos 56°
2 2
18. x 2 2
= 3 + 2 - 2 (3) (2) cos 32°
2 2 2 2 2 2
19. 3 = 5 + 7 - 2 (5) (7) cos x° 20. 12 = 9 + l l - 2 (9) (11) cosx°
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eleven: Trigonometry for triangles that are not right angled. 199

Find the value of x in each of the following.

29. A boat travels 6-3 km due North and then turns 17° towards the West and travels a
further 7-2 km. How far is it then from its initial position?

30. Jim and Toni leave the same point at the same time with Jim walking
away at a speed of 1-4 m/s and Toni at a speed of 1-7 m/s, the two
directions of travel making an angle of 50° with each other. If they
both continue on these straight line paths how far are they apart after ^or\j
8 seconds?

31. From location A, location B is 12-3 km away on a bearing of 070°.

From location A, location C is 7-2 km away on a bearing of 150°.
How far is B from C?
200 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Miscellaneous.
Find the value of x in each of the following.
32. w 33.

19-8 cm
13-8 cm
xis between 0 and 90.

34. 35.

xm xkm

36. 37.

100^

x° A
/^
/ °°

38. 39.
72 mm

74 m
xmm

40. The diagram on the right shows a

mobile crane used to lift containers
from ships and transfer them to
waiting container trucks. If AB is of
length 300 centimetres find the
lengths of AC and BC.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Eleven: Trigonometry for triangles that are not right angled. 201

41. A triangle has sides of length 12-7 cm, 11-9 cm and 17-8 cm. Find the size of the
smallest angle of the triangle, giving your answer to the nearest degree.

42. A parallelogram has sides of length 3-7 cm and 6-8 cm and the acute angle between
the sides is 48°.
Find the lengths of the diagonals of the parallelogram.

43. The diagonals AC and BD, of parallelogram ABCD, intersect at E.

If zAED = 63° and the diagonals are of length 10-4 cm and 14-8 cm use the fact that
the diagonals of a parallelogram bisect each other to determine the lengths of the
sides of the parallelogram.

44. The tray of the tip truck shown on the right

is tipped by the motor driving rod BC
clockwise about B. As the tray tips, end C
moves along the guide towards A.
If AB = 2 metres and BC = 1 metre find the
size of zCAB when AC is
(a) 2-6 metres, ( b ) 2-1 metres.

45. The "W-type roof truss" shown on the

right is to be constructed with
AE = 900 cm and AG = GF = FE.
A
ADEF = 20°, ED = DC and the truss is '
symmetrical with the vertical line
through C as the line of symmetry.
Calculate the following lengths, correct to the nearest cm
(a) CE, ( b ) ED, (c) DF, ( d ) CF.

46. Find, to the nearest millimetre, the distance between the tip
of the 70 mm hour hand and the tip of the 90 mm minute
hand of a clock at (a) 5 o'clock,
(b) 10 minutes past 5.

47. A coastal observation position is known to be 2*50 km from a lighthouse. The

coastguard in the observation position is in radio and visual contact with a ship in
distress at sea. If the coastguard looks towards the lighthouse and then towards
the ship these two directions make an angle of 40° with each other. If the captain
on the ship looks towards the observation position and then towards the
lighthouse these two directions make an angle of 115° with each other. (The ship,
the lighthouse and the observation position may all be assumed to be on the same
horizontal level.]
How far is the ship from (a) the lighthouse,
(b) the coastal observation position?
202 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

48. From a lighthouse, ship P is 7-3 km away on a bearing 070°.

A second ship Q is on a bearing 150° from P and 130° from the lighthouse.
(a) How far is Q from P?
(b) How far is Q from the lighthouse?

49. From a lighthouse, ship A is 15-2 km away on a bearing 030° and ship B is 12-1 km
away on a bearing 100°.
How far, and on what bearing, is B from A?

50. Ignoring any wastage needed for cutting,

joining etc. what total length of steel would be
needed to make twelve of the steel frameworks
shown sketched on the right, rounding your
answer up to the next ten metres. 200 cm, 600 cm

67-2 m

51. The diagram on the right shows the sketch made by a

surveyor after taking measurements for a block of
land ABCD.
Find the area and the perimeter of the block.

52. An engineering component consists of a rectangular metal plate with a triangular

piece removed, as in the diagram below left.
The removed piece is cut away by a computer controlled machine that is
programmed to cut a triangle with vertices at the distances and angles shown on
the diagram below right.
A, A,

B
> A* 17° AB = 60 mm

4
Find the area and the perimeter of the triangular piece that is removed.
AC = 83 mm
AD = 54 mm

53. The diagram on the right shows the

sketch made by a surveyor after taking
measurements for a block of land. 63 m 81m
Find the area of the block.
100° 120°
72 m
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Eleven. 203

54. Make use of the cosine rule, and the rule for the area of a triangle given two sides
and the included angle, to determine the area of a triangular block of land with
sides of length 63 m, 22 m and 55 m and then check that your answer agrees with
the following statement of the rule known as Heron's rule.
Area of a triangle with sides of length a, b and c is given by:
I — q+6 +c
Area = vs (s - a) (s - b) (s - c) where s = — ^ — .

Regular polygons.
Suppose that a regular n-sided polygon has all of its vertices touching the
circumference of a circle of radius 1 unit.
For n = 5, 6, 7 and 8 this is shown below:

Find the area of each of the above polygons and investigate this situation for
increasing integer values of n.

Miscellaneous Exercise Eleven.

This miscellaneous exercise may include questions involving the work of this
chapter, the work of any previous chapters, and the ideas mentioned in the
preliminary work section at the beginning of the book.
1. Find the equation of the straight line passing through (1,1) and (4, 7).
Determine which of the points listed below lie on this line.
A(7,15), B(7,13), C(2,2), D(-l,3), E ( 6 , l l ) .

2. Solve the following equations,

(a) 3 x = 5 1 (b) 3 x + l l = 32 (c) 2(3x+2) - 5 = 11

(d) 5 - 2 ( 3 x + 2 ) = 13 (e) f =7 (f) f +3 =7

3. Use the midpoint of each interval to estimate a mean for the following distribution
of fifty scores.
Score l-*5 6^10 1 1 ^ 1 5 1 6 ^ 2 0 2 1 ^ 2 5 26 - » 3 0 3 1 ^ 3 5
Frequency 8 14 9 7 6 4 2
In what interval does the median score lie?

4. In a test the 12 boys in a class scored a mean of 23-4 and the 16 girls in the class
scored a mean of 24-1. Find the mean of the whole class of 28 students.
204 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

5. I think of a number, double it, add three, multiply the answer by three and then add
on twice the number I first thought of. If my final answer is one hundred and forty
five what was the number I first thought of?

6. How long does it take an investment of $2500 to grow to $3220 in an account

paying simple interest at the rate of 6-4% per annum?

7. A and B are two points on level ground, 13 metres

apart. A vertical flagpole at B subtends an angle of
50° at the eye of a person standing at A and whose
"eye height" is 1-6 m (see diagram). Find the height
of the flagpole.

8. Ten scores are shown below in ascending order, lowest score on the left:
a-l, d, 3d - 1 0 , 2d-l, a + 9, c + 2, c + 2, 6e + 7, e + 11, 7b-4.
The box plot for the ten scores is shown below:

1 i i
i i i—
i—
i—
i—
i—
i—
i i | i—
i i i—
i i i i i | i i i i i i i i—
i i i i i i—
i—
i i ii i
0 10 20 30 40
Find a, b, c, d and e and hence list the ten scores in ascending order.
9. In this chapter we have developed the sine and cosine rules and a formula for the
area of a triangle so that we can determine the area and unknown side lengths and
angle sizes of triangles that are not right angled. Could these rules be applied to
right angled triangles? What happens when these formulae are applied to right
angled triangles? Investigate.
10. Two boats leave a harbour at the same time.
One travels due East at 7 km/hour and the other North-East at 5 km/hour.
How far are the boats apart 90 minutes later, to the nearest 100 metres?

11. A print shop commissions a sign maker

to make and install an advertising sign.
The sign maker plans to suspend the sign
from a framework as shown on the right.
The wall is vertical, DC is vertical and BF
is horizontal. ABAC is equilateral, BA is
of length 2 metres, ACF is a straight line
and E is the midpoint of CF.
Find the length of
(a) AF (b) BF (c) CD (d) CE.
(Give answers in metres, correct to two
decimal places if rounding is necessary.)
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Eleven. 205

c
12. For the situation shown on the right how much /\
shorter is the direct journey from A to C than the / YO^
journey from A to C via B j \ ^
^68°_ 5i°\
A " B

R
A
13. Electrical cabling is to be installed to connect three / v
/ v
locations, P, Q and R whose relative positions are as
shown in the diagram on the right. /
\
\
/ s
Direct connection from P to R is not feasible so /
/
57° 490 \
three possibilities are considered as shown below:
p 94 m Q

Possibility 1. Possibility 2. Possibility 3.

R R R

P Q P Q P Q
Find the total length of each of these giving each answer to the nearest metre.

14. To provide cover for nurses absent due to sickness and other reasons, a health
authority maintains a "pool" of nurses who are not attached to any particular ward
or hospital but who can be directed to any particular area that is suffering a
shortage. To assess how many nurses they need "in pool" they collect information
regarding how many nurses are absent on each day for one year. The information
is shown in the following table:
№• of nurses absent 0to4 5 to 9 10 to 14 15 to 19 20 to 24 25 to 29 30 to 34

№• of days 56 137 97 46 18 9 2
Use the interval midpoints to calculate the mean number of nurses absent per day
over this 365 day period and determine the standard deviation of the distribution.
If the authority decides to have n nurses in pool where n is given by:
n = the next integer after (mean + 0-5 x standard deviation),
how many do they decide to have in pool?
206 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

15. The graphs below show the "population pyramids" of 2 countries, A and B.

(a) In each pyramid the shaded bar at the bottom is smaller than the one above it?
Suggest a reason why this might be.
(b) For which of the age ranges does A have more males than females?
(c) For which of the age ranges does B have more females than males?
(d) Country B has a population of 52 000 000. How many people aged 55 and
over does the country have?
(e) Which of the two countries do you think is the more highly developed? Give
reasons for your choice.

16. The diagram below shows the approximate path of an aircraft from take off to a
point 4 km horizontally from take off drawn as three straight line sections.

, 0-5) (4, 0-5)

x
T •

Horizontal distance from point of take off (km).

Find the equation of each of the three lines giving your answer in the form:
For x from 0 to 2 : y = ...
For x from 2 to ...: y - ...
For x : y = ...
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Twelve: Simultaneous linear equations. 207

Chapter Twelve-
Simultaneous linear equations.
Introducing two variables.
The following example, and the solution that follows, appeared in chapter 7 where it was
used to show how the introduction of an x allowed an equation to be built up and solved:

Example 1
An amateur drama group hire a theatre for their production. They expect to sell all of
the 1200 tickets, some at $10 and the rest at $7. The group require the ticket sales to
cover their $4150 production costs, to allow a donation of $4000 to be made to charity
and to provide a profit of $1000 to aid future productions. If they are to exactly achieve
this target, and their expectations regarding ticket sales are correct, how many of the
total 1200 tickets should they charge $10 for and how many should they charge $7 for?

Solution:
Let the number of $7 tickets be x
These will give an income of 7x dollars
The number of $10 tickets will then be (1200 - x)
These will give an income of 10(1200 -x) dollars
Thus 7x + 10(1200 -x) = 4150 + 4000 + 1000
which can be simplified to 12 0 0 0 - 3 x = 9150
Solving gives x = 950
The group should sell 950 tickets at $7 each and 250 tickets at $10 each.

Instead of introducing a single variable, x, for the number of $7 tickets, we could

introduce two variables, x and y, where x is the number of $7 tickets and y is the
number of $10 tickets:
They expect to sell 1200 tickets x + y = 1200 ®
The total revenue must be $9150 tickets 7x+l0y = 9150 ®
We now have two equations each involving the same two unknowns, x and y.

Two equations involving the same two variables can be solved together, simultaneously,
to determine the two variables.
These "simultaneous equations" as they are called can be solved by:
• using the simultaneous equation solving capability of some calculators,
• using the two equations "against each other" to reduce to just one equation
involving one variable, which can then be determined.
• using a graphical approach.
208 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

The following example is a repeat of the example on the previous page but the solution
given below uses two variables and demonstrates the three methods of solution
mentioned on the previous page.
Example 2 (Example 1 re-visited).
An amateur drama group hire a theatre for their production. They expect to sell all of
the 1200 tickets, some at $10 and the rest at $7. The group require the ticket sales to
cover their $4150 production costs, to allow a donation of $4000 to be made to charity
and to provide a profit of $1000 to aid future productions. If they are to exactly achieve
this target, and their expectations regarding ticket sales are correct, how many of the
total 1200 tickets should they charge $10 for and how many should they charge $7 for?

Let the number of $7 tickets be x

and the number of $10 be y
They expect to sell 1200 tickets x + y = 1200
The total revenue must be $9150 tickets 7x+10y = 9150
1. Solve using the equation solving capability of some calculators
The display on the right shows the two equations _
put into a calculator and the values
x + y = 1200
x = 950
and y = 250 displayed.
{
7x+ 10y = 9150 x,y
These are the values that "fit" both the equation {*=950, ;y=250}
x + y = 1200 and 7x + Wy = 9150.
Check: 1(950) + 1(250) = 1200 /
and 7(950) + 10(250) = 9150 /
The group should sell 950 tickets at $7 each and ~
250 tickets at $10 each.

Some calculators require you to input the equations in a different form.

The display below left for example shows the equations put into the calculator
by entering: 1 1 1200 for lx + ly = 1200
and 7 10 9150 for lx + lOy = 9150
Below right shows the pair of values that satisfy these two equations.

anX+bnY=Cn anX+bnY=Cn
a b
l 1200 X | ~ 950 ~j
iE 10 9150 ] Y L 250 J

As before, the values that fit both equations are x = 950 and y = 250.
Note: In the equation 7x + lOy - 9150, 7 and 10 are the coefficients of x and y.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Twelve: Simultaneous linear equations. 209

2. Solve using the two equations "against each other" to reduce to just one
equation involving one variable.

Method 1, Substitution.
We have the two equations: x + y = 1200
7x+ lOy 9150
From equation <D we obtain y in terms of x y = 1200-x
Substitute this expression for y into ® 7x + 10(1200 - x) = 9150
Thus 7x+12 00Q-10x = 9150
i.e. 12 000 - 3x - 9150
Add 3x to both sides to make the x term positive: 12 000 = 9150 + 3x
Subtract 9150 from both sides to isolate 3x: 2 850 = 3x
Divide both sides by 3 to isolate x: 950 = X

i.e. X 950
From y = 1200 - x it then follows that y = 1200-950
= 250
The group should sell 950 tickets at $7 each and 250 tickets at $10 each.

Method 2, Elimination.
In this method the strategy is to manipulate the equations until the coefficient of one of
the variables is the same (except possibly for their sign) in both equations, and then to
either add or subtract the two equations to eliminate that variable.
We have the two equations: x + y - 1200 ®
7x+Wy = 9150 ®
x ® by 10 so that it features lOy: x + y = 1200 xio-* 10x+10;y =12 000 ®
Keep ® unchanged 7x+10y = 9150 7x+10y = 9150 ®
Equation ® - equation ® : 3x = 2850
x = 950
From x + y = 1200 it then follows that y = 250
The group should sell 950 tickets at $7 each and 250 tickets at $10 each.

If you are required to be able to solve

simultaneous equations without using the
inbuilt features of some calculators, make sure
you attempt some of the questions of the next
exercise in that way.
210 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

3. Solve using a graphical approach.

The equation x + ;y=1200 has many possible solutions, some of which are shown
below:
x: 0 1 10 15 33 98 117 900 950 1116
y- 1200 1199 1190 1185 1167 1102 1083 300 250 84
x + y: 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200

The equation 7x+ lOy = 9150 has many possible solutions, some of which are shov
Delow:
x: 0 10 20 50 100 210 250 900 950 1120
y: 915 908 901 880 845 768 740 285 250 131
7x+ Wy: 9150 9150 9150 9150 9150 9150 9150 9150 9150 9150

Notice that the above tables both include x = 950 and y = 250, the pair of values that fit
both of the equations. Thus x = 950 and y = 250 are the solutions to the equations.
However we could not be sure of being this lucky when we randomly list possible pairs
for each of two equations. However we can use this idea to solve the equations
graphically.
The graph of the equation x + y = 1 200 will pass through all of the points whose x and y
coordinates fit the equation x + y - 1200.
Similarly the graph of Ix + lOy = 9 150 will pass through ah of the points whose x and y
coordinates fit the equation 7x + lOy = 9150.
Using a graphic calculator to plot both lines, the x and
y coordinates of the point where the lines intersect 0 ^1=1200 -x
will fit both equations (and of course with both Uy\ v ? 9150-7»3c
=

equations being for straight lines there will be only TO

• y3: D
one such point of intersection). The display on the • y4: •
right shows the equations, their graphs and the • 3*: •
coordinates of the point of intersection. • y6: •

Thus solving the equations j

f
x + v = 1200
1 % + 1 Q = 9 1 5 Q
• y7: •

gives x = 950 and y = 250.

The group should sell 950 tickets at $7 each and 250
tickets at $10 each.
• Some calculators require the equations to be
input in the form "y =", as shown. Thus xc =950

x + y = 1200 was entered as y = 1200 - x

9150 -7x
7x + lOy = 9150 was entered as y =" 10
You may need to adjust the viewing window of your calculator so that the point of
intersection can be seen (though some calculators will state the coordinates of the
point of intersection even if it is offscreen).
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Twelve: Simultaneous linear equations. 211

Question: Which of these methods for solving simultaneous equations should you
use?
Answer: Unless your teacher, or a particular question, requires you to use a
particular method use whichever method appeals to you most for that
question, and with which you would expect to make least mistakes.
However do make sure you know which methods you might be
required to demonstrate in this unit and practice those.

The method(s) you are likely to use need practice. The next two examples further
demonstrate the technique of using two equations in two unknowns to give one
equation in one unknown. This is not to suggest that this should be your chosen method
for these questions but rather to further demonstrate its application and allow those
readers who intend using other methods to check that they can obtain the same answers
"their way".
Example 3 shows the substitution approach and example 4 the elimination approach.
Example 3
3*=53>-10 0-3i4 + 0 - l P = 161
(a) Solve S o l v e
x+y=34 W 5i4-3P=1050

3x = 5y - 10 ®
x + y = 34 ®
From® y = 34-x
Substitute into ® 3x = 5 ( 3 4 - x ) - 1 0
Expand: 3x = 1 7 0 - 5 x - 1 0
Add 5xto both sides: 8x = 170 - 10
i.e. 8x = 160
Divide both sides by 8 x = 20
Buty = 3 4 - x , thus y = 34-20
= 14
Hence x = 20 and y - 14.

0-3A + 0-1P — 161 ®

SA-3P - 1050 (D
x (D by 10 to avoid decimals: 3A + P - 1610
Thus P - 1610 - 3A
Substitute into ®
Expand:
54 - 3(1610 - 3A) - 1050
5A - 4830 + 9A — 1050

i.e. 14A - 4830 - 1050

Add 4830 to both sides: 144 - 5880
Divide both sides by 14: A - 420
But P = 1610 - 3A and so P - 1610-3x420
and so
Thus A = 420 and P = 350.
P - 350
212 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Example 4
3x+2y = l l 5x-2j/ = 6 2x+3;y = 12
(a) Solve S o l v e
x+2y = 1 № 3* + 2^ = 26 W Solve x + 4 y = 11

(a) Notice that both equations feature"+ 2y". Taking one equation from the other will
take "2y"from itself and thus eliminate one variable.
3x+2y =11 ®
x+2y = 1 ®
®-®: 2x+0y = 10
i.e. 2x = 10
Thus x = 5
Substitute x = 5 into ® 5 + 2y = 1
Take 5 from both sides: 2y = -4
Hence: j> = -2
Thus JC = 5 and y = -2.

(b) Notice t/iat one equation features"- Zy" and t/ie other features"+ 2y". Adding the
equations together will allow these to eliminate each other.
Sx-2y = 6 ®
3x+2v = 26 ®
® + ®: 8x+0y = 32
i.e. 8x = 32
Thus x = 4
Substitute x = 4 into ® 12 + 2;y = 26
Take 12 from both sides: 2y = 14
Hence: y = 7
Thus x = 4 and y = 7.

(c) If we leave the first equation unchanged but multiply the second equation by 2 we
will have two equations each featuring "2x". Taking one equation from the other
will then eliminate one variable.
2x+3y = 12 ® -* 2x+3y = 12
x + 4y = 11 ® x2-* 2x+8v = 22
Subtracting: -5y = -10
Giving y = 2
From® x + 4(2) = 11
x = 3
Thusx= 3 andy = 2.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Twelve: Simultaneous linear equations. 213

Solving word problems.

In the next two examples the two equations must first be determined from the
information given and then the equations can be solved. Notice that in each example the
variables that are to be used are clearly introduced in the working.
Example 5
Two numbers have a difference of 8 whilst three times the larger added to twice the
smaller totals 59. Find the two numbers.

Let the smaller number be x and the larger number be y.

The two numbers have a difference of 8 y-x 8 ®
3 times the larger + 2 times the smaller = 59 3y + 2x 59
Equations ® and ® can be solved to give x 7
and y 15

y-x=8
3y+2x= 59 x,y
{x=7, y=lS}

V /
The two numbers are 7 and 15.

Example 6
Every one of the 4 000 tickets for a music concert at an entertainment centre is sold.
Some of the tickets cost $28 each and the remainder cost $19 each. If the total revenue
from the sale of the tickets is $83 200 find how many of the 4 000 tickets cost $28 and
how many cost $19.

Suppose x tickets cost $28 and y tickets cost $19.

There were 4000 tickets altogether .-. x + y = 4000 ®
The total revenue from the tickets sales was $83 200 .-. 28x + 19y = 83 200 <D
Equations ® and (D can be solved to give x = 800
and y = 3 200
Thus 800 of the tickets cost $28 and 3 200 of the tickets cost $19.

Notice that each of the two examples above finish with a clear statement of the answer.
Example 5 does not end with x -7 and y = 15. The question posed had no mention of x
and y - we chose to introduce them to help us to solve the problem. The final answer
should be expressed in the context of the question.
Hence example 5 ends with: The two numbers are 7 and 15 and example 6 with Thus 800
of the tickets cost $28 and 3200 of the tickets cost $19.
214 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Note: It is not the intention here to claim that these questions can only be solved by
introducing two letters, building up two equations and solving them
simultaneously. Questions like the previous example can be solved by
introducing just one variable, as we saw at the start of this chapter.
Alternatively the solution could be "reasoned through" as follows:
Selling all 4000 at $19 would have raised 4000 x $19 = $76 000
However the ticket sales raised $83 200, i.e. $7 200 "extra". This extra must
come from the extra $9 charged on some tickets.
$7 200 is 800 lots of $9 so 800 seats were priced at $28 and 3200 at $19.
Yet another method would be to guess the number of $28 tickets there should be,
check whether our guess works and then improve our guess, i.e. guess, check and
improve.
Introducing two letters and solving the resulting pair of equations
simultaneously can be very useful but other methods can be just as effective. In
general, for each question you should choose the method you consider most
appropriate for you to use to solve that question. However do use the next
exercise to practice the techniques shown in this chapter.

Exercise 12A. y=x + 5

Use the graph shown on the right to
solve the following pairs of equations
simultaneously. y= x-4

1. y = x+5 and y + 2x 8

2. y = 4 and 2y + x 1

3. y = x-4 and y + 2x 8

4. y + 2x = 8 and 2y + x 1 2y + x = 1
y+ 2x=8
5. y = x+5 and 2y + x 1

Solve the following pairs of equations.

2x + y = 19 3x+2j> =17 5x + 3^ = 9
7. 8.
x-y- 2 x+2y =11 5 x - y = 17

3x+2y = -1 3x-y = 16 2x-3y= 16

10. 11.
-x+2j> = 27 2x + ^ = 29 x - 3j> = 11

3 x + 5 ^ = 47 -x + 7y = 3 2x+3;y = 12
12. 13. 14.
3x+2y = 26 x - 3^ = 1 2 x - y = -12
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Twelve: Simultaneous linear equations. 215

y = x-3 2x+ ;y= 7

17. 3x - 2y = 6
15. 16.
2*+3;y = l l 3x-2;y = 14 2x-3y = -1

y=ll-2x 3x - Sy = 6 3A + 2B = 11
18. 19. 20.
2 x + 3 ^ = 21 x =2^ + 1 34 - 2B = 19

2p - 3q = 2 0-5x+0-2;y = 7 2(a;+ 5) = 3y
21. 22. 23.
4p + 2q + 1 = 29 2x - 3;y = -29 x+2y =30

24. One day a baker bakes x white loaves and ^ wholemeal loaves.
(a) The number of white loaves baked that day together with the number of
wholemeal loaves baked that day totalled 600.
Which of the following equations correctly expresses this information?
Equation 1 Equation 2 Equation 3
x-3> = 600 | y-x=60Q J x + y = 600
The number of white loaves baked that day exceeded the number of
wholemeal loaves baked that day by 140.
Which of the following equations correctly expresses this information?
Equation 4 Equations Equation 6
x-y=140 y-x=140 j x + ;y = 140
(c) Given that both of the statements from (a) and (b) are correct solve your
equations from parts (a) and (b) to determine the number of each type of loaf
the baker baked that day.

25. At a dog show there were x people (each with two legs) and y dogs (each with four
legs).
(a) The total number of legs at the show that were either human legs or dog legs
equalled 1758.
Which of the following equations correctly expresses this information?
Equation 1 Equation 2 Equation 3
2x+4^ = 1758 4x + 2;y = 1758 | ^+Z.=iZ^L
(b) If the number of dogs at the show is multiplied by 5 and the answer
subtracted from the number of people at the show the number obtained is
403.
Which of the following equations correctly expresses this information?
Equation 4 Equation 5 Equation 6
| 5 x - y = 403 | x - 5 y = 403 | | Sy-x = 403
(c) Given that both of the statements from (a) and (b) are correct solve your
equations from parts (a) and (b) to determine the number obtained by adding
the number of people at the show to the number of dogs at the show.
216 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

26. The smaller of two numbers is x and the larger is y.

(a) The larger of the two numbers is 5 more than the smaller.
Which ofthe following equations correctly expresses this information?
j Equation 1 Equation 2 j Equation 3
I x-y~5 | y-x=S j \ x+y=S

00 Twice the smaller added to three times the larger equals 70.
Which ofthe following equations correctly expresses this information?
I Equation 4 j Equation 5 j Equation 6
| 2x + 3j> = 70 | 3 x + 2 y = 70 | | x+ y = 70

(c) Given that both of the statements from (a) and ( b ) are correct solve your
equations from parts (a) and (b) to determine the two numbers.

27. Sally saves $1 and 50 cent coins by putting them into a piggy bank.
When Sally opens the piggy bank she finds that it contains x $1 coins
and y 50 cent coins.
(a)
•o
The piggy bank contained 46 coins altogether, all either $1 coins or 50 cent
coins. Which of the following correctly expresses this information?
Equation 1 Equation 2 Equation 3
j x + ;y = 46 xy = 46 x + 0-Sy = 46
(b) The total value of the coins in the piggy bank came to $32.
Which of the following correctly expresses this information?
Equation 4 Equation 5 Equation 6
j 2x + y = 32 x+O-Sy = 32 0*5x + y = 32
(c) Solve your equations from parts (a) and ( b ) to determine how many of each
type of coin the piggy bank contained.

28. A seamstress buys:

x metres of material A, costing $28 per metre,
and y metres of material B, costing $35 per metre.
(a) The seamstress buys a total of 23 metres of these two materials
Which ofthe following correctly expresses this information?
Equation 1 Equation 2 Equation 3
x + y = 28 x + y = 3S x + y = 23
(b) The two quantities cost the seamstress a total of $700 altogether,
Which of the following correctly expresses this information?
Equation 4 Equation 5 Equation 6
35x+28;y= 700 j \ x;y + 28 + 35 = 700 2 8 x + 3 5 ^ = 700
(c) Solve your equations from parts (a) and (b) to determine what length of each
material the seamstress bought.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Twelve: Simultaneous linear equations. 217

29. An investor invests $x in company X and $y in company Y.

(a) The investor invests a total of $25 000 in these two companies.
Which of the following correctly expresses this information?
Equation 1 Equation 2 Equation 3
X + Y = 25000 x + y = $25000 x + ;y = 25000
(b) The investment in company X achieves a 4% loss in value and the investment
in company Y achieves a 12% increase in value to make the total investment
now worth $25120.
Which of the following correctly expresses this information?
Equation 4 Equation 5 Equation 6
-4x + 12^ = 25120 0-04x + 0-12^ = 251201 |0-96x + l-12y = 25120
(c) Solve your equations from parts (a) and (b) to determine the amount the
investor put into each company.

30. A rectangle has a length of x cm and a height of y cm.

(a) The perimeter of the rectangle is 70 cm.
xcm
Equation 1 Equation 2 Equation 3
x + y = 35 xy = 70 x + y = 70 j
(b) Three heights exceeds two lengths by 15 cm.
Which of the following correctly expresses this inform ation?
Equation 4 Equation 5 Equation 6
3y-2x=15 3x+2^=15
1 3x-2;y=15
(c) Solve your equations from parts (a) and (b) to determine x and y and hence
determine the area of the rectangle.

31. Entry into a particular event costs $x for each adult and $y for each child,
(a) For 16 adults and 7 children the total cost is $256.
Which of the following equations correctly expresses this information?
Equation 1 Equation 2 Equation 3
16* + 7y = 265 16y+7x=256 16^+7^ = 256
For 20 adults and 11 children the total cost is $338.
W
JÉË}.£^ correctly expresses this information?
Equation 4 Equation 5 Equation 6
20^+llx=338 20* + l l y = $338 20x+ll;y = 338
(c) Solve your equations from parts (a) and (b) to determine the total cost of
entry for five adults and three children.

32. Two numbers have a sum of 41 whilst three times the larger added to twice the
smaller totals 106. By letting the smaller number be x and the larger be y express
the given information as two equations and hence determine the two numbers.
218 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

33. Two numbers have a difference of eleven whilst five times the smaller exceeds
twice the larger by seventeen. Find the two numbers.
34. A chemist is asked to make 100 mL of a particular medicine. This 100 mL should
contain 20 g of a certain compound. The chemist has available two bottles of this
medicine but neither is to the desired concentration. The solution in bottle A has
0-15g per mL and the solution in bottle B has 0-4 g per mL. How many mL should
the chemist use from each bottle to make the 100 mL of the desired concentration?
(Hint: Let the required mix consist of x mL from A and y mL from B.)
35. A person has $12 000 to invest in two companies, Acorp and Bcorp. The person
invests %x with Acorp and %y with Bcorp. After one year each $1 invested with
Acorp has grown to $1-12 and each $1 invested with Bcorp has grown to $1-05.
The person's $12 000 has grown to $13195.
(a) Write two equations involving x and y.
(b) Solve these equations to determine x and y.
36. The total amount received from the sale of 1500 tickets for a play is $13 800. Some
of the tickets were sold for $12 each and the rest for $8 each. How many tickets
were sold for $12 and how many for $8?
37. A coach hire company has 25 coaches. Some of these can carry 56 passengers each
and the rest 35 passengers each. With all 25 coaches full 1211 passengers can be
carried. How many of each size coach does the company have?
38. Two numbers are such that seven times the smaller exceeds three times the larger
by one whilst twice the larger exceeds four times the smaller by four. Find the two
numbers.
39. A stall at a school fete sold jars of jam, for $2-50 per jar, and jars of relish, for $2
per jar. In all they sold 78 jars of these two commodities, receiving a total of $179.
How many jars of each commodity did they sell?
40. To start a new company a person borrows $120 000 from a bank. Under the terms
of the loan the company will pay interest on this loan calculated at 14% per annum
on part of the loan and 17% per annum on the remainder and does not have to
repay any of the $120 000 capital until the second year. If the first year interest bill
totalled $18 150 how much of the $120 000 was borrowed at 14% and how much
at 17%?
41. A mathematics multiple choice test consisted of 25 questions. Candidates were
awarded 4 marks for each correct answer, they lost 3 marks for each incorrect
answer but there was no penalty for any questions that were left unattempted.
David attempted 23 of the questions and scored 64 marks altogether. How many
did he answer correctly?
Suppose instead that whilst 4 marks were still awarded for each correct answer
and 3 were lost for each incorrect answer, 3 marks were also lost for each question
not attempted. How many questions must be correctly answered for a mark of at
least 50?
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Twelve. 219

Miscellaneous Exercise Twelve.

This miscellaneous exercise may include questions involving the work of this
chapter, the work of any previous chapters, and the ideas mentioned in the
preliminary work section at the beginning of the book.
1. List all the errors evident in each of the following "solutions",
(a
(b A
7 cm / 1
/4 cm ¿7 \
/x° 1 /
/ 64°\
\
5 cm
76 cm
By the cosine rule:
ab sinC
2
4 = 5 + 7 - 2 x 5 x 7cosx
2 2
Using Area
2
16 = 25 + 49 - 7 0 cos x 76 X 72 X Sin 64°
16 = 7 4 - 7 0 cos x Area =
2
16 = 4 c o s x = 38 x 36 x sin 32°
COS X = 0-25
X = 75-52248781 725 cm

In AABC, AB = 6-8 cm, (d)

BC = 7-1 cm
and zBAC = 65°.
To find the size of zBCA:
7 cm
By the cosine rule: By the cosine rule:
68 7-1 2 2
oc = 5 + 7 + 2 x 5 x 7 cos 130°
2

sinzBCA sin 65° = 25 + 49 + 70 cos 130°

7-1 sin 65°
sin zBCA = = 74 + 70 cos 130°
6-8
= 144 cos 130°
0-9463
zBCA = 71°or 109° « 92-5614
to the nearest degree. x « 9-6 cm

2. For each of the following classify the variable as one of the following four types:
Nominal Ordinal Discrete Continuous
categorical categorical numerical numerical
(a) Nationality. (b) Height.
(c) Enthusiasm (High, Medium, Low). (d) Number of people in family.
(e) Distance from home to work. (f) Time for 400 metres.
(g) Number of people in a marathon. (h) Gender.
(i) State of Australia a person's main residence is in.
0) Number of press ups completed in one minute.
 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Using only the graph shown on the right,

determine the solutions to each of the following
pairs of simultaneous equations.
x 1
fa) \ y= ~
1 J
I y = o-Sx+:
( y = x-1
00
1y=-x+5

y = 0-5x+ 2
(c) {
y=-x+5

Solve the following equations.

x+3
(a) 5JC-7 = 11 (b) 3{2x-5) + 6 = 4 0 - x 00 -8 =1
5x-3y = 46 x = sin 30°
id) (e) -j [fj - = sin 30°
x + 2y=17 oc

The display on the right shows the lines

x = 60 y = 60
y - 2x-60 y = 0-5x+30
y = -x+60 y = -2x+ 30
labelled A to F.
X
C E 'D A
Allocate the correct rule to each line.

For the situation shown on the right how much shorter is

the direct journey from A to C than the journey from A to
C via B. 59;>B
V
A ^

A particular "family" of straight lines are related by the fact that they all have
equations of the form y = 3 x + c, each member having a different value for c.
What feature do the graphs of all members of this family have in common?

A particular "family" of straight lines are related by the fact that they all have
equations of the form y = mx - 7, each member having a different value for m.
What feature do the graphs of all members of this family have in common?

A particular "family" of straight lines are related by the fact that they all have
equations of the form x + 2y = c, each member having a different value for c.
What feature do the graphs of all members of this family have in common?
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Twelve. 221

From Lookout № 1 a fire is spotted on a bearing 050°. From Lookout №-2 the fire
is seen on a bearing 020°. Lookout №*2 is 10 km from Lookout № 1 on a bearing
120°. Assuming that the fire and the two lookouts are all on the same horizontal
level find how far the fire is from each lookout
The road from A to B consists of two straight sections AC, length 2 km, and CB,
length 3 km (see diagram). The bearing of C from A is 108° and the bearing of B
from A is 132°. A_
A
2 km

3 km

VB
How much further is the road route from A to B than the straight line distance AB?
Two towns A and B are 60 km apart and are separated by a long road that can be
assumed straight. A cyclist sets off from town B at 8 a.m. one morning and travels
to town A in three stages, maintaining an approximately constant speed over each
stage and resting for half an hour between stages. A delivery van sets off from
town A, travels to town B at an approximately constant speed, stays in B for
unloading etc, and then returns to A, again maintaining an approximately constant
speed. The distance - time graph of this situation is shown below.

8 am 9 am 10 am 11 am noon 1 pm
(a) Without doing any calculations it is possible to tell from the graph on which
of the three stages the cyclist maintained the greatest average speed. Explain.
(b) What was the cyclist's average speed over each of the three stages?
(c) What was the delivery van's average speed from town A to town B?
(d) What was the delivery van's average speed from town B to town A?
(e) Without leaving town B earlier than it did what average speed would the
delivery van have needed to travel back to A at if it was to arrive back at town
A before the cyclist reached there?
222 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

13. An investor has $50 000 to invest for one year. She decides to put some of it in a
secure deposit account and the rest in a more risky investment. At the end of the
year the deposit account pays interest of 8%, the more risky investment pays 18%
and the investor receives a total of $5 600 in interest from these two sources. How
much of the $50 000 had the investor put in the secure deposit account and how
much in the more risky investment?
14. The investor of question 13 decides to re-invest her money for a second year. She
adds the interest to her original $50 000 so she now has $55 600 to invest. She still
opts to keep all of this money invested with either the secure deposit account or
the more risky investment but she changes the balance of her portfolio. At the end
of this second year her total interest is $4 360 with the deposit account paying
10% and the more risky investment paying 7%. How much of the $55 600 had the
investor put in the deposit account and how much in the more risky investment?
15. Triangle ABC has a = 5 cm, b = 7 cm and c = 6 cm.
(a) Use the cosine rule to determine the size of zC.
l
(b) Use 2 ab sin C to determine the area of AABC.
(c) When given the lengths of the sides of a triangle an alternative way of
determining the area is to use or Heron's "s" formula:
I a+b+c
Area of AABC = *vs(s-a) [s-b) (s-c) where s= ;j •
Calculate the area of AABC using this formula.
16. The times taken for some 12 year old students and some 14 year old students to
run a particular distance were noted. Box plots of the times are shown below.
12 year olds 1 I H
14 year olds 1 | |
I—1—1—n—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1—1
0 10 20 30Time (seconds) 40
Each of the following statements are either incorrect or their correctness cannot be
concluded from the boxplot.
(a) Write a few sentences about each of the following statements.
(i) For the 12 year old results the box plot extends further to the right of the
median than to the left. This shows there are more results involved to the
right of the median than there are to the left.
(ii) More 14year olds were involved than 12 year olds.
(iii) The interquartile range for the 14 year olds was much bigger than the
interquartile range for the 12 year olds.
(b) Write at least five statements that in some way compare the times of the 12
year olds to those of the 14 year olds, with the first two of your five
statements being completed versions of the following:
(i) The range of times for the 14 year olds ( seconds) exceeded the range
of times for the 12 year olds ( seconds).
(ii) The fastest 25% ofthe 14 year olds were than the fastest of the 12
year olds.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Thirteen: Standard scores and the normal distribution. 223

Chapter Thirteen.
Standard scores
and the normal distribution.

Situation
Test 1 Kym sits a Mathematics test and achieves a mark of 27. Test 2
27 In the next test she scores 30. Has she improved? j 30

Before answering this question we might first ask:

What was each test out of?

27 Suppose that test 1 was out of 40 and test 2 was out of 50. Can we 30
40 now decide whether she has improved? 50

Before answering we may want to know if the tests were of similar

difficulty. What was the mean mark in each test?

Mean Suppose the mean in test 1 was 23 and in test 2 was 25. Now can we Mean
23 1 judge whether her test 2 mark shows an improvement? | 25

What if we also knew the standard deviation for each test as well?

St dev Suppose the standard deviation in test 1 was 5 marks and in test 2 St dev
5 was 10 marks. 10

Now can you suggest whether or not Kym's mark in test 2 was an
improvement on her mark in test 1 ?
224 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Standard scores.
In the situation on the previous page did you consider expressing Kym's test scores in
terms of the number of standard deviations each was from the mean? (An idea also
encountered in one question of Miscellaneous Exercise Three earlier in this book.)

Expressing a score as a number of standard deviations above or below the mean is

called standardising the score. We obtain the standard score.
Raw score - mean
Standardised score =
standard deviation

Example 1
Jennifer scores 23, 35 and 17 in tests A, B and C respectively. If the mean and standard
deviation in each of these tests are as given below express each of Jennifer's test scores
as standardised scores.
Test A: mean 30 standard deviation 5
Test B: mean 32 standard deviation 6
TestC: mean 15 standard deviation 2-5

23-30
In Test A Jennifer's standardised score is i.e.
5
In Test B Jennifer's standardised score is -
35 32
i.e.
6
In Test C Jennifer's standardised score is -
17 15
2-5

Exercise 13A.
1. Express each of the following as a standard score.
(a) A score of 65 in a test that had a mean of 60 and a standard deviation of 5.
(b) A score of 72 in a test that had a mean of 55 and a standard deviation of 10.
(c) A score of 50 in a test that had a mean of 58 and a standard deviation of 4.
(d) A score of 60 in a test that had a mean of 58 and a standard deviation of 4.
(e) A score of 58 in a test that had a mean of 64 and a standard deviation of 8.

2. SuMin scores 30, 50, 7 and 26 in tests A, B, C and D respectively. If the mean and
standard deviation in each of these tests are as given below express each of SuMin's
test scores as standardised scores.
Test A: mean 20 standard deviation 4
Test B: mean 60 standard deviation 10
Test C: mean 6 standard deviation 0-8
Test D: mean 25 standard deviation 5
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Thirteen: Standard scores and the normal distribution. 225

All of the first year students on a particular technology course sat exams in the core
subjects of Mathematics, Chemistry, Electronics and Computing. The exam results
produced the following summary statistics:
Mathematics exam: mean mark 60 standard deviation 10-4
Chemistry exam: mean mark 72 standard deviation 7-2
Electronics exam: mean mark 48 standard deviation 14-6
Computing exam: mean mark 63 standard deviation 7-4
One students scored 56 in Mathematics, 74 in Chemistry, 39 in Electronics and 72
in Computing. Standardise each of these scores and rank the subjects for this
student listing them from best to worst on the basis of these standard scores.

All year ten students in a particular region sat exams in Mathematics, English,
Science and Social Studies. The exam results in these subjects produced the
following means and standard deviations.
Mathematics: Mean: 63 Standard deviation: 14
English Mean: 64 Standard deviation: 10
Science: Mean: 72 Standard deviation: 8
Social Studies: Mean: 106 Standard deviation: 22
One student achieved the following scores:
76 in Mathematics, 75 in English,
78 in Science, 104 in Social Studies.
Rank the four subjects in order for this student, highest standardised score first.

Jill and her boyfriend Jack sit the same maths exam, along with the 156 other
candidates studying the course for which the exam formed a part of the
assessment.
The exam was marked out of 120.
<** The mean mark for the entire 158 students was 65-2 and the standard
deviation of the marks was 8-8.
Jill scored 74 out of 120 and Jack scored 63 out of 120.
Complete the three incomplete responses from Jill shown below in the following
conversation between her and her mother:
Jill (arriving home from school): "Hi Mum. How's your day been?"
Jill's mum: "Pretty good dear. How was yours? Did you get any marks back
from the exams you did."
Jill: "Yeah I got my maths mark."
Jill's mum: "What did you get?"
Jill, quoting her exam mark as a standard score replied:
"Well I got ."
Jill's mum: "What! That sounds awful! What was the average?"
Jill, again quoting standard scores:
"The mean was ."
Jill's mum: "What! What did Jack get?"
Jill: "Oh he got ."
Jill's mum (who knew something about mathematics):
"Wait a minute. Are we talking standard scores here?"
226 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Normal distribution.
Suppose the diastolic blood pressure of a large
number of adults was measured and the mean
value was found to be 75 mm of mercury (mm
of mercury being the units blood pressure is CT
CD
measured in). The data collected, if presented
as a histogram, could well have a shape similar
to the diagram shown on the right, i.e. a 75
Diastolic blood pressure
symmetrical distribution with many values (mm of mercury)
close to the mean and the number of values
decreasing as w e move further from the mean.

Fitting a smooth curve to the midpoints of the

columns w e obtain a "bell shaped curve" as
h
shown on the right.
Mean

If w e make many measurements of something that occurs naturally, for example the
heights of many adult females, the weights of many domestic cats, the foot lengths of
many adult males, etc., the histogram of the data often follows this sort of shape.
Data of this kind is said to be normally distributed. In normal distributions
approximately two thirds of the population lie within one standard deviation of the
mean, 95% would lie within two standard deviations of the mean and almost all would
lie within three standard deviation of the mean.
This is the 68%, 95%, 99-7% rule.

Mean Mean Mean

68-3% of area 95-4% of area 99-7% of area
under curve shaded under curve shaded under curve shaded
In terms of probabilities, w e could say that the probability of a randomly selected
individual from a normally distributed population being within
• one standard deviation of the mean is 0-683,
• two standard deviations of the mean is 0-954,
• three standard deviations of the mean is 0-997.
Note: The normal distribution is also referred to as the Gaussian distribution, after
the German Mathematician Carl Gauss.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Thirteen: Standard scores and the normal distribution. 227

Example 2
A box of breakfast cereal has "contains 500 grams of breakfast cereal" printed on it.
Suppose that in fact the weight of breakfast cereal contained in these boxes is normally
distributed with a mean of 512 grams and a standard deviation of 8 grams. Determine
the probability that a randomly chosen box of this cereal contains between 504 grams
and 520 grams.
n
With a mean of 512 grams and a st d e v of 8 grams:
504 grams is one standard deviation below the mean
and 520 grams is one standard deviation above the mean.

For normally distributed data the probability that a randomly chosen data point is
within 1 standard deviation of the mean is, from the previous page, 0*683.
Thus the probability that a randomly chosen box of this cereal contains between 504
grams and 520 grams is 0-68.

The above example could be worked out using the "68" in the 68%, 95% 99-7% rule
because the question involved numbers of standard deviations that this rule relates to.
What would w e have done if instead the question had asked for the probability of a
randomly chosen box of the cereal containing less that 500 grams? In this case 500
grams is 1-5 standard deviations below the mean, a situation not covered by the 68%,
95% 99-7% rule. In this case w e can use the ability of various calculators to determine
such probabilities, as the next example (which is again based on the breakfast cereal
situation of example 1) shows.

Example 3
A box of breakfast cereal has "contains 500 grams of breakfast cereal" printed on it.
Suppose that in fact the weight of breakfast cereal contained in these boxes is normally
distributed with a mean of 512 grams and a standard deviation of 8 grams.
(a) Determine the probability that a randomly chosen box of this cereal contains less
than 500 grams.
(b) In a random sample of 100 boxes of this cereal approximately how many boxes
should w e would expect to contain less than 500 g?

(a) For a randomly distributed set of values,

Pr(X<;A) = 0-0668
with mean 512 and standard deviation 8, we A = 500
MU = 512
require P(Randomly chosen value < 500).
SIGMA = 8
Many calculators can display such
information for normally distributed data.
The required probability is 0-0668.
The probability that a randomly chosen box of this cereal contains less than 500
grams is 0-0668.
(b) In any batch of boxes of this cereal w e should expect that the proportion of them
that contain less than 500 grams is about 0-07. Thus in a random sample of 100
boxes of this cereal w e would expect approximately 7 boxes to contain less than
500 g.
228 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Using a calculator.
The various calculators have different capabilities and routines with regard to
displaying probabilities for normally distributed sets of data.
You will gain familiarity with the ability of your calculator in this regard in the next
exercise.

In the old days: Using a book of tables.

Prior to the ready availability of calculators with built in statistical routines for
determining probabilities associated with normal distributions, these probabilities were
determined using books of statistical tables.
These books give probabilities for just one normal
distribution, the standard normal distribution.
For this the random variable has a mean of 0 and a
standard deviation of 1, as shown on the right.
Normal distributions having means and standard deviation not equal to these standard
values needed to be standardised. We encountered this idea of standardising data by
expressing it as a number of standard deviations above or below the mean at the
beginning of this chapter. Calling the original score an "x score" and the standardised
score a "z score" we have:
x score - mean of x scores
zscore = standard deviation of x scores
Thus before the ready availability of sophisticated calculators, to answer the previous
example which required us to determine the probability that from a normally
distributed set of data, X, with mean 512 and standard deviation 8, a randomly selected
item would have a value less than 500 we would have changed the 500 to a standard
score:
500-512
standard score = 8
= -1-5
(i.e. a score of 500 is 1-5 standard deviations below the mean)
and then used the table of probabilities for the standard normal distribution to
determine the required probability.
z C1-00 0-01 0-02 0-03
-1.9 0- 0287 0- 0281 0- 0274 0- 0268
P(X<500) = P ( Z < - l - 5 ) -1.8 0- 0359 o. 0351 0- 0344 o. 0336
= 0-0668 -1.7 0- 0446 o. 0436 0- 0427 0 0418
-0548 0 0537 o. 0526 0 0516
-1.5 066$ o. 0655 0- 0643 o. 0630
-1.4 o. 0808 o. 0793 0- 0778 0 0764
-1.3 0- 0968 o. 0951 0- 0934 0 0918
Thus, as before, the probability that a randomly chosen box of the cereal contains less
than 500 grams is 0-0668.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Thirteen: Standard scores and the normal distribution. 229

Exercise 13B

Get to know the capabilities of your calculator with regard to

normal probability distributions.

The questions of this exercise refer to data sets involving normally distributed scores, X.
Using your calculator make sure that you can obtain each of the probabilities given in
questions 1 to 8 below (correct to 4 d.p.), and each value of k in questions 9 to 17.

mean = 0 mean = 0
standard deviation = 1 standard deviation = 10

- 2 - 1 0 1 2 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30

P ( X < 1 ) = 0-8413
Can you also get 0-84 using the ?{X< 15) = 0-9332
6 8 % 95%, 99-7% rule?

3. mean = 100 mean = 0

standard deviation = 25 standard deviation = 1

25 50 75 100 125 150 175 - 3 - 2 - 1 0 1 2 3

P(*< 78) = 0-1894 ?{X> -0-5) = 0-6915

mean = 50 6. mean = 40
standard deviation = 10 standard deviation = 4

20 30 40 50 60 70 80 28 32 36 40 44 48 52
P{X> 38) = 0-8849 P[X> 47) = 0-0401

mean = 0 mean = 20
standard deviation = 1 standard deviation = 4

- 3 - 2 - 1 0 1 2 3 8 12 16 20 24 28 32
P ( - 1 - 5 < X < 2) = 0-9104 P[12<X< 26) = 0-9104
Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

mean = 0 10. mean = 5

standard deviation = 1 standard deviation = 1

- 3 - 2 - 1 0 1 2 3 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
P(*<k) = 0-9573 P{X<k) = 0-9671
k = 1-72 (2dp) k = 6-84 [2dp)

mean = 0 12. mean = 50

standard deviation = 1 standard deviation = 5

PCA->k] = 0-7517 P(A->k] = 0-9656

k = -0-68 (2dp) .-. k = 40-9 (ldp)

mean = 0 14. mean = 90

standard deviation = 1 standard deviation = 2

- 3 - 2 - 1 0 1 2 3 84 86 88 90 92 94 96
P ( - l - 4 < X < k ) = 0-7215 P(87-2<*<k) = 0-5964
k = 0-85 (2dp) k = 90-92 (2dp)

mean = 40, 16. mean = 10,

standard deviation = 15. standard deviation = 0-5.
P(X<k) = 0-9850 P(X>k) = 0-0721
k = 72-55 (2dp) /. k = 10-73 (2dp)

mean = 0-1,
standard deviation = 0-01.
P(0-08<X<k) = 0-3036
.-. k = 0-0955 (4dp)
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Thirteen: Standard scores and the normal distribution. 231

Notation
If we use X to represent the possible values of a normally distributed set of
2
measurements having a mean |i and standard deviation o (and hence variance a ) this is
sometimes written:
2
*~NQi,a ).
"li" is a Greek letter, mu, (pronounced myew) and a is sigma so this is read as:
Xis normally distributed with mean myew and standard deviation sigma.
Example 4
If X~ N(63, 25) determine P[X< 55).

Xis normally distributed with a mean of 63 and a standard deviation of 5.

Using a calculator Using a tables book

P(X<55) = 0-0548 P(X<55) = P ( Z < - l - 6 )

48 53 58 63 68 73 = 0-0548
(Shown for interest only.)

Example 5
Eight thousand two hundred and forty students were given an IQ test. The scores were
normally distributed with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 16.
(a) Determine how many of the students, to the nearest ten, achieved a score in excess
of 128.
(b) What were the minimum and maximum scores of the middle 60% of students on
this test?

(a) Let X be the scores obtained in the test.

Thus X~ N(100,16 ). 2

We require P[X> 128).

Using a calculator, P(X>128) = 0-0401. 84 100 116 132 148
Number scoring more than 128:
0-0401 x 8 240 a 330
Approximately 330 students achieved a score in excess of 128.

(b) If p is the lowest score achieved by the middle 6 0 %

then P(X<p) = 0-2 i.e. p = 86-53
and if q is the highest score achieved by the middle
6 0 % then P(X<q) = 0-8 i.e. q = 113-47 100 q
(Some calculators can determine p and q more
directly for this symmetrical situation.)
The lowest and highest scores achieved by the middle 6 0 % are 86-5 and 113-5
respectively (to the nearest half mark).
232 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Example 6
2
If X ~ N(40, 10 ) determine each of the following probabilities using the 68%, 95%,
99-7% rule, and not the statistical capability of your calculator.
(a) P ( 3 0 < X < 5 0 ) (b) P ( 2 0 < X < 6 0 ) (c) P(40<X<60) (d) P(X<50)

(a) 30 is one standard deviation below the mean and

50 is one standard deviation above the mean. / \ \.
ThusP(30<X<50) = 0-68 ^ 1 ^
1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 6 0 7 0
(b) P ( 2 0 < X < 6 0 ) = 0-95
0-95
(c) P(40<X<60) =
2
= 0-48 (correct to 2 d.p.)
0-68
(d) P(X<50) = 0-5 + —
= 0-84
Note that we make no distinction between P[X < 50) and P(X < 50). Including the
line or not makes no difference to the area of the region.

Example 7
Let us suppose that the time from Simon getting out of bed until his arrival at school is
normally distributed with a mean of 55 minutes and a standard deviation of 5 minutes.
Simon's arrival at school is classified as being late if it occurs after 9.10 am.
(a) One day Simon gets out of bed at 8.08 am. What is the probability of him arriving
late?
(b) For a period of time Simon always gets out of bed at the same time but finds that
he arrives late approximately 85% of the time! What time is he getting out of bed
(to the nearest minute)?

(a) Let T minutes be the time from getting out of bed until arrival at school.
2
Thus 7 ~ N(55, 5 ).
Simon has 62 minutes to get to school before he is late.
We require: P(T>62)
Calculator gives: P(T>62) = 0-0808.
If Simon gets out of bed at 8.08 am the
probability of him arriving late is 0-0808.

(b) The time that Simon is allowing himself to get to school is causing him to be late
approximately 85% of the time.
We require t for which P(T>t) = 0-85.
Calculator gives: t * 49-8
Thus Simon is allowing approximately 50 minutes
to get to school and for 85% of the days the
journey takes longer than this, causing him to be late 85% of the time.
Simon is getting out of bed at 8.20 am.
 ISBN 97801703S04S7. Chapter Thirteen: Standard scores and the normal distribution. 233

Quantiles.
Quantiles are the values which a particular proportion of the distribution falls below.
Thus if 0-7 (70%) of the distribution is below 55 then 55 is
the 0-7 quantile.
Alternatively we can refer to 55 as being the 70th percentile.
Note • We are already accustomed to referring to the 0-25 quantile as the first, or
lower, quartile and the 0-75 quantile as the third, or upper, quartile.
• If the quartiles divide a distribution in to four equal parts and the percentiles
divide the distribution into 100 equal parts what might deciles and quintiles do?

Example 8
2
I f X ~ N ( 2 0 , 3 ) determine (a) the 0-5 quantile, (b) the 0-82 quantile,
n d
th
(c) the 2 4 percentile, (d) the 6 2 percentile.

fa) (c)

11 14 17 20 23
By inspection: Using a calculator:
The 0-5 quantile is 20. The 0-82 quantile is 22-7.

(c) (d)

20 23 11 14 17 20 23 26 29
Using a calculator: Using a calculator:
th
The 2 4 percentile is 17-9. n d
The 6 2 percentile is 20-9.

Exercise 13C
1. The random variable, X, is normally distributed with a mean of 12 and a standard
2
deviation of 2, i.e. X~ N(12, 2 ). Determine P(X> 13-5).
2. The random variable, X, is normally distributed with a mean of 240 and a variance
2
of 400, i.e. X~ N(240, 20 ). Determine P(218 <X< 255).

3. X ~ N(62, 64), i.e. X, is normally distributed with a mean of 62 and a standard

deviation of 8. Given that P{X> k) = 0-8238 determine k.

4. I f X ~ N(0,1) determine (a) the 0-72 quantile, (b) the 0-26 quantile,
th rd
(c) the 8 9 percentile, (d) the 2 3 percentile.
234 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

2
5. lfX~ N(20,3 ) determine (a) the 0-44 quantile,
(b) the 0-74 quantile,
rd
(c) the 3 3 percentile,
th
(d) the 8 5 percentile.

6. Using the 68%, 95%, 99-7% rule, and not the statistical capability of your
calculator, determine the following probabilities.
2
(a) P(-1<X<1), X~N(0,1 ). 2
(b) P(-2<X<2), X~N(0,1 ).
2
(c) P(-3<X<3), X~N(0,1 ). 2
(d) P(8<X<32), X~N(20,6 ).
2
(e) P(4<X<16), X~N(10,2 ). 2
(0 PC0<X<1), X~N(0,1 ).
2

(g) P(X<1), X~N(0,1 ). 2

(h) P(X>1), X ~ N ( 0 , 1 ) .
2

(Q P(X<5), X~N[0,5 ). 2
Ü) P(X>70), X ~ N ( 6 0 , 1 0 ) .

Let us suppose that the duration of pregnancy, for

a naturally delivered human baby, is a normally
distributed variable with a mean of 280 days and
—i ! r-
a standard deviation of 10 days. 250 260 270 280 290 300 310
Using the 68%, 95%, 99-7% rule, and not the
statistical capability of your calculator, determine estimates for the following.
(a) The percentage of human pregnancies, for naturally delivered babies, that
are between 250 days and 310 days.
(b) The percentage of human pregnancies, for naturally delivered babies, that
exceed 290 days.
(c) The percentage of human pregnancies, for naturally delivered babies, that
are between 260 days and 270 days.

8. A machine produces components whose weights are normally distributed with a

mean of 500 g and standard deviation of 5 g.
(a) According to the 68%, 95%, 99-7% rule, what percentage of the components
will have a weight of less than 495 g?
(b) According to the 68%, 95%, 99-7% rule, what percentage of the components
will have a weight of less than 490 g?

9. A box of breakfast cereal has "contains 300 grams of breakfast cereal" printed on
it. Suppose that in fact the weight of breakfast cereal contained in these boxes is
normally distributed with a mean of 310 grams and a standard deviation of 4
grams. Determine the probability that a randomly chosen box of this cereal
contains (a) more than 312 grams of breakfast cereal,
(b) less than 300 grams of breakfast cereal.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Chapter Thirteen: Standard scores and the normal distribution. 235

10. The lengths of adult male lizards of a particular species are thought to be normally
distributed with a mean of 17-5 cm and a standard deviation of 2-5 cm.
Determine the probability that a randomly chosen adult male lizard of this species
will have a length (a) less than 17-5 cm
(b) between 15 cm and 17*5 cm.

11. The scaled scores in a national mathematics test are normally distributed with a
mean of 69 and a standard deviation of 12.
What is the probability that a randomly selected candidate who sat this test has a
scaled score of
(a) more than 75 (b) between 66 and 75 (c) less than 45.

12. The heights of fully grown plants of a certain species are normally distributed with
a mean of 30 cm and a standard deviation of 4 cm. If 100 fully grown plants of this
species are randomly selected approximately how many would you expect to be:
(a) taller than 35 cm,
(b) shorter than 25 cm,
(c) between 25 cm and 30 cm in height

13. Let us suppose that 44 mg is 110% of the recommended daily intake of a particular
vitamin and that a 110 mL container of fruit juice contains approximately 44 mg of
this vitamin. If in fact the weight of the vitamin in the 110 mL containers of the
fruit juice is normally distributed with mean 44 mg and standard deviation 2-5 mg,
determine the probability that a randomly chosen 110 mL container of this fruit
juice contains less than the recommended daily intake of the vitamin.

14. Five thousand five hundred and forty two students sat a particular leaving exam.
The scores obtained were normally distributed with a mean of 62 and a standard
deviation of 12-5.
(a) Distinction certificates were awarded to students who gained a mark of 80 or
more. How many students gained distinction certificates?
(b] A mark of less than 40 was regarded as a fail How many of the students
failed?

15. Let us suppose that the heights of the adults of a particular country are normally
distributed with a mean of 1-75 m and a standard deviation of 10 cm. A car
manufacturer wishes to design a new car with the space allowed for the driver, and
the "travel" on the drivers seat, suitable for every adult in the population except
the tallest 5% of the adult population and the shortest 5% of the adult population.
What is the height of the shortest driver and the tallest driver that the
manufacturer is attempting to allow for. (Answer to nearest half centimetre.)
236 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

16. The marks achieved in a particular exam are normally distributed with a mean of
64 and a standard deviation of 12.
Grades are to be awarded as follows: Top 12% of candidates: Grade A
Next 25% of candidates: Grade B
Next 40% of candidates: Grade C
Next 15% of candidates: Grade D
Remainder of candidates: Grade F
Determine the marks that form the A / B , B/C, C/D, and D / F grade boundaries,
giving your answers correct to the nearest whole number.

17. Let us suppose that the time, in minutes, from Monica leaving home until she
arrives at work is a normally distributed random variable with a mean of 45 and a
standard deviation of 5. Monica's arrival at work is classified as late if it occurs
after 8.30 am.
(a) One day Monica leaves home at 7.40 am. What is the probability of her
arriving late?
(b) For a period of time Monica leaves home at the same time each day. During
this period she finds that she arrives late approximately 8% of the time. What
time is she leaving home (to the nearest minute)?
(c) What is the latest time (involving whole minutes) that Monica should leave
home each day if she wishes to cut her late arrivals to less than 1%?

18. The annual rainfall in an area in the south west of Western Australia is normally
distributed with a mean of 1200 mm and a standard deviation of 200 mm.
According to this model, and assuming the situation does not change, in every one
hundred years how many years would you expect the annual rainfall to be
(a) less than 800 mm,
(b) more than 1500 mm,
(c) between 800 mm and 1500 mm.
(d) (Challenge.) Given that a year has an annual rainfall of more than 1300 mm
what is the probability that the rainfall for the year is less than 1500 mm?

19. The weight of each apple harvested from a particular orchard determines where
the apple will be sent:
If weight of apple > 250 g send to premium outlet
150g < weight of apple < 250 g send to normal market
weight of apple < 150 g send for juicing.
The weights of the apples are normally distributed with mean 180 g and standard
deviation 40 g.
(a) In a random sample of 1000 apples how many would you expect to go to the
premium outlet?
(b) (Challenge.) Given that an apple does not go to the premium outlet what is
the probability that it is sent for juicing?
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Thirteen. 237

Miscellaneous Exercise Thirteen.

This miscellaneous exercise may include questions involving the work of this
chapter, the work of any previous chapters, and the ideas mentioned in the
preliminary work section at the beginning of the book.
1. A particular straight line with a gradient of m and cutting the ^-axis at the point
with coordinates (0, c) has equation y = m i + c.
(a) The line passes through the point (3,4).
Which of the following equations must be true?
Equation 1 Equation 2 Equation 3
y=3x + 4 3 = 4m + c 4 = 3m + c
(b) The line also passes through the point (8,19).
Which of the following equations must be true?
Equation 4 Equation 5 Equation 6
8 = 19m + c 19 = 8m + c y = 8 x + 19
(c) Solve your equations from parts (a) and (b) to determine the equation of the
straight line.
2. Find the mean, median, mode and range for the set of scores shown in the dot
frequency graph below.
Frequency
•
3 • •
2H • • • •
1 • • • •• •• • ••• • ••• • •
0
i I I—r 1 « «
i i 11 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 i i
40
i i i i i i i i i i i ii
5 25 30 35
10 15 20
One hot dog and three burgers cost $13-30. Four hot dogs and four burgers cost
$25-20. What would be the cost of four hot dogs and six burgers? (Assume that
the individual cost of a hot dog and of a burger remain unchanged throughout.)
4. A rectangle is of length x cm and width y cm.
Four times the width exceeds one length by 4 cm.
The perimeter of the rectangle is 42 cm.
Find the values of x and y and hence determine the area of the rectangle.
In support of a primary school fete a parent makes lots of high quality home made
chocolates and lollies. The organisers decide to sell bags containing 20 chocolates
for $6-00 and bags containing 20 lollies for $4-00. They also wish to sell a mixed
bag of 20 chocolates and lollies for $4-80. How many chocolates and how many
lollies should each of these bags hold for the price of $4-80 to be consistent with
the prices of the other bags?
A road construction company charges 125 million dollars for constructing a 20 km
stretch of highway and 245 million dollars for constructing 40 km of similar
highway. Based on these costs and assuming a linear relationship exists between
the total cost and the length of road constructed, determine the cost of
constructing (a) 2 5 km of similar highway, (b) 5 2 km of similar highway.
238 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

7. (a) Three consecutive integers have a sum of 504. Find the integers.
(b) Three consecutive even integers have a sum of 504. Find the integers.
8. Jack walks 2-4 km on a bearing 060° followed by 4-4 km on a bearing 190°. On
what bearing and for what distance should he now walk to return directly to his
starting point?
9. From a point A, level with the base of a
monument, the angle of elevation of the
topmost point of the monument is 35°.
From point B, also at ground level but 30
metres closer to the monument, the same point
has an angle of elevation of 60°.
Find how high the topmost point is above
ground level. (Give your answer correct to the
nearest metre.)
10. When a company sells x units of a particular product the revenue raised, $/?, is
given by one of the lines on the graph shown below and the other line shows $C,
the cost of producing these x units.
™™
5000 —h
4Candi?

4000 — H

3000 —h

2000

1000 —f

i 1 1 1 1 1 r
50 100
(a) Which of the two lines, I or II, is likely to be the revenue line and which the
cost line? (Explain your answer.)
(b) What does the graph suggest is the value of x for "break even" (i.e. revenue
raised = cost of production.)
(c) Suggest equations for each of the two lines shown.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Miscellaneous Exercise Thirteen. 239

11. A yacht travels from location A to location B by

tacking, as shown in the diagram. (82°
The direct distance from A to B is 580 metres.
The path the yacht takes causes it to cross the
direct line from A to B at a point C where the
distance from A to C is 65% of the distance from {35X
A to B.
How far did the yacht travel altogether in its journey from A to B?

12. A real estate agent wants to quote an average house price for a particular region.
He obtains the following information about the sale prices of the 29 most recent
sales in the area:
Sale price $400000 or less $400001-> $500000 $500001-* $600000 $600001 ^$700000
№ • of sales 1 2 3 4

Sale price $700001-* $800000 $800 001 ^ $ 9 0 0 000 $900001-* $1000000 Over $1000 000
№ • of sales 5 5 3 6

What should he quote as an average price? Justify your answer and include
mention of any issues you consider relevant.

13. An ornate window is to consist of two triangular

pieces of glass placed in an aluminium frame as
shown in the diagram on the right.
Neglecting the thickness of the frame find
(a) the total length of the aluminium,
(b) the total area of glass. 178 cm

14. Clearly showing your use of trigonometry determine to the

nearest millimetre the distance between the tip of the 205 mm
hour hand of a clock and the tip of the 312 mm minute hand of
the clock at twenty minutes to four.

15. Twenty four students sat a test and the scores they obtained were as follows:
Initials PA CB JB CC ID KD LF MJ EK IM PN
Score 35 19 47 25 39 30 9 34 41 33 39 29

Initials RN PP AR TR VR AS PS TS BV PV IW RZ
Score 26 41 17 33 43 35 28 33 26 37 12 30
Grades of A, B, C, D and F are awarded according to the following rules:
Score > (mean +1*5 x standard deviation): Grade A
(mean + 0-5 x standard deviation) < Score < (mean +1-5 x standard deviation): Grade B
(mean - 0-5 x standard deviation) < Score < (mean + 0*5 x standard deviation): Grade C
(mean-1-5 x standard deviation) < Score < (mean - 0-5 x standard deviation): Grade D
Score < (mean- 1«5 x standard deviation): GradeF
Assign grades to each of the 24 students according to these rules.
240 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

16. Points A, B and C all lie on horizontal ground. A

vertical tower DA has its base at A and is of
height 15 metres. C lies due North of A and B is
due East of A. The angle of elevation of D is 20°
from C and 30° from B (see diagram).
Calculate (a) how far C is from A,
(b) how far B is from A,
(c) how far C is from B,
(d) the bearing of C from B.

17. The tank in a water irrigation system holds 80 000 litres of water.
The tank is initially three quarters full and each day, from 6am to noon, water
flows from the tank at the rate of 1000 litres per hour.
This occurs for 6 days with no water entering the tank.
On day 7 rain is forecast so the system is switched off for days 7 and 8. This rain
means that not only is no water taken off during these two days but instead, on
day 7, from 6am to 6pm, 24000 litres flows in. Unfortunately no water flows in
on day 8.
The usual 6 am to noon daily outflow then recommences for days 9,10,11 and 12
and during these four days no more rain falls.
Sketch a piecewise graph showing the amount of water in the tank for these 12
days.

18. The 5347 candidates who sat a national mathematics test scored marks that had a
mean of 127 and a standard deviation of 17.
Distinction certificates are to be awarded to the top 15% of students.
Participation certificates are to be awarded to students scoring less that 115.
(Candidates scoring between the above categories receive other certificates.)
The top 1% of students were awarded prizes.
Modelling the results as a normal distribution with mean 127 and standard
deviation 17 determine each of the following:
(a) The lowest mark, rounded to the next whole mark down, that would achieve a
distinction certificate.
(b) The number of students, to the nearest 10 students, who would receive a
participation certificate.
(c) The lowest mark, rounded to the next whole number up, that would achieve a
prize.
(d) The lowest and highest marks, each rounded to one decimal place, achieved
by the middle 20% of students.

19. (Challenging) A river runs East to West. A tree stands on the edge of one bank and
from a point C, on the opposite bank and due South of the tree, the angle of
elevation of the top of the tree is 28°. From point D, 65 m due East of C the angle of
elevation of the top of the tree is 20°.
Calculate (a) the height of the tree,
(b) the width of the river at C.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 241

ANSWERS.
Note • For questions that do not stipulate a specific level of rounding the answers given here have been
rounded to a level considered appropriate for the question.
• If a question asks for an answer to be given "to the nearest centimetre" it does not necessarily
have to be given "in centimetres". In such a situation an answer of 174*9256 metres could be
written as 174*93 m or as 17493 cm, both answers being to the nearest centimetre.

Exercise 1A. Page 17.

1. Nominal 2. Nominal 3. Ordinal
4. Ordinal 5. Nominal 6. Ordinal
7. Ordinal 8. Nominal 9. Nominal
10. Ordinal 11. Nominal 12. Nominal
13. Offences against property in one particular
80000H year in Western Australia.
70000^
C3
/
CD
U 60000H
C
CD

O 50000-
o
u 40000H
cu
S 30000-

20000H

10000H

Burglary Theft Fraud Graffiti Stealing Receiving Arson Property

motor Damage
vehicles

Distribution of the 197117 offences against

property occurring in one year in WA.

/ Burglary Property\
Steal motor A - ^ ^ damage \
vehicle L _ ^ ^ - ^
^^raffiti)
^ J ^ 7 Arson
\ Theft Fraud
7 Receiving

The advantage of the pie chart is that it shows how the total number of offences are divided up - i.e.
the numbers of each type of offence as a proportion of the whole is shown. Whilst the pie chart also
allows the numbers of each offence to be compared, if two categories are close in number it could
be difficult to determine which has the greater number.
The bar chart on the other hand allows for very good comparison between categories but the
proportion that each category is of the whole is not so evident.
Both the pie chart and the bar graph shown above fail to show the accurate numbers given in the
question but do allow overall comparisons to be made. However this weakness could be overcome
if it was felt to be significant by including the accurate figures, with each category title in the pie
graph, or at the top of each bar in the bar graph.
242 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

14. Hospital beds per 10000 of population.

60- 59

50-

40-

30-

20 •

10-

NSW Vic Qld WA SA Tas NT Act

Exercise I B . Page 18.

1. Discrete 2. Continuous 3. Discrete
4. Continuous 5. Continuous 6. Continuous
7. Discrete 8. Continuous 9. Discrete
10. Continuous 11. Continuous Continuous
12.

Exercise 1C. Page 23.

1,2,3. Compare your choice with those of others in your class and discuss with your teacher.
Compare and discuss your sketches with those of others in your class, Discuss the
reasonableness of your sketches and their sketches.
Frequency Frequency (№• of days)
15 H 15 H

io H io H

5H 5H
1-1 Length Temp^
[ I II
I 1 1 1
I I I I I I I I Ç } 20 25
T 1

30 35 40
HT
45 (°C)
c m
5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 13 1415 16 < - J

Time [sees) 30-39 40-49 50-59

Frequency 2 32 53
60-69 70-79 80-89 90-99
160 39 14 7 3
140 138 „ t

120- > 60-

100- 95 50- Ö
80- 40- <u
60- 57 30- cr
40- 39 20- ucu
20- 10-
Age
ft T 1 1 1 T
10 20 30 40 50 60 30 40 50Time
60 (sees)
70 80 90 100
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 243

80-
70- Frequency
60- (№• of Males)
50-
40"
30
20-
10- Weighty
I n I M 11 H| 1
11 # I iTi"| 1
11 ffTnq111111 1
111
111
1 J| 1111 IL n J|I 1111111 q 11111 n 11|' i 1111111 ir|ì77ff 111 f|m w I n i|
k g
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 ' J

80
70 Frequency
60 (№• of Females)-
50
40
30
20
10

20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130

10.
Males
£50:
g.40:
g>30:
fe
20- :
^io Height
i|iiiiiiii!|iiitimi|iMiiiiii|iiiiiMii|Miiiiiii|iimi!ii|iiiiiiiii| ^r \
c m
140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 ^ >
&60: Females
§50:
§-40-
2J30d
tt.20"
^io- Height
L |IIMIILQLLLLHL'Ì^IIIIIIIII
|' LLLLLLIQILLHIIII^IIIIHII?
I L
| LLLLLLLL| " r
c m
140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 ^ J

Miscellaneous Exercise One. Page 27.

1. (a) False (b) False (c) False (d) False [e) False (f) False
2. (a) Nominal categorical (b) Continuous numerical
(c) Discrete numerical (d) Nominal categorical
(e) Ordinal categorical (f) Nominal categorical
(g) Continuous numerical (h) Discrete numerical
3. (a) 130 00 2-1 (c) 29-3
4. (a) 22 (b) 21 (c) 13-5
5. (a) 3 (b) 13 and 17 (c) 22
6. 7-5 litres of water should be added to 25 millilitres of concentrate.
7. (a) mean 37-6, median 38, mode 40, range 7
(b) mean 102, median 107, mode 131, range 63
(c) mean 17-2, median 17-5, mode 18, range 4
8. fa) 15a;-6 (b) 28 - 8a; (c) -6a:-21
(d) 8-16a; (e) 10p - 35 (f) 6/i -15
(g) 7 +6a; (h) -2a:-11 (i) -4a;+15
0) 7 + 8q (k) 7w + 22 (1) 6p
9. The framework requires 37 metres of steel (rounded up to the next whole metre).
244 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

10. (a) Frequency: 7, 18, 15, 11, 7, 3, 6, 8, 8, 5.

00 A
20 - J Frequency
15

10-:

Age
5 6 7 8 9 101112131415

Exercise 2A. Page 33.

1. mean 3*5 (ldp), median 4, mode 5, range 5.
2. mean 5-7 (ldp), median 6, mode 6, range 10.
3. mean 17-6 (ldp), median 18, mode 18, range 5.
4. mean 101-9, median 102, mode 101 and 103, range 7.
5. mean 6*3 (ldp), median 7, mode 9, range 9.
6. mean 25-2, median 28, mode 28 and 32, range 36.
7. (a) 118 (b) 164 (c) 139 (d) 139-8
8. (a) 48 (b) 94 (c) 77 (d) 76-4
9. A little less than two.
10. mean 6-3, median 6-5, mode 7.
11. Assuming the teacher is older than 17-2 years, a reasonable assumption given that a school class is
involved, the mean would be increased.
12. The eighth score is 75.
13. The mean for the three groups is 57-1%.
14. The student must achieve 86% or more in the tenth item.
15. The mean of the other five scores is 50.
16. The girls achieved a mean of 62-7%.
17. The mean is the same as the median. 18. The mean is greater than the median.
19. The mean is less than the median. 20. The mean is the same as the median.
21. The mean is less than the median. 22. The mean is greater than the median.
23. The mean is the same as the median. 24. The mean is the same as the median.
25. The mean is greater than the median. 26. The mean is greater than the median.
27. The mean is less than the median. 28. The mean is the same as the median.
29. The mean is greater than the median. 30. The mean is less than the median.
31. The mean is greater than the median. 32. The mean is greater than the median.
33 and 34. Answers not given here. Compare your answers with those of someone else in your class
and discuss the merits of each.

Exercise 2B. Page 40.

1. Mean 146, median 143, mode 137, range 40 2. Mean 82, median 83, mode 78, range 18
3. Mean 22-8, median 22, no mode, range 32 4. Mean 52-4, median 50, mode 35, range 45
5. Mean 2-3 (1 dp), median 2, mode 3, range 7 6. Mean 8-4(1 dp), median 9, mode 6, range 7
7. Mean 18-8 (1 dp), median 19, mode 20, range 5
8. 8-5 9. 10-5 10. 331 11. 69-0
12. $447 600, $439 000. 8 are lower than the mean. 5 are lower than the median.
13. The mean number of bedrooms per house is 3-65.
14. (a) The modal salary is $68 000.
(b) The median salary is $68 000
(c) The mean salary is $73 640
15 The mean number of sunlight hours is 10-9 (1 dp) and the median is 11-1.
16 (a) The mean is 75-4 (1 dp). (b) The median is 77.
(c) 10 students scored less than 60%. (d) 10% (3 of the 30) scored greater than 75%.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 245

17. (a) There were 12 girls in the group.

(b) The shortest girl was 148 cm tall.
(c) The mean height for the girls is 159 cm (nearest cm).
(d) The mean height for the boys is 167 cm.
(e) The mean height for the 29 students is 164 cm (nearest cm).
l Frequency Girls • Boys o ij
o o
o • O 0 O OO 0
•• • • • • • om mo moo oo m o o Heights
-i i i i i i i i iii i i i 1 i i i i 1 i i i ( 1 i i i • 1 i i i i 1 i i
1 1
1 ' ' » » !
140 145 150 155 160 165 170 175 180 185 190

Score 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 4 6 - 5 0

Freq. 4 7 7 9 13 10
19. (a) 40 < h < 50 is the modal class (b) Mean = 44-7 hours
20. (a) Median lies in 230 000 < C < 240 000 (b) Mean price = $240 000
Exercise 2C. Page 45. (Answers are given to suggest typical comments that could be made.)
1. The displayed data involves 64 test marks altogether.
Using the mid-point of each class interval gives an estimated mean of 61*25, the median lies in the
60 to 70 interval and the modal class is the 70 to 80 interval.
The marks are spread from about 20 to about 100, a range of approximately 80, but almost all of the
marks (61 out of the 64) are actually spread from about 40 to 80.
The 61 marks from 40 to 80 are reasonable evenly spread amongst the four intervals 40 to 50 (15
marks), 50 to 60 (13 marks), 60 to 70 (16 marks) and 70 to 80 (17 marks).
There were no marks between 30 and 40 and none between 80 and 90 so with 1 mark between 20
to 30 and the 2 marks between 90 and 100 the histogram features two "gaps".
2. The displayed data involves 82 lengths altogether.
With length involved it is likely that each class interval shows lengths rounded to the nearest whole
centimetre. Using these whole centimetre values gives a mean length of 4*3 cm (to one decimal
place).
The median length is in the 3*5 cm to 4*5 cm interval and this is also the modal class.
Whilst the lengths are spread from about 2-5 cm to about 9-5 cm, a range of approximately 7 cm,
almost all (77 out of the 82, approx 94%) are actually between 2-5 cm and 5-5 cm.
The 77 lengths from 2*5 cm to 5*5 cm are reasonable evenly spread amongst the three intervals
centred around 3 cm (24 lengths), 4 cm (27 lengths) and 5 cm (26 lengths).
The histogram features a "gap" with no lengths between 5-5 cm and 7*5 cm.
5 of the recorded lengths are unusually long compared to the other 77 lengths.
3. The displayed data involves 85 lengths altogether.
With length involved it is likely that each class interval shows lengths rounded to the nearest whole
centimetre. Using these whole centimetre values gives a mean length of 6*0 cm (to one decimal
place).
The median length is in the 5*5 cm to 6-5 cm interval and this is also the modal class.
The lengths are spread from about 2*5 cm to 9*5 cm, a range of approximately 7 cm.
The distribution of scores is reasonably uniform with each 1 cm class interval containing roughly
the same number of lengths (from a low of 10 to a high of 14).
The histogram has no gaps.
4. The displayed data involves 100 lengths altogether.
Using the mid-point of each class interval gives an estimated mean of 37*1 cm.
The median length lies in the 34*5 cm to 39*5 cm interval and this is also the modal class.
The distribution of the lengths is very symmetrical in nature with a tall central column and the
frequencies falling away on either side of this centre.
Whilst the lengths are spread from a low of 19*5 cm to a high of 54*5 cm, a range of 35 cm, seventy
three of the 100 lengths are between 29*5 cm and 44*5 cm, a range of just 15 cm, i.e. most lengths
are close to the central mean and median values.
246 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

5. The tabulated data involves 96 scores altogether.

Using the centre of each class interval gives an estimated mean of 30*3 (to one decimal place). The
median lies in the 26-30 interval and the modal class is the 21-25 interval.
Although the scores range from about 21 to about 55, a range of 34, the first interval (scores of 21-
25) has the highest frequency with approximately 36% of the scores, and the frequencies then
decrease as the scores increase.
Almost 60% of the scores are from 20-5 to 30*5 and just less than 5% are from 45*5 to 55*5.
6. The displayed data involves 106 scores altogether.
Using the centre of each class interval gives an estimated mean for the scores of 34*7, to one decimal
place. The median lies in the 30 to 40 interval.
The scores are spread from about 0 to about 70, i.e. a range of approximately 70.
The scores are reasonably symmetrically spread about a mid-point of about 35. Frequencies rise on
either side of this centre to give a bi-modal appearance peaking at the first interval, 28 scores for
which 0 < score < 10, and again at the last interval, 25 scores for which 60 < score < 70. Half of the
scores are either in this first interval or in the last interval.

Miscellaneous Exercise Two. Page 47.

1. (a) 6*+ 15 (b) 35* - 15 (c) -2 + 10* (d) 22* - 9
(e)-2x+ll (f) 4* + 9 (g)*+5 (h)14*-l
2. Nominal categorical.
l^jtyust^
Advantages Disadvantages
Mean Commonly understood as what we mean by the Can be greatly influenced by
average. extreme scores (outliers).
Output from statistical calculators. May not be one of the scores itself.
Every score in the set is used when determining (For example the mean number of
the mean. children per married couple may
May not be the central score but likely to be not itself be a whole number of
reasonably central if no outliers. children.)

Advantages Disadvantages
Median As many scores below the median and above so May not be one of the scores itself.
it is central. Can be tedious to rearrange a lot of
Not affected by extreme scores. scores in order if doing it
Output from statistical calculators. manually.
Easily calculated for small amounts of data.
Can simplify measuring tasks - for example to
find a median height we need only place the
items in order and measure the middle one
whereas for the mean we would need to
measure all. To determine the median time for
a team of 5 cyclists we can stop the clock when
the third one crosses the line, we don't need to
time them all.
1 Advantages Disadvantages
Mode 1 It will be one of the scores. Not necessarily at all central.
I Not affected by an isolated outlier. There may not be a mode.
| Easy to work out for small data sets.
1 Output from statistical calculators.
i Gives the most common score.
4. The student needs at least 102% in test eight, i.e. cannot pass the course.
5. Answers not given here. Compare your answers with those of someone else in your class and
discuss the merits of each.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 247

6. Many possibilities, for example: $14000, $15000, $16000, $17000, $18000, $88000.
7. (a) Males 20 - 25, 76-7. Males 65 - 70,85-7. Females 20 - 25, 69-5. Females 65 - 70,83-5.
= Frequency Males, 20 - 25 Frequency Females, 2 0 - 2 5
20-
201
10- io|
B.P. B.P.
IH'[IIIIII 111111111* 1111111111 iniini|iiiiimi|iiiinni|ii •
11 I*I 1111 ii i n') 111111 n i n i
40 50
50 60
70 80 90 100 110 120 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120

Frequency Males, 65 - 70 i Frequency Females, 65 - 70

20 20-

10| lo-i
, B.P.
-^^^^J I n III111| 11111III J[ I N 11111 n B.P.
40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120

(d) For both sexes the 65 to 70 year olds generally have higher diastolic blood pressures than the 20
to 25 year olds suggesting diastolic blood pressure may increase with age. In both age groups
the mean male diastolic blood pressure is higher than the mean for the corresponding female
group.

Exercise 3A. Page 51.

1. (a) 31 (b) 42 (c) 38000
2. (a) 12-8 (b) 18-75
3. (a) 0 (b) 4-72 (2 d.p.) (c) 10-12 (2 d.p.) (d) 7-93 (2 d.p.)
4. (a) B (b) A
5. (a) B (b) A
6. (a) Neither mean is greater, both = 5. (b) A
7. (a) A (b) Neither standard deviation is greater, they are both the same.
8. (a) II (b) II (c) II (d) I
9. Range = 24, mean = 17, standard deviation = 6-58 (2 d.p.).

Exercise 3B. Page 55.

Note: The answers below give o n when the standard deviation of a given set of scores is asked for.
However it is recognized that in some states cr _i may be expected to be given whenever the n

standard deviation is requested. For this reason, if to the given accuracy the two values differ the
a v a u e
n-l i is shown in brackets.
1. Mean 12-5, Standard deviation 1-7 (1-9)
2. Mean 25-4, Standard deviation 13-5 (14-2)
3. Mean 31, Standard deviation 1-7 (1-9)
4. Mean 6-99, Standard deviation 0-47 (0-49)
5. Mean 30-2, Standard deviation 3-7
6. (a) (i)C (ii)B (iii)A (iv)B
(b) A: Mean = 8-1, Standard deviation = 1-7 (1-8)
B: Mean = 3, Standard deviation = 0-8 (1 dp)
C: Mean = 5-5, Standard deviation = 2-9 (1 dp) (3*0)
7. (a) 5-76, 0-26 (0-28) (b) 5-83,0-07 (0-08)
8. (a) Yes (b) Yes
9. (a) Mean = 160-44 cm, Standard deviation = 8-87 cm (9-06 cm)
(b) Now use cr _i because sample is used to predict standard deviation of population.
n

Estimated standard deviation of population = 9-06 cm.

248 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

10. More likely to be a small type B. 18 mm is a little more than 1 standard deviation from the type B
mean which is more likely than being 3 standard deviations from the type A mean.
11. (a) Mean = 97-45 cm, Standard deviation = 8-346 cm (3 dp) (8-452 cm)
(b) 80% (c) 92-5% (d) 97-5% (e) 8-45 cm
12. (a) Mean = 155-3°C, Standard deviation = 11-74°C (2 dp) (12-37°C)
(b) Mean = 159-1°C [ I dp) Standard deviation = 2-81°C (2 dp) (2-98°C)
13. 31-5
14. (a) Mean = 30-4°C (1 dp) Range = 19-3°C, Standard deviation = 4-9°C (1 dp). (5-0°C)
(b) The particular year involved has a mean maximum daily temperature for December that is
approximately 3°C higher than long term mean.
(c) Mean = 15-8°C (1 dp), Range = 14-4°C, Standard deviation = 3-3°C (1 dp).
(d) The particular year involved has a mean minimum daily temperature for December that is
approximately 0-5°C lower than long term mean.
15. Ca) Mean = 61-4 (1 dp), Standard deviation = 16-3 (1 dp) (16-4)
Frequency

5H !• • j
•m mmm m mm mlm
m m) mmmm • Imm
mm m
1111111111 111111111
f TT 1 Mark
0 10 20 50!rÌ
to 60
90 100
30 40
c B^f->A
8 F's K ~21D D's ! 40 C's 21 B'silOA's
16. A passes. B rejected, condition ®. C passes. D rejected, condition <D.

Exercise 3C. Page 60.

Note: The answers below give 0 n when the standard deviation of a given set of scores is asked for.
However it is recognized that in some states o _i n may be expected to be given whenever the
standard deviation is requested. For this reason, if to the given accuracy the two values differ the
v a u e i s
°n-l l shown in brackets.
1. Mean 3 4 Standard deviation 1-3
2. Mean 32-5 Standard deviation 8-1 (8-2)
3. Mean 32-5 Standard deviation 14-3 (14-5)
4. Mean 5-1 Standard deviation 1*8 (1-9)
5. Mean 70-8 Standard deviation 21-1 (21-2)
6. Mean 37-25 Standard deviation 8-0 (8-1)
7. Mean 18-6 Standard deviation 12-9 (13-1)
8. Mean 37-1 Standard deviation 12-9
9. Mean 62 Standard deviation 21-0 (21-4)
10. Mean 69-6 Standard deviation 16-0 (16-3)
11. (a) 1-8 standard deviations from mean (b) 3-6 standard deviations from mean
12. Uncoated seeds: Mean number of successes per tray = 34-8
Standard deviation = 6-6 (correct to 1 decimal place).
Coated seeds: Mean number of successes per tray = 42-05
Standard deviation = 5-4 (correct to 1 decimal place).
The trays with coated seeds tend to produce more successes per tray with less variability in the
number of successes.
13. With outlier: Mean 16-3 minutes Standard deviation 10-9 minutes (11-1 minutes)
Without outlier: Mean 15 minutes Standard deviation 8-3 minutes (8-5 minutes)
14. (a) Mean number of students per school 253, standard deviation 116 (117) (nearest integers),
(b) Mean number of students per school 248, standard deviation 107 (nearest integers).
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 249

Miscellaneous Exercise Three. Page 64.

1. 0-012, 0-021, 0-1, 0-102, 0-12, 0-2, 0-201, 0-21.
1 1 1 1 3 2 7 3
2
" 100 ' 5 ' 3 ' 2 ' 5 ' 3 ' 10 ' 4 '
3. (a) 11 (b) 26 (c) 28 (d) 4 (e) 16 (f) 40
4. A (2,3), B(5,4), C(3,0), D (0,5), E(2,-3),
F(5,-4), G(-2,3), H(-5,2), I (-4, -2), J (-2, -4).
5. (a) Nominal categorical.
(b) For the year in question there were approximately 778 000 apple trees in W.A.
(c) 2 507 tonnes of peaches were produced commercially.
(d) (i) The gross value per tonne for oranges was $345
(ii) The gross value per tonne for nectarines was $1000
(e) On average each tree yielded 48 kilograms of apples.
6. Advantage: Easily determined.
Disadvantage: Only two scores involved so variation amongst other scores not taken into account.
7. Mean 6-68, median 7, mode 9, standard deviation 2-32 (2-38)
8. The new mean is 83-6.
9. The mean birth weight is 3-00 kg (to 2 dp)
10. (a) The survey involved people who were trading in an old vehicle and so all those surveyed had
owned at least one vehicle,
(b) For those surveyed the mean number of vehicles owned prior to the latest purchase is indeed
4-4, to one decimal place, but the two outlying values significantly influence this value.
Quoting the median value of 3 vehicles owned prior to the latest purchase may be more
representative. Also the median has the advantage of being an integer value and it may be
preferable to quote the average as a whole numbers of cars.
11. Each short wire is to be made of length 36-6 metres
Each medium wire is to be made of length 67-6 metres.
Each long wire is to be made of length 85-4 metres.
12. (a) Mean 43-92, Standard deviationl3-99 (14-28)
(b) UnitC 1-5, Unit E 0-7, Unit A 0-649 (0-636), Unit B -0-5, Unit D -0-6

Exercise 4A. Page 70.

1. (a) 26 (b)15 (c)30 [d)4 (e)36 (f)15
2. (a) 20 (b)12 00 26 (d)6 (e)36 (f) 14
3. (a) 14 (b)12 (c) 16-5 Cd) 8 (e)19 (f) 4-5
4. (a) 61 (b)50 (c) 80 (d)20 (e)93 (f) 30
5. (a)C (b)D (c)A (d)C (e)B (f)C
6. 7.
1 1 1
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
8
1 I I 9
-1 I I
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
10. (a) The statement is incorrect. There will be the same number of scores below the median as
there are above it.
(b) If we rank spread on the basis of range (32 for class I and 31 for class II) or interquartile range
(14 for class I and 13 for class II) then we could say that the class I marks are more spread out
than the class II marks. However, even if we only consider these measures there is not much
in it. Furthermore box plots do not show us all of the individual marks and the spread
summaries of range and interquartile range are each determined using only two scores. Using
other criteria to judge spread, for example standard deviation which uses all of the scores in its
determination, we could well end up disagreeing with the given statement.
250 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

(c) Considering only the range of scores, 34 for class III and 32 for class I, might tempt us to
suggest that class III marks are more spread out but the interquartile range, 9 for class III and
14 for class I, suggests the opposite conclusion. The long lower whisker in the class III boxplot
could be caused by just one outlying score. Thus whilst the statement could conceivably be
correct under some suitably chosen definition of spread it would be unwise to claim the
statement true under a more general understanding of "more spread out".
(d) Based on the "five point" nature of the information a box plot provides (i.e. lowest, Q l , median,
Q3, highest) the statement seems correct and justified. Were we to know the individual scores
we might find the distribution of scores within each quarter differs markedly between the two
classes but without this information the statement is a reasonable statement to make based on
the boxplot data.
(e) Based on this test the top student in class III would be about 25% of the way down the rank
positions of the students in class I, not necessarily the 25th student. Hence the statement is
not one that can be concluded from the given information. Box plots do not tell us the number
of data points involved.
(f) Class II certainly had at least one student who scored a lower mark than the lowest mark from
the other two classes but we cannot conclude that there were "lots" of students for whom this
could be said.

Exercise 4B. Page 75.

(Answers are given to most questions to suggest some typical comments that could be made. For the
questions for which comments are not given compare and discuss your descriptions with those of others
in your class.)
Note: The answers below give o when the standard deviation of a given set of scores is asked for.
n

However it is recognized that in some states or _i may be expected to be given whenever the
n

standard deviation is requested. For this reason, if to the given accuracy the two values differ the
a v a u e
n-l l is shown in brackets.

1. The displayed data involves 42 test marks altogether.

The distribution of marks give a mean mark of 70, the median lies in the 70 to 80 interval and the
modal class is also the 70 to 80 interval.
The marks are spread from about 10 to about 90, a range of approximately 80, and the standard
deviation is 16-4. (16-5)
The distribution of marks is skewed to the left with 26 of the 42 marks (almost 62%) being 70 or
more and 35 of the 42 (approximately 83%) being 60 or more. The distribution features a "gap"
with no marks between 30 and 50 but 3 marks were between 10 and 30.

2. The displayed data involves 100 lengths altogether.

The mean length is 5-97 cm and the median length (nearest centimetre) is 6 cm.
Lengths are spread from a low of 3 cm to a high of 9 cm, a range of 6 cm. (However the
measurements probably involve rounding so the low could be 2«5 cm and the high could be 9*5 cm
to give a range of 7 cm.) The standard deviation of the lengths is 2*3 cm.
The distribution of the lengths is approximately symmetrical in nature about the central value of 6
cm. It is bimodal with peaks at 3 cm and 9 cm. Seventy eight of the 100 recorded lengths are either
between 2«5 cm and 4-5 cm or between 7-5 cm and 9-5 cm. The remaining 22 lengths fall in the 4«5
cm to 7*5 cm interval. Hence most of the lengths are situated away from the central mean and
median values.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 251

3. The displayed data involves 104 scores altogether.

The distribution of scores give a mean score of 42*0, the median lies in the 30 to 40 interval and the
modal class is also the 30 to 40 interval.
The scores are spread from about 10 to about 100, a range of approximately 90, and the standard
deviation is 18-2. (18-3)
The distribution of scores is skewed to the right with 74 of the 104 scores being between 10 and 50
and the remaining 30 being between 50 and 100. Just 9 of the 104 scores were between 70 and 100.

4. Comments not given here.

Compare and discuss your descriptions with those of others in your class.

5. The tabulated data involves 100 scores altogether.

The distribution of scores give a mean of 48*05, the median lies in the 46-50 interval and the modal
class is the 41-45 class.
The scores are spread from about 31 to about 65, a range of approximately 34, and the standard
deviation is 10-04. (10-09)
The distribution of scores is uniform with each class interval containing roughly the same number
of scores (from a low of 13 to a high of 16).

6. The tabulated data involves 100 scores altogether.

The distribution gives a mean score of 15-1, the median lies in the 10 < x < 20 interval and is
probably much nearer to 10 than it is to 20. The modal class is the 0 < x < 10 interval.
The scores are spread from about 0 to about 70, a range of approximately 70, and the standard
deviation is 12-9. (13-0)
With almost half of the scores in the 0 < x < 10 interval and the frequencies decreasing as we move
right, the distribution of scores is skewed to the right. Eighty eight of the 100 scores are such that
0 < score < 30 whilst just 6 are such that 40 < score < 70.

7. The median of data set A (27) is higher than the median of data set B (24).
With the lower quartile at 20 and the upper quartile at 30 in each set the middle 50% of the data
points in each set are spread over the same scores and each data set has an interquartile range of
10. The range of the two data sets is very similar, 34 for set A and 35 for set B. However for data set
A the left whisker is the longer whisker, and there is more of the box to the left of the median than
the right, indicating that data set A is skewed to the left. Conversely data set B has the right whisker
noticeably longer than the left, and more of the box to the right of the median indicating that data
set B is skewed to the right.

8. Comments not given here.

Compare and discuss your comments with those of others in your class.

9. Assuming the location of the Regional Meteorology Station to be typical for the region as a whole the
region experienced rain on 110 days of the year, i.e. approximately 30% of the days in the year had
some rain.
On more than half of the rainy days the rainfall was less than 5 mm. The total rainfall for the year
was approximately 775 mm with approximately 8% of this total falling on just one day. If we
include the days on which no rain fell the average daily rainfall for the year was approximately 2-1
mm per day. Considering only days on which rain fell the average daily rainfall was approximately
7 mm per rainy day. If we discount the one day of unusually high rainfall these averages become
1-95 mm and 6-5 respectively. For the days that rain fell the rainfall figures have a standard
deviation of 8-1 mm but if we discount the one day of unusually high rainfall this falls to 6-1 mm.
The overall distribution is skewed to the right with one extreme value in the 60 to 65 mm interval
and all other rainy days recording less than 30 mm.
252 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

10. The distribution of scores of the 196 students give a mean score of 83-8. The median score is in the
81 to 90 interval and the modal class is the 91 to 100 interval with approximately 21% of the scores
in this interval.
151 of the 196 students (77% of them) achieved a score of over 70 in the exam (remember though
that this 70 is a raw score out of at least 120 and is not a percentage score) and 119 of them
achieved a raw score over 80.
The students achieved scores from a low of about 21 to a high of about 120, hence the range of
scores was approximately 99. The scores had a standard deviation of 20*4.
With the distribution showing a long tail to the left the scores were skewed to the left.
11. The 76 donors involved had a mean age of 36 (nearest year), standard deviation 14.
Their ages ranged from around 15 to almost 60 with a median age of approximately 40.
The 76 recipients involved had a mean age of 44 (nearest year), standard deviation 12.
Their ages ranged from around 15 to mid sixties with a median age of approximately 45.
Thus whilst the ages of the donors and the recipients were spread across similar age ranges, with
just six of the recipients older than the oldest of the donors, the donors tended on average to be
younger than the recipients.
The age distribution of the donors is bimodal, peaking around 20 and again around 50, and is
roughly symmetrical rising on either side of a low frequency central age of approximately 35. In
contrast the age distribution of recipients is negatively skewed with frequencies tailing off to the left
of the modal age of about 50. Over half of the recipients were between 42 and 58.
Approx 40% of donors but only 15% of the recipients (approx) were aged under 30.

Miscellaneous Exercise Four. Page 78.

1. With the outlier: Mean = 10 Standard deviation = 8*67 (9*19).
Without the outlier: Mean = 7 Standard deviation = 1*87 (2).
2. (a) 1 (b) 1 (c) 2 (d) 3 (e) 1 (f) 2 (g) 75% (h) 2
3. The standard deviation will increase.
If we remove scores that are close to the mean, as those in the central column are, the average
distance from the mean will increase. Hence the standard deviation will increase.
4. Ask others in your class to read and comment on your article and you do the same for theirs.
5. A with boxplot 4. B with boxplot 1. C with boxplot 2. D with boxplot 3.
6. (a) Any scores less than 10 or greater than 58.
(b) Any scores less than 3 or greater than 75.
(c) The scores of 10,17 and 70 are outliers under the given definition.

7. Mark 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Frequency 3 0 5 7 13 14 15 21 18 17 7
Cumulative frequency 3 3 8 15 28 42 57 78 96 113 120
(a) 17 (b) 113 tc) 35% (d) One eighth

(e)
~i r
1 1
6 7 n 1 1
1 2 3 4
8 9 10
CO Frequency
20 ~

15 \

10 ~

5 !

T - 1 —
0 2 4 6 9 10
Mark
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 253

[g) The marks have a mean of 6-31 and a median of 7. The modal score is also 7.
With the lowest score of zero (3 students) and highest of 10 (7 students) the range of the
scores is 10. No student scored a total of 1 but all other possible totals featured.
With a lower quartile of 5 and an upper quartile of 8 the interquartile range is 3.
The standard deviation is 2*35 (2*36) and the distribution is skewed to the left as can be
seen from the histogram, as the longer box and whisker to the left of the median than the
right suggests, and the fact that mean (6*31) is less than median (7) further reinforces.
8. 3-85 (4-30)

Miscellaneous Exercise Five. Page 83.

1. Histogram with new class intervals not shown here.
Histogram shows that the apparent uniform distribution of times is not the case. The new histogram
indicates a distribution that dips on either side of two peaks - i.e. a more bi-modal shape to the
distribution. Distribution is reasonably symmetrical about the time of 50 seconds. The apparent
uniformity of the original distribution misses the bi-modal feature because the small number of class
intervals cause some detail to be lost.
2. (a) 7x+23 (b) 16*+17 (c)7x+2 (d)x-10 (e)5x+18 (f)x + 2
3. (a) 15 [b) 44 (c) 82 (d) 25 (e) 44-7 (f) 15-6 [15-7)
4. (a) Some of the newly diagnosed sufferers will be counted in more than one category, for example a
male smoker under 30.
(b) No. Statement not necessarily true. The graphs show percentage of newly diagnosed sufferers
in each category, the overall number of male sufferers could have increased.

Exercise 6A. Page 93.

1. (a) x = 6 (b) x = -26 (c) x = 28 00 x = 6 (e) x = 4 - 5 (0 x=3
(g) x=A 00 x = 8 0) x=l 0) x=13 00 x= 5 (1) x = l - 4
(m) * = 1 5 (n) x = 42 (o) x = 5 (P) x = l - 4 (q) x = 84 (r) x=7
(s) x=2 (t) x = -l 00 x=12 (v) x = 2 (w) x = -0-5 00 £ = 1 8
(y) x = 13
2. (a) P = 6 5 0 (b) 4 = 1335 (c) 7 = 55
3. (a) v = 20 (b) u = 18 00 a = 2 00 o = -3 (e) t = 3 (0 t = l l
4. (a) r=3-98 (b) r = 15-12 (c) C = 50-27 00 r = 6 4
5. (a) 4 = 25-13 (b) r = 2-84 (c) /» = 5-31
6. Ca) t= 14 00 u = 9 00 v = 1 5
7. (a) ff= 11 (b) P = 45 00 Äi = 10 00 « 3 = 27
8. (a) /1 = 5-95 (b) /2 = 35-79
9. (a) K = 2 5 (b) P = 1 0 (c) V=20 00 P=2-5
10. (a) P = 7 3 5 (b) P = 7 8 4 0 (c) m = 150 00 /i = 2-25
11. (a) The cost is $570.
(b) The cost is $360.
(c) The person could travel 2 500 km, or less.
12. (a) The commissions received are $3100, $3 400 and $2100 respectively.
[b) The house was sold for $445 000.
(c) The house was sold for $850 000.
13. (a) The male has an estimated height of 1-7 m.
(b) The expected humerus length is 40 cm.
14. [a) The profit will be $2 000. (b) The profit will be $14 700.
(c) The profit will be $23 590. (d) The least number is 3 052.
(e) The firm would make a loss of $6 890 (f) The greatest profit is $33 750
(g) The firm would lose $29 750
(h) The firm must sell at least 2343 calendars to avoid making a loss.
254 Mathematics Applications, Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Miscellaneous Exercise Six. Page 96.

1. (a) x = 7 (b) x= 2 (c) x = 3-5 (d) x= 2-5 (e) x= 14 (f) x = 7-5
2. (a) i4 = 69 (b) h = 2-5
3. a = 3, b = 8, c = 10, d = 12, e = 14.
4. The student requires a mark of 47% or more in test six.
5. (a) A (b) C (0 B (d) A (e) D and B (in that order)
6. 5 A, 9 B, 21 C, 10 D, 2 Fail.
7. The median would be the fairest to use as it will not be unduly influenced by the occasional sale of
one of the luxury properties. It might suit the agent to be able to quote a higher average by using
the mean, with one or more luxury properties included in the calculation, but for a steadier monthly
value that allows a general trend to be observed, free from the occasional monthly "spike" when a
luxury property is sold, the median would be more suitable. The mode might occasionally be
central but not necessarily, so that too would not be as good as the median.
8. (a) Mean $65588 Standard deviation $16488 ($16532)
(b) Mean $66098 Standard deviation $16393 ($16441)
9. Six applicants are invited for interview.
10. Discuss your descriptions with those of others in your class and with your teacher.
11. (a) Question cannot be answered from the given information. The graphs indicate percentage of
the population in the various age intervals, not population numbers.
(b) Approximately nine million of country A's population are aged 70 or over.
(c) Let others read and comment on your report and you read and comment on their report.

Exercise 7A. Page 102.

1. 11 2. 12 3. 2-3 4. \\ 5. 9 6. 2-75

Exercise 7B. Page 106.

1. (a) 5x + 6 (b) 14 - x (c) 5(x + 6) (d) 2x - 7 (e) 2(x - 7) (f) 3(2x + 5)
2. A; 2 x + l = 10, x = 4-5 B: 2 ( x - l ) = 10, x = 6 C: 10-x=l, x = 9
D: 2 ( x + l ) = 10, x=4 2 - 1 = 10, x = 2 2 x - 1 0 = 1, x = 11
x-1
H: 2 x - 10 = 1, x = 5-5
G: - ^ - = 1 0 , x=21
3. The number first thought of was 9. 4. The number first thought of was 3.
5. The number first thought of was 10. 6. The number first thought of was 5.
7. The number first thought of was 9. 8. The number first thought of was 5.
9. The number first thought of was 7. 10. The number first thought of was 13.
11. The number first thought of was 9*5. 12. The number first thought of was 12.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 255

Exercise 7C. Page 109.

1. Bob contributes $6 500, Tony contributes $12 000.
2. Sue should receive $12 000, Lyn $18 000 and Paul $17 000.
3. Bill is 43 years old now.
4. (a) $(5000 + 22x) (b) 278
5. (a) 3x hours (b) 4(120 - x) hours (c) 75 standard and 45 deluxe.
2
6. (a) The width should be 85 m (b) The length should be 95 m. (c) The area should be 8 075 m .
7. (5x - 2) years. Heidi is 9 years old now,
8. They need 240 tickets at $12 each and 610 at $8 each.
9. (a)x + 2000 (b) 2(x+2000)
(c) 3 000 acres of lupins, 5 000 acres of barley and 10 000 acres of wheat.
10. (a)150xgrams (b) 80(50 -x) grams
(c) Each 50 kg of Quickgrow should contain 32 kg of X and 18 kg of Y.
11. The original order was for 185 hardback and 115 softback
12. $2 800 was invested with company A and $2 200 was invested with company B.
Exercise 7D. Page 114.
1. (a)a = 6 (b)fc = 4 (c)c = 6 ( d ) d = 7-5 ( e ) e = 3-6
(f) / = 2-8 (g) g = 1-5 (h) h = 1-7 (i) / = 4-8
2. $4200 needs to be invested.
3. 7-5% 4. The initial investment was $850.
5. Four and a half years. 6. 146 days
7. Annual rate of 6*5% required. 8. R = 8-2
9. 6% is the required annual rate of simple interest.
10. There were 1463 females in the audience.
11. There are 391 female students in the school.
12. The height of the tree is approximately 13*5 metres.
Note: Using ratios an "exact" answer of 13*5 metres is obtained. However the word approximately
is used in the answer because the nature of the situation means that this answer would have
to be regarded as being something of an approximation. Will the highest point of the tree be
directly above the centre of the base? Will the end of the shadow be somewhat blurry and
difficult to locate accurately? (This applies to some later questions in this exercise too.)
13. The building is approximately 25 metres tall.
14. h = 3*x. I f x = l - 5 , / 2 = 5-25.
15. The flagpole is approximately 7 metres tall.
16. The river is approximately 54 metres wide.
17. The pylon is approximately 8*6 metres tall.
18. Mary borrowed $1200 in the first place.
19. Mai borrowed $6800 in the first place.
Miscellaneous Exercise Seven. Page 119.
1. There are 342 female students in the school.
2. (a) x = 4-2 (b) x = 7-5 (c) x = 8-75 (d) x = 2-8
3. m = 15
4. 8
5. (a) 86 (b) 79 (c) 7 (d) 9
(e) Naomi is correct in her statement that the range of the male scores is bigger than the range
of the females. ( R a n g e = 9, R a n g e i e = 7).
Male Fema

However the range depends only on the lowest score and the highest score so it is unwise to
claim that the male scores as a whole are more spread out than the female scores based
solely on this fact Indeed other measures of spread namely the interquartile range (5 for
female and 2 for male) and the standard deviation (2*4 for female and 2«0 for male) disagree
with Naomi's statement and suggest that the female scores are more spread out than the
male scores.
256 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

6. T h e n u m b e r first t h o u g h t o f w a s 1 8 .
7. A t l e a s t $ 1 4 6 5 0 n e e d s t o b e i n v e s t e d f o r t h e a c c o u n t t o b e at l e a s t $ 1 9 0 0 0 in 5 y e a r s .
8. $ 5 4 0 0 0 i n t o t h e a c c o u n t p a y i n g 6*3% a n d $ 2 6 0 0 0 i n t o t h e a c c o u n t p a y i n g 5 « 4 % .
9. (a) 70-5 ( b ) Mean 68 S t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n 26-5

10. "Class One

I Class Two
pTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT^

10 20 30 40 50 60

O v e r a l l class t w o p e r f o r m e d b e t t e r e v e n t h o u g h t o p m a r k w a s in class o n e :
T h e m e d i a n f o r class o n e ( 3 7 ) is l o w e r t h a n t h e m e d i a n f o r class t w o ( 4 3 - 5 ) .
H a v i n g t h e i n d i v i d u a l s c o r e s a v a i l a b l e w e can a l s o d e t e r m i n e t h e m e a n s : 3 4 « 7 f o r class o n e a n d
42*5 f o r class t w o .
T h e u p p e r q u a r t i l e i n class o n e is l o w e r t h a n t h e m e d i a n in class t w o .
T h e m a r k s o f class o n e a r e m o r e s p r e a d o u t t h a n t h o s e o f class t w o :
T h e r a n g e o f class o n e ( 5 3 ) g r e a t l y e x c e e d s t h e r a n g e o f class t w o ( 2 7 ) as d o e s t h e i n t e r q u a r t i l e
r a n g e ( 1 6 f o r class o n e c o m p a r e d t o 7 f o r class t w o ) .
H a v i n g t h e i n d i v i d u a l s c o r e s a v a i l a b l e w e can a l s o d e t e r m i n e t h e s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n s : 12*2 ( 1 2 * 5 )
f o r class o n e a n d 6-2 ( 6 * 3 ) f o r class t w o .
T h e b o x p l o t f o r class o n e s u g g e s t s a r e a s o n a b l y s y m m e t r i c a l d i s t r i b u t i o n p e r h a p s s k e w e d left a
l i t t l e as s u g g e s t e d b y t h e l o n g e r left w h i s k e r a n d t h e g r e a t e r p a r t o f t h e b o x b e i n g t o t h e left o f t h e
m e d i a n . T h e class t w o b o x p l o t a l s o s u g g e s t s a s k e w t o t h e left b e c a u s e o f t h e l o n g e r l e f t w h i s k e r
t h o u g h w i t h i n t h e b o x t h e m e d i a n is c e n t r a l l y p l a c e d . ( S u c h s k e w n e s s is f u r t h e r s u g g e s t e d b y t h e
fact t h a t m e a n < m e d i a n i n e a c h c l a s s . )
T h e t w o d i s t r i b u t i o n s w e r e b a s e d o n a v e r y s i m i l a r n u m b e r o f d a t a p o i n t s , 2 5 f o r class o n e a n d 2 2
f o r class t w o .
11. M a n y p o s s i b l e a n s w e r s b u t all m u s t h a v e :
• a total o f 50 scores,
• at l e a s t o n e s c o r e in t h e 1 0 20 interval (as l o w e s t score w a s 1 6 ) ,
• t h e 1 3 t h s c o r e ( c o u n t i n g f r o m t h e l o w e n d ) in t h e 2 0 3 0 i n t e r v a l ( a s 1st q u a r t i l e = 2 6 ) ,
• t h e m e a n o f t h e 2 5 t h a n d 2 6 t h s c o r e in t h e 4 0 50 interval (as median w a s 4 6 ) ,
• t h e 1 3 t h s c o r e ( c o u n t i n g f r o m t h e t o p e n d ) in t h e 5 0 60 interval (as 3rd quartile = 5 6 ) ,
• a t l e a s t o n e s c o r e in t h e 7 0 80 interval (as highest score w a s 7 2 ) .
O n e p o s s i b i l i t y is s h o w n b e l o w :

12
§ ioq 10 10
CT
C
D
5 ^ 5
4

Score
111111 1 1 M 1 11111111 J T!TT|
1 1 1 1 111
11111111
1 !
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

12. x=64000.

Exercise 8A. Page 125.

1. 2 2. 0-5 3. 1 4. -1 5. -0-5
6. 2 7. - 0 - 5 8. 3 9. -2 10. 1
11. 1
2 12. -1 13. -2 14. 15. 5
~ 3
16. 1 17. 3 18. 0-2 19. 5 20. -20
21. P o i n t s w o u l d l i e in a s t r a i g h t l i n e . G r a d i e n t = 2.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 257

22. Points would lie in a straight line. Gradient = -2.

23. Points would not lie in a straight line.
24. Points would not lie in a straight line.
25. Points would lie in a straight line. Gradient = 5.
26. Points would not lie in a straight line.
27. Points would lie in a straight line. Gradient = -5.
28. Points would not lie in a straight line.
29. Points would lie in a straight line. Gradient = -3.
30. Points would lie in a straight line. Gradient = 3.
31. Points would lie in a straight line. Gradient = 2.
32. Points would lie in a straight line. Gradient = 3.
33. Points would not lie in a straight line.
34. Points would lie in a straight line. Gradient = 2*5.

Exercise 8B. Page 133.

1. (a) 1 (b) (0.2) (c) y = x + 2
2. (a) 2 (b) (0,-3) (c) y = 2x-3
3. (a) -1 (b) (0,3) (c) y = -x + 3
4. (a) 0-5 (b) (0,3) (c) y = 0-5x+3
5. (a) -3 (b) (0,2) (c) y = -3x + 2
6. (a) - 2 (b) (0,-3) (c) y = -2x - 3
7. (a) 40 (b) (0,10) (c) y = 40* +10
8. (a) 5 (b) (0,4) ( ) y = Sx+ 4
c

9. (a) 6 (b) (0,15) (c)y = 6x+ 15

10. (a) -10 (b) (0,70) (c) y = - 1 0 x + 7 0
11. A: y = 7, B: y = 4, C: y = l, D: ^ = -4,
E: x--4, F: x = -3, G: x = 2, H: x=4.
12. Relationship is linear, y = 3x + 1 13. Relationship is linear, y = -4x + 25
14. Relationship is linear, y = Sx - 3 15. The relationship is not linear.
16. Relationship is linear, y = l*Sx + 0«5 17. The relationship is not linear.
18. Relationship is linear, y = x + 2 19. The relationship is not linear.
20. Relationship is linear, y = -x + 13 21. Relationship is linear. y = 2x + 2l
22. Relationship is linear, y = 3x + 4 23. Relationship is linear, y = Sx - 12
24. Relationship is linear. ;y = 2# - 2 25. Relationship is linear, y = 3x + 1
26. (a) 5 (b) (0, -10) (c) y = Sx - 10 27. (a) -6-25 (b) (0, 37-5) (c) y = -6-2Sx + 37-5
28. Table: 29. Table:
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 X -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
-5 -2 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 y 22 18 14 10 6 2 -2 -6 -10
Rule: y = 3x + 7 Rule: y • -4x + 6
Graph: Graph: 2S^y
20-=
Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

Table: 31. Table:

t -4 -3 - 2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 u -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
r -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 w -9 -6 -3 0 3 6 9 12 15
Rule: r = 2 t + 6 Rule: w = 3u + 3
Graph: Graph:
25 W
20 ~
IS I
10-5
5
I II —j—,—
-4 -3 jtt-I n

12 3 4

y i • v = 2x+3
2
+ + •*•• + ^+ -6 - 4 * ^ 4- 4* 4- 4- 4- 35. A: = x + 2
+ + + +
^ T ^ +
"
/ +4- + ++ + y ~3
+ 4 - 4 - 4 . ^/+ 4- 4- 4- +
B: y = -l-5x+ 3
+ + + \ -J
+ -f
^ N w ^ v = -0*5x + 4
+ +++ + C: y = 2-5x+ 4
+ + + + + / JL
4-4- 4- 4-^N j'+ +
4- 4- + 4 - ^ H - S

V\ 2 1 1 1 1 1 D: ,y = Ax
1 t 1 1 l/l 4 + J>
+
x

-5 .-4 . - \ > w =* 0*5x - 4 E: y = 3x

++ +
+ + / + + --
«• + /+ -2 4- 4- 4- 4-
F: y = 3x-2
+ * + /+ + —4j» \ v = -2x + 1
++ + / +^#»^ + -
+ ^»^+ + -6 -
4-
4-
+
4-
\
+ ^ 4-
+ +
+
+
+

A: ^ = ^2 37. A: y = 10x + 60
B: y = 0-5x+2 B: y=30
C: j = - x + 2 C: y = -10x+30
D: j> = 2 x - 2 D: y = 30x
E: j> = 0 - 5 x - 2 E: y= 3 0 x - 9 0
The graphs appear different because the scales used on the axes are not the same in the two graphs.
Hence the intercepts with the ;y-axes appear different but in both cases will be at (0, 3) and the
intercepts with the x-axes appear different but in both cases will beat (-1-5,0).
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 259

Exercise 8C. Page 141.

1. (a) 2 (b) 4 (c) 2 (d) 0-5 (e) 0-25 (f) 1
i
(g) -2 (h) 2-5 (i) 0-5 CD -4 (k) 2-5 (1) 0-5
2. (a) Gradient 3 Cuts ;y-axis at (0, -17) (b) Gradient -2 Cuts ^-axis at (0,13)
(0 Gradient -7 Cuts j-axis at (0,5) (d) Gradient - ~ Cuts 3^-axis at (0,8)
2
(e) Gradient -0-4 Cuts ,y-axis at (0,1-6) (f) Gradient - Cuts ^-axis at (0,3)
(g) Gradient -0-5 Cuts j'-axis at (0,11) (h) Gradient -2-5 Cuts j-axis at (0,15)
(0 Gradient -1-2 Cuts;y-axisat(0,12)
3. ^ = 0 4. x = 0 5. A does not, B does not, C does, D does not, E does.
6. H and I. 7. y = 3x + 4, Yes
8. y = 0-5x+ 2, D and E 9. a = 1, ¿ = -1, c = -13, d = 0 , e = 9 , / = 0 .
10. (a) y = x+2 (b) y = -x + 5 (c) ;y = -2x + 8 (d) y = Sx + 8
1 4
(e) y = 0-5*+5 (f) ;y = - 0 - 5 x - l - 5 (g) ^ = l - 5 x - 1 1 . 5 (h) ^ = - 3 X + 3
LI. (a) y = x + 3 (b) j> = - 4 x - l (c) ;y = - 3 x + 4 3 (d) ;y = 2 £ - l

(e) y = 1 +
5 (f) j = - 2 x + 4 (g) y = ^x + 4 (h) y = -5x + 5
3* 3

Exercise 8D. Page 143.

1. (a) F = l - 8 C + 32
(b) The value of m tells us the increase in the Fahrenheit temperature for each 1 degree increase
in the Centigrade temperature.
(c) 131°F (d) 14°F (e) 15°C (f) -20°C
(g) Yes there is such a temperature. -40°C = -40°F.
2. (a) The value of k tells us the increase in the length of the spring for each kilogram suspended
from it.
(b) The value of Lo tells us the length of the spring when no weight is suspended from it i.e. it is the
unstretched length or natural length of the spring.
(c) k = 0-2, L = 0-45, 5cm.
0

3. A: (-80,20) B: (120,120) C: (-100, 60) D:(-60,-20) E: (100,160) F: (140,80)

(b) y = 0-5* + 60 (c) y = -2x - 140 (d) y = -2x + 360
4. (a) The value of m tells us how much the amount to be paid increases in dollars for each extra unit
used. It is the cost per metered unit.
(b) The value of c tells us the cost in dollars that we are charged even if we use no units. It is the
"standing charge".
(c) A = 0-24JV + 40 (d) $88 (e) 175 units
5. (a) y = 2-4* (b) y = x (c) y = 0
(d) y = x-7 (or in real life units y = x- 175) (e) y = -0-4* + 14 (or y = -0-4* + 350)
6. The gradient of the line, m, gives the amount the cost of the job increases for each hour increase in
the time taken to do the job. It is the hourly rate charged.
The vertical axis intercept, c, gives the "call out fee" i.e. the amount that is charged for arriving at
your door (the hourly rate then goes on top of this).
The rule is C = 1207+80
7. C=4-90 + l-85x
8. K= 1000-0-2t
9. P=75n-800
10. P=8x
k 1
260 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

12. P=4-5/V-3650
(a) The value of m is 4-5 and this tells us that each extra ticket sold raises the profit by $4-50.
(b) The value of c is -3650 which tells us that if no tickets are sold the loss will be $3650.
(c) $3100
(d) $6925
(e) 812
13. [a) 110,540 (b) $1660
14. JV = 40t+210
The value of m is 40 which tells us that the membership is increasing at approximately 40 members
per year.
The value of c is 210 which tells us that at the beginning of the 5 year period there were
approximately 210 members in the club.
If the linear relationship continues then when t = 10 the membership would be approximately 610.
15. (a) P = 1 5 x - 3 7 5 0
(b) The company needs to sell at least 917 copies for a profit of more than $10000.
16. (a) The 5740 tells us that when the monitoring program started there were approximately 5740
of these animals thought to be in existence in the wild.
The 350 tells us that the numbers of these animals thought to be in existence in the wild is
decreasing at approximately 350 per year.
(b) Graph not shown here.
(c) (16*4, 0). If the rate of decline continues there will be none of these animals in existence in
the wild approximately sixteen and a half years after the monitoring program
commenced.

Miscellaneous Exercise Eight Page 148.

A: x = 4 B: y = -3 C: y = x D: y- x + 2 E: y = 2x + 4
F: y = -x G: y = 0-25x + 4 H: ;y = 0 - 5 x + l hy = -0-5x-
2. Equation 3 must be true,
3. (a) a = 2-4 (b) b = 3-5 (c) c = 6 (d) d = 3-8
(e) e = 13-S (f) / = 1 3 - 5 (g) 0 = 4-5 00 * = 3f
4. There are 196 females in this workforce.
5. The student needs at least 66% in the final unit
6. Dot frequency 1 with Boxplot C Dot frequency 2 with Boxplot A
Dot frequency 3 with Boxplot D Dot frequency 4 with Boxplot B
7. (a) 72 (b) 39 (c) 51
8.

9. The gradient of 7 means that for each degree rise in temperature the number of chirps per
minute goes up by 7.
In theory the -16 suggests that at 0°C the cricket would make -16 chirps! However
"negative chirps" is a rather meaningless concept. The equation is really only valid for N > 0.
00 For N > 0 we need the temperature to be greater than 2-3°C. Indeed, according to the rule,
for at least one chirp per minute the temperature needs to be approximately 2-5°C.
(c) (i) The cricket makes roughly 82 chirps per minute.
(ii) The cricket makes roughly 180 chirps per minute.
Cd) (i) The temperature is approximately 31°C.
(ii) The temperature is approximately 24°C.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 261

Exercise 9A. Page 153

1 For x < 0 y = -x-4 2. For x < - 4 y = 5
for 0 < x < 4 y = 2x-4 for -4 < x < 0 y = 3
for x > 4 y = 4 for 0 < x < 3 y = -x
for x > 3 y = x- 3
4.

5. Ask someone in your class to read and constructively comment on your answer and you do the
same for theirs.
(a) The broken line represents the journey of the cyclist.
(b) The cyclist passes the walker between 8.52 a.m. and 8.53 a.m.
(c) The walker took 30 minutes to walk to school.
(d) The walker maintained a steady speed of 6 km/h.
(e) The cyclist took 10 minutes to ride to school.
№ The cyclist maintained a steady speed of 18 km/h.
(a) The cyclist left town A at 7 a.m.
(b) The cyclist reached town B at 11.20 a.m.
(c) For the cyclist each stop was for 30 minutes.
(d) (i) Prior to the first stop the cyclist maintained 20 km/h.
(ii) Between the two stops the cyclist maintained 15km/h.
(iii) After the second stop the cyclist maintained 30 km/h.
(e) (i) From town A to town B the delivery truck maintained 60 km/h.
(ii) From town B back to town A the delivery truck maintained 90 km/h.
(0 When they were both travelling towards B the delivery truck passes the cyclist at about 9.35
a.m., and about 36 km from A.
(g) When returning to A the truck passed the cyclist at about 11.05 a.m., and about 52 km from A.
8. (Graph not shown here.)
(a) The car reaches C at 11.54 a.m. and truck reaches town C at 12.15 p.m.
(b) From 8.30 a.m. to 9.30 a.m. the truck maintained a steady speed of 100 km/h.
(c) The average speed of the truck from A to B was 87 km/h (to the nearest km/h).
(d) The car passes the truck at 10.30 a.m. in town B, just as the truck is about to leave B.
9. (a) Someone with a taxable income of $30 000 would pay $7 000 in tax.
(b) Someone with a taxable income of $40 000 would pay $11000 in tax.
(c) Someone with a taxable income of $48 000 would pay $15 000 in tax.
(d) Someone with a taxable income of $3 000 would pay no tax at all.
(e) Someone paying tax of $20 000 would have a taxable income of $58 000.
10.
1000H

500H

Sales f $) y
i i i i I i i i i I i i r i I—7
5000 10000 15000
262 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

11. For the first $100 000 of the sale price the agent's fee is a fixed $6 000.
From $100000 to $300 000 the fee is $6 000 plus 5% of the amount over $100 000.
From $300 000 and over the fee is $16 000 plus 2% of the amount over $300 000.
12. (a) 00

(c) (d)

Miscellaneous Exercise Nine. Page 157.

1. P = 3 t - 5
2. a = -l, ò = 4, c = 9, d = 1 9 , e = 29, / = 1 1 , 9 99
3. A: y = -3 B: y=l C: ;y = -0-5x+5 D: x= 5 E: y = x + 3
F: y = 9 G: x=-3 H: y=3x + 2 I: x = 7 J: y = x
(a) The 5200 and the 16 tell us that the fixed cost of production is $5200, even when no radios
are produced, and then each radio produced adds $16 to this cost of production.
(b) When 100 radios are produced the mean cost per radio is $68.
(c) When 500 radios are produced the mean cost per radio is $26-40.
(d) When 1000 radios are produced the mean cost per radio is $21-20.
5. There are 210 year eight students in the school.
6. 4
7. The number first thought of was 6.
8. There were 5 eights in the set.
9. (a) 33 (b) 37 (c) 16 [d) 3 0 - 4 0 (e) 31-8
10. (a) 25%
(b) The range of the set B marks (39) exceed the range of the set A marks (32).
The interquartile range for set B (17) exceeds the interquartile range of set A (11).
(c) The median of those left in set B would be lower than that of set B before the move.
(d) The range of those left in set B would be less than that of set B before the move.
(e) The range of the set A scores would be unchanged.
(f) The interquartile range would be reduced.

Exercise 10A. Page 169.

1. (a) 0-34 (b) 0-98 (c) 0-36 (d) 0-84 (e) 3-08 (f) 0-60 (g) 0-77 (h) 0-77
3. (a) 11-5 (b) 66-4 (c) 52-4 (d) 17-5 (e) 75-5 (f) 53-1 (g) 63-4 (h) 25-8
4. (a) 1-3 (b) 3-4 (c) 2-9 (d) 20-5 (e) 14-0 (f) 12-6
(a) 23-6 (b) 44-4 (c) 54-5 6. (a)
„ Mb (c) 7 (d) (e) (f)
7. 8. (a) (i) 5-3 (ii) 5-27 (b) (i) 31 (ii) 31-0
2 2 2
p =q + r
9. 2-6 10. 11-2 11. 9-8 12. 9-0 13. 4 1 14. 6-3 15. 16-5
16. 12-8 17. 9-6 18. 28-7 19. 65-8 20. 3-5 21. 51-1 22. 56-5
23. 6-5 24. 10-8 25. 9-2 26. 3-7 27. 40-8 28. x= 16-8, y = 11-8
29. x= 16-7, 3^ = 33-7 30. 53-3 31. (a) 14-9 cm (b) 9-3 cm 32. (a) 36° (b) 8-6 cm
33. (a) The ladder reaches 7-06 m up the wall, to the nearest centimetre.
(b) The horizontal distance from the foot of the ladder to the wall is 3-76 m, to nearest cm
34. (a) The ladder makes and angle of 66° with the ground, to the nearest degree.
(b) The light is 4-6 metres above ground, correct to one decimal place.
35. The kite is 41 m above ground level, to the nearest metre.
36. (a) AB makes an angle of 22° with the horizontal, to the nearest degree.
(b) AB is of length 2-15 m, to the nearest centimetre.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 263

37. To the nearest centimetre, AB = 12-45 m, BF = 9-53 m and FC = 12-45 m.

38. 0 = 38-7° correct to one decimal place.
The length of AD is 64% of the length of AE, to the nearest percent.
39. (a) Each short wire is of length 7-81 m (nearest cm) and makes an angle of 40 with the ground
(nearest degree).
(b) Each long wire is of length 11-66 m (nearest cm) and makes an angle of 59 with the ground
(nearest degree).
40. To the nearest centimetre, AC is of length 5-22 m, CG is of length 3-36 m,
BH is of length 1-68 m, HC is of length 3-91 m.
41. To the nearest degree, each wire makes an angle of 62° with the horizontal.
42. (a) The largest possible length of the support wire EB is, to the nearest cm, 15-24 m.
(b) The shortest possible length of the support wire EB is, to the nearest cm, 12-56 m
43. The bob rises 27 mm above its lowest position (to the nearest millimetre).
44. To the nearest metre point D is 10 metres above the horizontal ground.
45. The total length of steel required is 165 metres (to the nearest whole metre).
46. x= 36-7, j = 6-1

Exercise 10B. Page 177.

(a) 035 (orN35°E) (b) 080° (or N80°E) (c) 110° (or S70°E) (d) 145° (orS35°E)
(e) 200 (orS20°W) (f) 300° (or N60°W) (g) 215° (or S35°W) c
(h) 260 (or S80°W)
c
(i) 290 (orN70°W) (j) 325° (or N35°W) (k) 020° (or N20°E) (1) 120° (orS60°E)
2. (a) 30° (b) 20 (c) 35° (d) 15°
3. The height of the flagpole is 11-9 m, correct to one decimal place.
4. The angle of elevation of the sun is 26° (nearest degree).
5. The height of the flagpole is 10-0 m, correct to one decimal place.
6. Rounded up to the next metre the length is 19 metres.
7. To the nearest kilometre the ships are 10 km apart.
8. B is 66 m from A (to the nearest metre).
9. Ship C is approximately 26-9 km from ship A.
10 C is 216 m from A (to the nearest metre).
11 B is 91 m from A (to the nearest metre).
12 The height of the second tower is 65 metres, to the nearest metre.
13 The tree is approximately 14-8 metres tall.
14 The smoke is approximately 11-4 km from the first observation tower.
15 The ships are approximately 270 metres apart.
16 To the nearest metre the flagpole is 17 metres long.
17. The height of the flagpole is 15-5 metres, correct to one decimal place.
18 The required angle of elevation is 32° (nearest degree).

Miscellaneous Exercise Ten. Page 180.

1. (a)x=9-4 (b)x=18-7 (c)x=56-3 (d)x = 4-l ( e ) x = 1 2 - l (f)x=66-4
2. The mean of the six amounts is $26 350 and the median is $14100.
3. The mean for the girls was 21-2.
4. ( a ) x = 2 1 (b)x=2-5 (c)x=7 (d)x=0-625
5. (a) 5 = 3 (b) a = 4
6. The number first thought of was 15.
7. John borrowed $8600.
8. (a) 24 12 (b) 29 14-5 (c) 184 92 (d) 34 17
29 5 36-5 7-5 269 85 44 10

36 18 14 7 44 22 60 30
(e) (0 (g) (h)
47 11 14 0 59 15 83 23
264 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

9. (a) Approximately 27%.

(b) 37-9% of the income of the country is earned by the richest 10% of the population.
10. y = 0-Sx + 2-5, / = 7, g = -2, h = 13, i = -2, ; = 4-4.
11. [a) 59% (b) More girls than boys.
12. A: ;y = 5 B: x=-S C: y = 2x-4 D: y = -x+S E: y = 0-2x
1
F: y = x-9 G: j = 2 x + 1 5 H: y = * - 1 2 I: ;y = 2 x - 1 3 J: y=-~x-8
13. (a) 49 500 (b) 22 200 (c) 7-14 tonnes (to 2 d.p.)
14. d = 1144 m, c = 2-86m

Exercise 11A. Page 183.

2
1. 5-4, 27-2 c m 2. 45 c m 2
3. 27 c m 2
4. 20 c m 2
5. 9-6 c m 2

2
6. 211 m 7. 8-8 c m 2
8. 15-6 c m 2
9. 18-1 c m 2
10. 1730 m m 2

Exercise I I B . Page 188.

2
1. 13-9 c m 2. 75-8 c m 2
3. 18-8 c m 2
4. 101-8 c m 2
5. 87-3 c m 2

2
6. 3-8 c m 7. 32-5 c m 2
8. 23-0 c m 2
9. 11-8 c m 2
10. 17-3 c m 2

2
11. 10-4 c m 12. 6-8 13. 7-3 14. 6-6 15. 67°
16. 52° 17. 32° 18. (a) $125000 (b) $51000
2
19. The second block has the greater area, by 9 m , to the nearest square metre.
20. The owner of block A receives $472193-55 and the owner of block B receives $777806-45.
21. AC needs to be 180 metres long, rounded up to the next whole metre.

Exercise 11C. Page 197.

1. 5-8 2. 6-6 3. 12-9
4. 54-8 5. 46-0 6. 54-2
7. 58 (nearest integer) 8. 12-3 (1 d.p.) 9. 54 (nearest integer)
10. 14 (nearest integer) 11. 105 (nearest integer) 12. 126 (nearest integer)
13. 6-7 (1 d.p.) 14. 75 (nearest integer)
15. The pole is of length 614 cm, to the nearest centimetre.
16. The two shot journey is 38 metres further than the direct route, to the nearest metre.
17. 7-1 18. 1-7 19. 21-8
20. 73-0 21. 59 (nearest integer) 22. 14-4 (1 d.p.)
23. 43 (nearest integer) 24. I l l (nearest integer) 25. 44 (nearest integer)
26. 62 (nearest integer) 27. 11-9 (1 d.p.) 28. 146 (nearest integer)
29. The boat is then 13-4 km from its initial position, correct to one decimal place.
30. After eight seconds Jim and Toni are 10-7 metres apart, correct to one decimal place.
31. B is 13-1 km from C, correct to one decimal place.
32. 75 (nearest integer) 33. 99 (nearest integer) 34. 617 (nearest integer)
35. 5-39 (2 d.p.) 36. 135 (nearest integer) 37. 80 (nearest integer)
38. 160 (nearest integer) 39. 54 (nearest integer)
40. The lengths of AC and BC are 672 cm and 824 cm respectively, each answer given to the nearest cm.
41. The smallest angle of the triangle is of size 42°, to the nearest degree.
42. The parallelogram has diagonals of length 5-1 cm and 9-7 cm, correct to one decimal place.
43. The parallelogram has sides of length 6-8 cm and 10-8 cm, correct to one decimal place.
44. (a) When AC is 2-6 metres ZCAB = 20°, to the nearest degree,
(b) When AC is 2-1 metres ZCAB = 28°, to the nearest degree.
45. (a) 479 cm (b) 239 cm (c) 111cm (d) 222 cm
46. (a) At 5 o'clock the distance between the tip of the hour hand and the tip of the minute hand is 155
mm, to the nearest mm.
(b) At 10 minutes past 5 the distance between the tip of the hour hand and the tip of the minute
hand is 119 mm, to the nearest mm.
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 265

47. (a) The ship is 1-77 km from the lighthouse, correct to 2 decimal places.
(b) The ship is 1*17 km from the coastal observation position, correct to 2 decimal places.
48. (a) Q is 18*5 km from P, correct to one decimal place.
(b) Q is 2 IrO km from the lighthouse, correct to one decimal place.
49. Ship B is approximately 15*9 km from ship A, on a bearing 164°.
50. Twelve of the steel frameworks would require a total of 260 metres of steel (to the next 10 metres).
2
51. The block has an area of 5270 m and a perimeter of 298 metres, both answers given to the nearest
integer.
2
52. The triangular piece that has been removed has an area of 752 m m and a perimeter of 128 mm,
both answers given to the nearest whole number.
2
53. The block has an area of 6399 m , to the nearest square metre.

Miscellaneous Exercise Eleven. Page 203.

1. y = 2x-l, BandE.
2. ( a ) x = 1 7 ( b ) x = 7 ( c ) x = 2 ( d ) x = -2 ( e ) x = 3 5 (f)x=20
3. The estimated mean = 13*9. The median lies in the 11 —» 15 interval.
4. The mean for the whole class of students is 23-8.
5. The number I first thought of was 17.
6. Four and a half years.
7. The flagpole is of height 13-7 metres, correct to one decimal place.
8. a = 6, b = 5, c = 19, d = 7, e = 3. 5, 7, 11, 13, 15, 21, 21, 25, 30, 31.
10. The boats are 7-4 km apart ninety minutes after leaving the harbour, to the nearest 100 m.
11. (a) 4 m (b) 3-46 m (c) 1 m (d) 1 m
12. The direct journey from A to C is 50-6 m shorter than the journey via B (correct to one dp).
13. Possibility 1 is of length 176 m, possibility 2 is of length 156 m and possibility 3 is of length 153 m
(all to the nearest metre).
14. A mean number of nurses absent per day is 10-2, standard deviation 6*1.
They decide to have 14 in pool.
15. (a) The bottom bar covers fewer years (0 - 4) than the bar above it (5 - 14).
(b) Country A has more males than females for the age ranges 0 - 4 , 5 - 1 4 and 3 5 - 4 4 .
(c) Country B has more females than males for the age ranges 0 - 4, 15 - 24, 25 - 34, 35 - 44,
and 45 - 54.
(d) Country B has approximately 4 800 000 people aged 55 and over.
(e) Discuss answer and reasons with your teacher.
16. For x from 0 to 2 : y = 0-2x. For x from 2 to 3 : ;y = 0-lx+0-2. For x from 3 to 4 : ;y = 0-5.

Exercise 12A. Page 214.

1. x= 1, y = 6 2. x= 3, y = -l 3. x = 4, y = 0 4. x = 5, y = -2
5. x = -3, y = 2 6. x=7,y = S 7. x=3,y = 4 8. x = 3,y = -2
9. x = -7,y = 10 10. x = 9,y = ll 11. x=5,y = -2 12. x = 4,y = 7
13. x = 4,y = l 14. x = -3,y = 6 15. x = 4,y = l 16. x = 4,y = -l
17. x = 4,y = 3 18. x= 3,y = 5 19. x = 7,y = 3 20. A= 5, B= -2
21. p= 5-5,(7= 3 22. x = 8 , ; y = 1 5 23. x= 10,y = 10
24. (a) Equation 3: x + ;y = 600 (b) Equation 4: x-;y=140
(c) The baker baked 370 white loaves and 230 wholemeal loaves that day.
25. (a) Equation 1: 2x + 4;y = 1758 (b) Equation 5: x - 5j> = 403
(c) Adding the number of people at the show to the number of dogs at the show gives total of 811.
26. (a) Equation 2: y -x=5
(b) Equation 4: 2x + 3y = 70
(c) The two numbers are 11 and 16.
27. (a) Equation 1: x + ^ = 46
(b) Equation 5: x+ 0-5y = 32
(c) The piggy bank contains 18 coins that are $1 coins and 28 that are 50 cent coins.
266 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

28. (a) Equation 3: x + y = 23

(b) Equation 6: 28* + 35;y = 700
(c) The seamstress bought 15 metres of material A and 8 metres of material B.
29. (a) Equation 3: x + ;y = 25000
(b) Equation 6: 0-96* + M2j> = 25120
(c) The investor put $18 000 into company X and $7 000 into company Y.
30. (a) Equation 1: x + ;y = 35
(b) Equation 5: 3y - 2x = 15
2
(c) x = 18, y = 17. The area of the rectangle is 306 cm .
31. (a) Equation 3: 16x+7;y = 256
(b) Equation 6: 20* + lly = 338
(c) For five adults and three children the cost would be $86*50.
32. The equations are x + y = 41 and 3y + 2x= 106.
The two numbers are 17 and 24.
33. The two numbers are 13 and 24.
34. The chemist should use 80 mL from bottle A and 20 mL from bottle B.
35. (a) x + ;y = 12000, l-12x+ l-05y = 13 195 (b) x = 8500, y = 3500
36. 450 tickets were sold for $12 each and 1050 were sold for $8 each.
37. The company has 16 of the 56 seaters and 9 of the 35 seaters.
38. The two numbers are 7 and 16.
39. They sold 46 jars of jam and 32 jars of relish.
40. $75 000 was borrowed at 14% and $45 000 was borrowed at 17%.
41. David answered 19 correctly.
At least 18 questions must be correctly answered for a mark of at least 50.

Miscellaneous Exercise Twelve. Page 219.

1. (a) • 7 4 - 7 0 cos x does not equal 4 cos x. Rule of order not being followed.
• If 16 = 4 cos x, cos x = 4 not 0*25.
• Inappropriate degree of accuracy in final answer for accuracy of given data.
(b) • Not correct to use A = 0*5anbsin C for given information as the angle of known size is not
between the two sides of known length.
76 X 72 X sin 64°
does not equal 38 x 36 x sin 32° . Could write it as 38 x 72 x sin 64°
or as 76 x 36 x sin 64° but not what is written in given "solution".
• Final answer claims to be an area but has units of length.
(c) • Given working involves the sine rule not the cosine rule as claimed.
, . . 6-8sin65° , . , .
J

• Rearrangement should give sin Z.BCA = ^ , not what is claimed.

• Obtuse angle should not be claimed as being a solution because Z.BCA is not opposite
longest side and so cannot be obtuse.
(d) • Should be taking away 2 x 5 x 7 cos 130° not adding it on.
• 74 + 70 cos 130° does not equal 144 cos 130°. Rule of order not being followed.
2
• 144 cos 130° gives a negative value for x , not a positive value. A negative value would
then mean that x could not be determined.
• Given value for x includes units but x is a number not a length.
(a) Nominal categorical 00 Continuous numerical
(c) Ordinal categorical (d) Discrete numerical
(e) Continuous numerical (f) Continuous numerical
CO Discrete numerical 00 Nominal categorical
(0 Nominal categorical 0) Discrete numerical
3. (a) x = 6,^ = 5 (b) x=3ty = 2 (c) X = 2,y = 3
4. (a) x = 3-6 (b)x=7 (c) X = 15 (d) x = 11,^ = 3 (e) x = 3 - 5 (f) x = 1 4
5. A: y == - x + 6 0 B:.y = 60 C: y = 2x--60 D: x=60 E:j> = - 2 x + 3 0 F: ;y = 0-5x+30
 ISBN 9780170350457. Answers. 267

6. The direct journey from A to C is 647 m shorter than the journey via B, to the nearest metre.
7. The graphs of all members of the family will have a gradient of 3.
8. The graphs of all members of the family will pass through the point (0, -7).
9. The graphs of all members of the family will have a gradient of -0-5.
10. The fire is approximately 19-7 km from lookout № 1 and 18-8 km from lookout №-2.
11. 0-285 km, i.e. approximately 300 metres.
12. (a) The steeper the line the greater the speed. Hence we can see from the graph that the third
stage was the one with the greater average speed.
(b) 1st stage: 20km/h. 2nd stage: 15km/h. 3rd stage: 25 km/h.
(c) From town A to town B the delivery van averaged 60 km/h.
(d) From town B to town A the delivery van averaged 80 km/h
(e) The delivery van would need to average more than 120 km/h to arrive back at A before the
cyclist got there!
13. $34 000 secure, $16 000 risky 14. $15 600 secure, $40 000 risky
15. Answers not given here. Check that your part (b) and (c) answers are the same.
16. (a) (i) The statement is incorrect. There are the same number of results to the right of the
median as there are to the left of the median.
(ii) The box plots do not tell us how many students were involved. Hence we cannot
conclude that there were more 14 year olds than 12 year olds.
(iii) The word "much" is open to interpretation. Better to quantify rather than use words like
"much". The reader can then decide if they wish to interpret the difference as "much".
Instead could say, for example: The interquartile range for the 14 year olds was 7
seconds which exceeded that of the 12 year olds which was 6 seconds.
(b) Discuss the reasonableness of your statements with others in your class.
Exercise 13A. Page 224.
1. (a) 1 (b) 1-7 (c) -2 (d) 0-5 (e) -0-75
2. Test A: 2-5, TestB: -1, TestC: 1-25, TestD: 0-2
3. Computing (1-216), Chemistry (0-278), Mathematics (-0-385), Electronics (-0-616)
4. English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies.
5. Jill: "Well I goti." Jill: "The mean was zero.' Jill: "Oh he got-0-25.
Exercise 13C. Page 233.
1. 0-2266 2. 0-6377 3. 54-56
4. (a) 0-5828 (b) -0-6433 (c) 1-2265 (d) -0-7388
5. (a) 19-5 (b) 21-9 (c) 18-7 (d) 23-1
6. (a) 0-68 (b) 0-95 (c) 0-997 (d) 0-95 (e) 0-997
(f) 0-34 (g) 0-84 (h) 0-16 (i) 0-84 0) 0-16
7. (a) 99-7% (b) 16% (c) 13-5%
8. (a) 16% (b) 2-5%
9. (a) 0-3085 (b) 0-0062
10. (a) 0-5 (b) 0-34 11. (a) 0-3085 (b) 0-2902 (c) 0-0228
12. (a) a p p r o x l l (b) approx 11 (c) approx 39 13. 0-0548
14. (a) 415 fb)217 15. To nearest 0-5 cm: 158-5 cm, 191-5 cm
16. A/B: 78, B / C : 68, C/D: 55, D/F: 47 17. (a) 0-1587 (b) 7.38 am (c) 7.33 am
18. fa) 2yrs (b) 7yrs (c) 91yrs (d) 0-783 19. (a) approx 40 (b) 0-236
Miscellaneous Exercise Thirteen. Page 237.
1. (a) Eqn3: 4 = 3m + c (b) Eqr>5: 19 = 8m + c (c) The straight line eq" is y = 3x - 5.
2. mean 24-08, median 24, mode 20, range 29.
3. Four hot dogs and six burgers would cost a total of $32-20.
4. x 16, y = 5. The rectangle has an area of 80 cm .
2

5. Each mixed bag should contain 8 chocolates and 12 lollies.

6. (a) The cost of constructing 25 km of similar highway would be 155 million dollars.
(b) The cost of constructing 52 km of similar highway would be 317 million dollars.
Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

(a) 167,168,169 (b) 166,168,170

337°, 3-4 km
The topmost point is 35 metres above ground (to the nearest metre).
(a) Revenue is likely to be zero for zero units sold. Thus line I is likely to be revenue line.
Costs are likely to have some fixed costs for "set up" then an amount per unit made. Thus
line II is likely to be cost line.
(b) Break even when x = 40 (then Cost = Revenue = $3200).
(c) I: R = B0x II: C = 2000+ 30*
The yacht travelled 918 metres, to the nearest metre
If the agent attempts to calculate a mean he will have to decide what values to assume for the one
property "$400 000 or less" and the six that are "over $1 000 000". Hence determining the mean
presents a problem. Using the modal class will not be an indicator of central tendency. The median
is probably the most suitable to work with. The median will be the 15th sale price and will lie in the
$700 001 -* $800 000 interval. The 15th will be the "last" value in this class so he could suggest a
value in this interval but towards the $800 000 end. Hence a reasonable average for the given data
could be about $780 000.
In reality a lot may depend on what he wants the average for. If a customer is asking it may be
more informative to show the customer the whole table as this shows the quite considerable range
of prices. Just knowing an average may not be that helpful. If the average is really needed perhaps
the agent should attempt to find out the actual sale prices of the 29 properties. Just how recent the
sales were made could also be an important consideration.
(a) The total length of aluminium is 775 cm, to the nearest centimetre.
2
(b) The area of glass is 19 580 c m , to the nearest 10 square centimetres.

Initials PA CB JB CC 1 ID KD LF MJ EK IM PN
Grade C D A D | B C F C B C B C
Initials RN PP AR TR VR AS PS 1 TS BV PV IW RZ
grade D B D C B C C C D B F C
(a) 41 m (nearest metre) (b) 26 m [nearest metre)
(c) 49 m (nearest metre) (d) 328° ( nearest degree)
Graph of amount of water in tank over 12 day period.
60000 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

50000H

¿4
C
cd
<S 40000-3

to
CD 30000-3
U

20000-a

10000 -3

Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
(a) 144 (b) 1280 (c) 167 (d) 122-7, 131-3
(a) -32-5 m (b) -61m
 ISBN 9780170350457. Index. 269

Index
Adjacent (right-angled triangle) 163
Algebraic expressions 10 Five-number summary 67
Angle of depression 176 Formulae 10,85, 111
Angle of elevation 176 Frequency histograms 8,19-26
Area of a triangle 183 Frequency polygons 20
given two sides and the included angle 185 Frequency tables 59
Heron's rule 188,203,222
Gaussian distribution 226
that are not right angled 184
Gradient of a straight line 123,124-7
Bar graphs 8,21 Grouped data 39-43
Bearings 175-6,177 standard deviation 60-2
Bell shaped curve 226
Heron's rule 188,203,222
Bimodal 9
Hexapatterns 103
Bivariate data 14
Histograms 8,19-26
Box and whisker diagrams (boxplots) 67-70 versus boxplots 71
versus histograms 71 Horizontal lines 131
Categorical data 15 Hypotenuse 163
displaying 16
Interquartile range 67
Categorical variables 15
Collinear points 177 Linear equations
Column graphs 8 simultaneous 207-18
Compass bearings 176 solving 85-95
Continuous data 18 Linear relationships 121-41
Continuous variables 18 in practical situations 142-7
Coordinates 7 see also straight line graphs
Cosine (cos) ratio 162-4 Lines parallel to the x-axis 131
Cosine rule 194-7 Lines parallel to they-axis 131
Lower quartile 67
Data, types of 14
Data analysis 8,12, 29-82 Mean 8,30-3
grouped data 39 Notation 8,31,231
Data display 8,12,16,19-26,67-72 Mean deviation 50
Describing distributions 44-6, 71-2,74-7 Measures of central tendency 30,49,63
Discrete data 18 see also mean; median
Discrete variables 18,19 Measures of dispersion (spread) 49-63
Distributions see also range; standard deviation
describing 44-6, 71-2, 74-7 Measures of location 30
location, spread and shape 71-5 Median 9, 30-1,67
skewness 72-3 Median class 40
Dot frequency graphs 8, 21 Median group 40
Midpoint of each interval 40
Elimination method, simultaneous eqns 209,212
Modal class 40
Equation of a straight line 128-9,138-9,141
Modal group 40
given gradient and one point on the line 139
Mode 9,30-1
given the gradient and vertical intercept 139
given two points that lie on the line 140 Negatively skewed distributions 72, 73
Equations Nominal categorical variables 15
from ratios 112 Non right-angled triangles 183-203
from simple interest formula 111 Normal distribution 226-36
solving 85-95 notation for mean and standard deviation 231
to solve problems 99-118 and percentiles 233
see also linear eqns; simultaneous linear eqns and quantiles 233
Expanding brackets 10
270 Mathematics Applications. Unit Two. ISBN 9780170350457.

and standard deviations 226 Standard normal distribution 228

and z scores 228 Standard scores 223-5, 228
Number, use of 7 Statistical functions on a calculator 38-9,53-4
Number puzzles 103-7 Statistical investigation process 81-2
Numerical data 18 Statistical tables 228
displaying 19-21 Stem and leaf plots 8,31
Numerical variables 18 Step graphs 152
Straight line graphs 123-47
Opposite (right-angled triangle) 163 gradient 123,124-7
Ordinal categorical variables 15 on graphics calculators 132
Outliers 8, 59, 69 lines parallel to the axes 131
rule 128-9
Percentage frequency 20
table - rule - graph 129-30
Percentiles 233-6
see also equation of a straight line
Pictograms 8
Substitution method, simultaneous linear
Piecewise defined relationships 151-6
equations 209, 211
Positively skewed distributions 73
Subtending, definition 177
Primary data 14
Summarising data 8-9,12,29-37
Probability 11, 226
grouped data 39-43
Proportional bar graphs 8
Summary statistics 30
Pyramids 99-101
Pythagorean theorem 11,168 Tangent (tan) ratio 161-6
Three figure bearings 176
Quantiles 233-6
Triangles
Quartiles 67
area 183-90
Range 9,31,49 cosine rule 194-7,198-9
Ratios 7 sine rule 190-3,197-8
equations from 112-13 Trigonometric ratios 161-6
Relative frequency 20 Trigonometry for right-angled triangles 159-79
Right-angled triangles, trigonometry 159-66 accuracy in trigonometric questions 175
angles of elevation and depression 176-7,178-9
Secondary data 14 applications 168-74
Similar triangles 11,113-14 bearings 175-6,177
Simple interest formula 111 calculator usage 166-7
Simultaneous linear equations 207-18 Trigonometry for non right triangles 183-203
solving graphically 210 area of a triangle 183-90
solving using calculators 208 cosine rule 194-7,198-9
solving using elimination method 209,212 sine rule 190-3,197-8
solving using substitution method 209, 211
word problems 213-18 Univariate data 14
Sine rule 190-3,197-8 Upper quartile 67
Sine (sin) ratio 162-6
Variables 14
Skewness of distributions 72-3
categorical 15
SOHCAHTOA 163-4
numerical 18
Solving equations 85-95
Variance 50, 231
with brackets or fractions 88-92
Vertical intercept 129
linear equations 92-5
Vertical lines 131
simultaneous linear equations 207-18
Standard deviation 50, 51-8 Y=mx + c 128-9,138-9
grouped data 60-2 3>-intercept 128,129
and normal distribution 226-8
notation 54,231 Zscore228
and outliers 59
and standard scores 223-5