Question

To be accepted into a Police-Training Program, a recruit must average at least 82 on a battery of four tests. If a candidate scored 88 on Test N, 81 on Test P, and 75 on Test R, what is the lowest score he can obtain on Test W and still be accepted into the Training Program?

Answer 1

Recall that the average of a given set of numbers is the sum of the numbers divided by the number of numbers.

Therefore, if we want the average to be 82, and we call x the score on Test W, then:

`82=(81+75+88+x)/(4)\text{.}`

Multiplying by 4 we get:

`\begin{gathered} 82*4=244+x, \\ 328=244+x\text{.} \end{gathered}`

Subtracting 244 from the equation we get:

`\begin{gathered} 328-244=x, \\ x=84. \end{gathered}`

Answer: The recruit must score at least 84 points on Test W.