Final answer:
The sample mean package weight for Thursday is 5 pounds. This calculated average is a measure of central tendency, representing the central point of the data set of package weights.
Step-by-step explanation:
The sample mean package weight for Thursday is 5 pounds (lbs).
The mean, also known as the average, is a measure of central tendency that is calculated by adding up all the values in a data set and then dividing by the number of values. The provided data includes various statistical measures for a set of package weights: the mean, median, mode, standard deviation, and the weights at the first and third quartiles. The mean weight given is 5 lbs, which means when all the package weights from Thursday are added together and then divided by the total number of packages, the result is 5 lbs.
The median and mode are 4.5 lbs and 4 lbs, respectively, representing the middle value when all weights are ordered from least to greatest, and the value occurring most frequently. The standard deviation is 3.8 lbs, indicating how spread out the package weights are from the mean. The first quartile is 2 lbs, meaning that one-quarter of the packages weigh less than or equal to 2 lbs, and the third quartile is 8.5 lbs, signifying that three-quarters of the packages weigh less than or equal to 8.5 lbs.