Question

First, she needs to find her resting heart rate by counting her pulse for one minute immediately after she wakes up for 5 days in a row. She finds her average resting heart rate to be 62 after 5 days, and she remembers the last day's pulse was 58 and all the others were the same. Write and solve an equation to find what her pulse was on all the other days. Justify your answer by showing your steps.

A) Pulse on other days = 58
B) Pulse on other days = 62
C) Pulse on other days = 60

Answer 1

Given the average heart rate and the heart rate on one specific day, an equation can be set up to find the heart rate on the remaining days. Upon solving the equation, we encounter a discrepancy, as the calculated heart rate would not correctly average to the given rate, indicating an error with the options presented.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the pulse on the other days when the average resting heart rate is 62 beats per minute over 5 days, with one day's pulse being 58, we can set up an equation. Let x represent the pulse on the other four days.

The average pulse is the sum of all five pulses divided by 5, which we know is 62 bpm, so:

(x + x + x + x + 58) / 5 = 62

4x + 58 = 5 × 62

4x + 58 = 310

4x = 310 - 58

4x = 252

x = 252 / 4

x = 63

However, we must note that x must be slightly less than 63 since the pulse on one day was 58, which is less than the average of 62 bpm. There seems to be a mistake, as the average of the five days cannot be 62 if four days have a pulse rate of 63 and one day has a pulse rate of 58; the average in this case would be higher than 62. Hence, there is a calculation error in the options provided, none corresponds to the correct average.