Final answer:
To accurately determine the student's final grade with a 90 on the final exam, the weight of the final in the overall grade calculation is necessary. Without this information, an exact final grade cannot be calculated.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the student's final grade after scoring 90 on the final exam when they previously had an average of 79, we would need to know the weight of the final exam in relation to the overall course grade. Without that information, we can't provide an exact answer. The options given (82, 85, 87, 89) seem to suggest that the final might have a specific weight. However, no formula or weight is provided in this question to make a calculation. If we assume the final is weighted equally with the rest of the course work, we can simply average the two scores. But typically, the final exam has a different weight, so the final grade would be calculated by multiplying the scores by their respective weights and then adding those numbers together.