Question

The student activities office has four students who work part-time on a work-study program. Three of the students work

17 hours per week, 19 hours per week, and 16 hours per week. The office policy is that the average number of hours
students work per week in the student activities office is less than 17.5 hours. What is the restriction for the number of
hours that the fourth student can work?

Answer 1

less than 18 hours

Explanation:

You want the restriction on the fourth value such that the average of it and 17, 19, and 16 will be less than 17.5.

Average value

The average of a set of numbers is their sum, divided by the number of numbers. The average of the four students' hours will be ...

(17 +19 +16 +h)/4 < 17.5 . . . . . . restriction on average hours

Solution

Multiplying by 4 gives ...

52 +h < 70

h < 18 . . . . . . . . subtract 52

The fourth student can work less than 18 hours.