Question

Consider the following 8 numbers, where one labelled x

is unknown.
27, 20, 34,
x, 7, 47, 26, 41
Given that the range of the numbers is 63,
work out 2 values of x

Answer 1

Answer: 70 and -16

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Step-by-step explanation:

For now, we'll assume x is the largest value (aka the max)

Let's sort the values from smallest to largest.

7, 20, 26, 27, 34, 41, 47, x

We see that 7 is the smallest item, so,

range = max - min = x - 7

Set this equal to 63 and solve for x

x-7 = 63

x = 63+7

x = 70

So x could be equal to 70.

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Next, we'll assume that x is the smallest value

That means the min is x and 47 is now the max

max - min = range

47 - x = 63

-x = 63-47

-x = 16

x = -16

So if x is the smallest value, then it must be -16

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Finally, we'll let x be somewhere between 7 and 47

Unfortunately, we can't pin down a specific value here since we could have lots of possible values. Three such examples are x = 8, x = 9, and x = 10. There are many others.

If your teacher is looking for 2 values only, then I would refer to the previous two sections and ignore this section entirely.