Question

A town interested in installing wind turbines to generate electricity measures the speed of the wind in the town over the course of a year. They find that most of the​ time, the wind speed is pretty​ slow, while only rarely does the wind blow very fast during a storm. What would be the best measure of the central wind speed they should report to the​ mayor? The mean​, because the distribution of wind speeds is skewed. The median​, because the distribution of wind speeds is symmetric. The mean​, because the distribution of wind speeds is symmetric. The median​, because the distribution of wind speeds is skewed. The proportion​, because the distribution of wind speeds is skewed. The proportion​, because the distribution of wind speeds is symmetric.

Answer 1

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Answer:

The median​, because the distribution of wind speeds is skewed.

Explanation:

A few higher speeds will raise the mean. For a skewed distribution, the median may be a more appropriate measure of center.

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Additional comment

From an engineering point of view, one might have to consider speeds only within some range, as the wind turbines may be shut down for speeds too low or too high. Likely the power generated is not proportional to speed, so a weighted average (of the square of speed) would probably be more useful. Unfortunately, this question does not get into such subtleties.