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A delivery firm weighs 50 parcels on a made-up day…
Contributed by StemPy LabTry it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A delivery firm weighs 50 parcels on a made-up day. The lightest is 2.1 kg and the heaviest is 9.8 kg. A clerk wants about bins. Find the range of the masses and the value of to two decimal places. Seven bins would need a width of about the range divided by 7, to one decimal place. The clerk prefers a round width of 1 kg starting at 2 kg. How many bins does that give?
Need a reminder? The key ideaShow
A histogram counts numerical values into bins of equal width, with touching bars. An edge value goes into the bin above. With unequal bins the height is the frequency density:
The worked solution
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. The range. .
Step 2. How many bins. , so about 7 bins.
Step 3. The width for 7 bins. .
Step 4. Round bins. Bins of 1 kg from 2 kg are 2 to 3, 3 to 4, and so on up to 9 to 10 kg. That is 8 bins.
Answer: , , and 8 bins.
Check. A round width makes the histogram easy to read. Eight bins is close to the seven suggested, so it is a fine choice.
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