S1 

EXERCISE 1D 1  college nurse keeps a record of the heights, measured to the nearest
A
centimetre, of a group of students she treats.

Her data are summarised in the following grouped frequency table. 1

Exercise 1D
Height (cm) Number of students
110–119 1
120–129 3
130–139 10
140–149 28
150–159 65
160–169 98
170–179 55
180–189 15

Choose suitable mid-class values and calculate an estimate for the mean
height.

2 A junior school teacher noted the time to the nearest minute a group of
children spent reading during a particular day.

The data are summarised as follows.

Time (nearest minute) Number of children

20–29 12
30–39 21
40–49 36
50–59 24
60–69 12
70–89 9
90–119 2

(i) Choose suitable mid-class values and calculate an estimate for the mean
time spent reading by the pupils.
(ii) Some time later, the teacher collected similar data from a group of
25 children from a neigbouring school. She calculated the mean to be
75.5 minutes. Compare the estimate you obtained in part (i) with this value.

What assumptions must you make for the comparison to be meaningful?

31
S1 
3  he stated ages of the 91 cyclists considered earlier are summarised by the
T
following grouped frequency distribution.

1 Stated age (years) Frequency

0–9 13
Exploring data

10–19 26
20–29 16
30–39 10
40–49 6
50–59 5
60–69 14
70–79 0
80–89 1
Total 91

(i) Choose suitable mid-interval values and calculate an estimate of the mean
stated age.
(ii) Make a suitable error adjustment to your answer to part (i) to give an
estimate of the mean age of the cyclists.
(iii) The adjusted mean of the actual data was 30.4 years. Compare this with
your answer to part (ii) and comment.

4 In an agricultural experiment, 320 plants were grown on a plot. The lengths of

the stems were measured, to the nearest centimetre, 10 weeks after planting.
The lengths were found to be distributed as in the following table.

Length, x (cm) Frequency (number of plants)

20.5  x  32.5 30
32.5  x  38.5 80
38.5  x  44.5 90
44.5  x  50.5 60
50.5  x  68.5 60

Calculate an estimate of the mean of the stem lengths from this experiment.

32
 S1 
5  he reporter for the local newspaper considered choosing different classes for
T
the data dealing with the cyclists who were involved in accidents.
He summarised the distances from home of 32 cyclists as follows.
1

Exercise 1D
Distance, d (metres) Frequency
0  d  50 7
50  d  100 5
100  d  150 2
150  d  200 1
200  d  300 5
300  d  500 3
500  d  1000 0
1000  d  5000 9
Total 32

(i) Choose suitable mid-class values and estimate the mean.

(ii) The mean of the raw data is 806 m and his previous grouping gave an
estimate for the mean of 825 m. Compare your answer to this value and
comment.

6 A crate containing 270 oranges was opened and each orange was weighed.
The masses, given to the nearest gram, were grouped and the resulting
distribution is as follows.

Mass, x Frequency
(grams) (number of oranges)
60–99 20
100–119 60
120–139 80
140–159 50
160–220 60

(i) State the class boundaries for the interval 60–99.

(ii) Calculate an estimate for the mean mass of the oranges from the crate.

33
 S1 
When investigated further it turned out that the mark of 96 was achieved by a
Spanish boy who had taken A level Spanish because he wanted to study Spanish
at university. It might be appropriate to omit this value from the data set.
1

Exercise 1E
●
? Calculate the mean and standard deviation of the data with the value 96 left out.
Investigate the value using your new mean and standard deviation.

The times taken, in minutes, for some train journeys between Kolkata and
Majilpur were recorded as shown.

56 61 57 55 58 57 5   60   61   59

It is unnecessary here to calculate the mean and standard deviation. The value
5 minutes is obviously a mistake and should be omitted unless it is possible to
correct it by referring to the original source of data.

EXERCISE 1E 1 (i) Find the mean of the following data.

0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5

(ii) Find the standard deviation using both forms of the formula.
2 Find the mean and standard deviation of the following data.

x 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
f 2 5 8 14 9 4 3

3 Mahmood and Raheem are football players. In the 30 games played so far this
season their scoring records are as follows.

Goals scored 0 1 2 3 4
Frequency (Mahmood) 12 8 8 1 1
Frequency (Raheem) 4 21 5 0 0

(i) Find the mean and the standard deviation of the number of goals each
player scored.
(ii) Comment on the players’ goal scoring records.
4 For a set of 20 items of data ∑ x = 22 and ∑ x 2 = 55. Find the mean and the
standard deviation of the data.

5 For a data set of 50 items of data ∑(x − x )2 f = 8 and ∑ x f = 20. Find the
mean and the standard deviation of the data.

41
S1 
6 Two thermostats were used under identical conditions. The water
temperatures, in °C, are given below.

1 Thermostat A: 24 25 27 23 26
Thermostat B: 26 26 23 22 28
Exploring data

(i) Calculate the mean and standard deviaton for each set of water
temperatures.

(ii) Which is the better thermostat? Give a reason.

A second sample of data was collected using thermostat A.

25 24 24 25 26 25 24 24
(iii) Find the overall mean and the overall standard deviation for the two sets
of data for thermostat A.

7 Ditshele has a choice of routes to work. She timed her journey along each
route on several occasions and the times in minutes are given below.

Town route: 15 16 20 28 21
Country route: 19 21 20 22 18

(i) Calculate the mean and standard deviation of each set of jourmey times.
(ii) Which route would you recommend? Give a reason.
8 In a certain district, the mean annual rainfall is 80 cm, with standard
deviation 4 cm.

(i) One year it was 90 cm. Was this an exceptional year?

(ii) The next year had a total of 78 cm. Was that exceptional?

J ake, a local amateur meteorologist, kept a record of the weekly rainfall

in his garden. His first data set, comprising 20 weeks of figures, resulted
in a mean weekly rainfall of 1.5 cm. The standard deviation was 0.1 cm.
His second set of data, over 32 weeks, resulted in a mean of 1.7 cm and a
standard deviation of 0.09 cm.

(iii) Calculatethe overall mean and the overall standard deviation for the
whole year.
(iv) Estimate the annual rainfall in Jake’s garden.

9 A farmer expects to harvest a crop of 3.8 tonnes, on average, from each

hectare of his land, with standard deviation 0.2 tonnes.

One year there was much more rain than usual and he harvested 4.1 tonnes
per hectare.

(i) Was this exceptional?

(ii) Do you think the crop was affected by the unusual weather or was the
42
higher yield part of the variability which always occurs?
 S1 
10 A machine is supposed to produce ball bearings with a mean diameter of
2.0 mm. A sample of eight ball bearings was taken from the production line
and the diameters measured. The results, in millimetres, were as follows:
1
2.0 2.1 2.0 1.8 2.4 2.3 1.9 2.1

Exercise 1E
(i) Calculate the mean and standard deviation of the diameters.
(ii) Do you think the machine is correctly set?

11 On page 29 you saw the example about Robert, the student at Avonford
College, who collected data relating to the heights of female students. This is
his corrected frequency table and his calculations so far.

Height, h Mid-value, x Frequency, f xf

157.5  h  159.5 158.5 4 634.0
159.5  h  161.5 160.5 11 1765.5
161.5  h  163.5 162.5 19 3087.5
163.5  h  165.5 164.5 8 1316.0
165.5  h  167.5 166.5 5 832.5
167.5  h  169.5 168.5 3 505.5
Totals 50 8141.0

x = 8141.0 = 162.82
50
(i) Calculate the standard deviation.
Robert’s friend Asha collected a sample of heights from 50 male PE students.
She calculated the mean and standard deviation to be 170.4 cm and 2.50 cm.
Later on they realised they had excluded two measurements. It was not
clear to which of the two data sets, Robert’s or Asha’s, the two items of data
belonged. The values were 171 cm and 166 cm. Robert felt confident about
one of the values but not the other.
(ii) Investigate and comment.

43
S1 
12 As part of a biology experiment Thabo caught and weighed 120 minnows. He
used his calculator to find the mean and standard deviation of their weights.

1 Mean 26.231 g
Standard deviation 4.023 g
Exploring data

(i) Find the total weight, ∑ x , of Thabo’s 120 minnows.

(ii) Use the formula standard deviation =

∑ x 2 − x 2 to find ∑ x 2 for
n
Thabo’s minnows.
Another member of the class, Sharon, did the same experiment with
minnows caught from a different stream. Her results are summarised by:
n = 80   x = 25.214   standard deviation = 3.841
Their teacher says they should combine their results into a single set but they
have both thrown away their measurements.
(iii) Find n, ∑ x and ∑ x 2 for the combined data set.
(iv) Find the mean and standard deviation for the combined data set.
13 A frequency diagram for a set of data is shown below. No scale is given on the
frequency axis, but summary statistics are given for the distribution.

∑f = 50, ∑ fx = 100, ∑ fx 2 = 344.

f

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 x

(i) State the mode of the data.

(ii) Identify two features of the distribution.
(iii) Calculate the mean and standard deviation of the data and explain why
the value 8, which occurs just once, may be regarded as an outlier.
(iv) Explain how you would treat the outlier if the diagram represents
(a) the difference of the scores obtained when throwing a pair of
ordinary dice
(b) the number of children per household in a neighbourhood survey.
(v) Calculate new values for the mean and standard deviation if the single

44
outlier is removed.
[MEI, adapted]
 S1 
14 A group of 10 married couples and 3 single men found that the mean age xw
of the 10 women was 41.2 years and the standard deviation of the women’s
ages was 15.1 years. For the 13 men, the mean age xm was 46.3 years and the
standard deviation was 12.7 years.
1

Working with an assumed mean

(i) Find the mean age of the whole group of 23 people.
(ii) The individual women’s ages are denoted by xw and the individual men’s
ages by xm. By first finding ∑ xw2 and ∑ xm2 , find the standard deviation
for the whole group.
[Cambridge International AS and A Level Mathematics 9709, Paper 6 Q4 November 2005]

15 The numbers of rides taken by two students, Fei and Graeme, at a fairground
are shown in the following table.

Student Roller coaster Water slide Revolving drum

Fei 4 2 0
Graeme 1 3 6

(i) The mean cost of Fei’s rides is $2.50 and the standard deviation of the
costs of Fei’s rides is $0. Explain how you can tell that the roller coaster
and the water slide each cost $2.50 per ride.
(ii) The mean cost of Graeme’s rides is $3.76. Find the standard deviation of
the costs of Graeme’s rides.
[Cambridge International AS and A Level Mathematics 9709, Paper 61 Q4 June 2010]

Working with an assumed mean

Human computer has it figured mathman.com

Schoolboy, Simon Newton, astounded his classmates and their parents at a school open
evening when he calculated the average of a set of numbers in seconds while everyone else
struggled with their adding up.
Mr Truscott, a parent of one of the other children, said, ‘I was still looking for my calculator
when Simon wrote the answer on the board’.
Simon modestly said when asked about his skill ‘It’s simply a matter of choosing a good
assumed mean’.
Mathman.com wants to know ‘What is the secret method, Simon?’
Without a calculator, see if you can match Simon’s performance. The data is repeated below.
Send your result and how you did it into Mathman.com. Don’t forget – no calculators!
Number Frequency
3510 6
3512 4
3514 3
3516 1
3518 2
3520 4

45
 S1 
EXERCISE 1F 1 Calculate the mean and standard deviation of the following masses, measured
to the nearest gram, using a suitable assumed mean.

Mass (g) 241–244 245–248 249–252 253–256 257–260 261–264 1

Frequency 4 7 14 15 7 3

Exercise 1F
2 A production line produces steel bolts which have a nominal length of
95 mm. A sample of 50 bolts is taken and measured to the nearest 0.1 mm.
Their deviations from 95 mm are recorded in tenths of a millimetre and
summarised as ∑x = −85, ∑x2 = 734. (For example, a bolt of length 94.2 mm
would be recorded as −8.)

(i) Find the mean and standard deviation of the x values.

(ii) Find the mean and standard deviation of the lengths of the bolts in
millimetres.
(iii) One of the figures recorded is −18. Suggest why this can be regarded as an
outlier.
(iv) The figure of −18 is thought to be a mistake in the recording. Calculate the
new mean and standard deviation of the lengths in millimetres, with the
−18 value removed.
3 A system is used at a college to predict a student’s A level grade in a particular
subject using their GCSE results. The GCSE score is g and the A level score is a
and for Maths in 2011 the equation of the line of best fit relating them was a =
2.6g − 9.42.

This year there are 66 second-year students and their GCSE scores are
summarised as ∑g = 408.6, ∑g 2 = 2545.06.

(i) Find the mean and standard deviation of the GCSE scores.
(ii) Find the mean of the predicted A level scores using the 2011 line of best fit.
4 (i) Find the mode, mean and median of:

2   8   6   5   4     5   6   3   6   4     9   1   5   6   5
Hence write down, without further working, the mode, mean and median of:
(ii) 20 80 60 50 40 50 60 30 60 40 90 10 50 60 50
(iii) 12 18 16 15 14 15 16 13 16 14 19 11 15 16 15
(iv) 4 16 12 10 8 10 12 6 12 8 18 2 10 12 10
5 A manufacturer produces electrical cable which is sold on reels. The reels are
supposed to hold 100 metres of cable. In the quality control department the
length of cable on randomly chosen reels is measured. These measurements
are recorded as deviations, in centimetres, from 100 m. (So, for example, a
length of 99.84 m is recorded as –16.)

49
S1 
For a sample of 20 reels the recorded values, x, are summarised by

∑ x = − 86 ∑ x 2 = 4281
1 (i) Calculate the mean and standard deviation of the values of x.
(ii) Later it is noticed that one of the values of x is −47, and it is thought that
Exploring data

so large a value is likely to be an error. Give a reason to support this view.

(iii) Find the new mean and standard deviation of the values of x when the
value −47 is discarded.
6 On her summer holiday, Felicity recorded the temperatures at noon each day
for use in a statistics project. The values recorded, f degrees Fahrenheit, were
as follows, correct to the nearest degree.

47   59   68   62   49   67   66   73   70   68   74   84   80   72

(i) Represent Felicity’s data on a stem-and-leaf diagram. Comment on the

shape of the distribution.
(ii) Using a suitable assumed mean, find the mean and standard deviation of
Felicity’s data.
7 For a set of ten data items, ∑(x – 20) = – 140 and ∑(x – 20)2 = 2050. Find
their mean and standard deviation.
8 For a set of 20 data items, ∑(x + 3) = 140 and ∑(x + 3)2 = 1796. Find their
mean and standard deviation.
9 For a set of 15 data items, ∑(x + a) = 156 and ∑(x + a)2 = 1854. The mean
of these values is 5.4.
Find the value of a and the standard deviation.

10 For a set of 10 data items, ∑(x – a) = – 11 and ∑(x – a)2 = 75. The mean
of these values is 5.9.
Find the value of a and the standard deviation.

11 The length of time, t minutes, taken to do the crossword in a certain

newspaper was observed on 12 occasions. The results are summarised below.

∑(t − 35) = −15   ∑(t − 35)2 = 82.23

Calculate the mean and standard deviation of these times taken to do the
crossword.
[Cambridge International AS and A Level Mathematics 9709, Paper 6 Q1 June 2007]

12 A summary of 24 observations of x gave the following information:

∑(x − a) = −73.2   and   ∑(x − a)2 = 2115.

The mean of these values of x is 8.95.
(i) Find the value of the constant a.
(ii) Find the standard deviation of these values of x.
[Cambridge International AS and A Level Mathematics 9709, Paper 6 Q1 November 2007]
50
 S1 
The main points to remember when drawing a histogram are:

●● Histograms are usually used for illustrating continuous data. For discrete data
it is better to draw a stem-and-leaf diagram, line graph or bar chart. 2
●● Since the data are continuous, or treated as if they were continuous, adjacent

Exercise 2A
columns of the histogram should touch (unlike a bar chart where the columns
should be drawn with gaps between them).

●● It is the areas and not the heights of the columns that are proportional to the
frequency of each class.

●● The vertical axis should be marked with the appropriate frequency density
(frequency per 5 mm for example), rather than frequency.

EXERCISE 2A 1 A number of trees in two woods were measured. Their diameters, correct to
the nearest centimetre, are summarised in the table below.

Diameter (cm) 1–10 11–15 16–20 21–30 31–50 Total

Mensah’s Wood 10 5 3 11 1 30
Ashanti Forest 6 8 20 5 1 40

(Trees less than 12 cm in diameter are not included.)

(i) Write down the actual class boundaries.
(ii) Draw two separate histograms to illustrate this information.
(iii) State the modal class for each wood.
(iv) Describe the main features of the distributions for the two woods.

2 Listed below are the prime numbers, p, from 1 up to 1000. (1 itself is not
usually defined as a prime.)

Primes up to 1000
2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29 31 37 41 43
47 53 59 61 67 71 73 79 83 89 97 101 103 107
109 113 127 131 137 139 149 151 157 163 167 173 179 181
191 193 197 199 211 223 227 229 233 239 241 251 257 263
269 271 277 281 283 293 307 311 313 317 331 337 347 349
353 359 367 373 379 383 389 397 401 409 419 421 431 433
439 443 449 457 461 463 467 479 487 491 499 503 509 521
523 541 547 557 563 569 571 577 587 593 599 601 607 613
617 619 631 641 643 647 653 659 661 673 677 683 691 701
709 719 727 733 739 743 751 757 761 769 773 787 797 809
811 821 823 827 829 839 853 857 859 863 877 881 883 887
907 911 919 929 937 941 947 953 967 971 977 983 991 997
59
S1 
(i) Draw a histogram to illustrate these data with the following class intervals:
1  p  20    20  p  50    50  p  100    100  p  200   
200  p  300    300  p  500 and 500  p  1000.
2 (ii) Comment on the shape of the distribution.
Representing and interpreting data

3 A crate containing 270 oranges was opened Mass (grams) Number of

and each orange was weighed to the oranges
nearest gram. The masses were found
to be distributed as in this table. 60–99 20
100–119 60
(i) Draw a histogram to illustrate the data.
(ii) From the table, calculate an estimate 120–139 80
of the mean mass of an orange from 140–159 50
this crate. 160–219 60

4 In an agricultural experiment,
Length (cm) Number of
320 plants were grown on a plot, and the
plants
lengths of the stems were measured to the
nearest centimetre ten weeks after 20–31 30
planting. The lengths were found to be 32–37 80
distributed as in this table.
38–43 90
(i) Draw a histogram to illustrate the data. 44–49 60
(ii) From the table, calculate an estimate
50–67 60
of the mean length of stem of a plant
from this experiment.

5 The lengths of time of sixty songs recorded by a certain group of singers are
summarised in the table below.

Song length in seconds Number of songs

(x)
0  x  120 1
120  x  180 9
180  x  240 15
240  x  300 17
300  x  360 13
360  x  600 5

(i) Display the data on a histogram.

(ii) Determine the mean song length.

60
 S1 
6  random sample of 200 batteries, of nominal potential 6 V, was taken from a
A
very large batch of batteries. The potential difference between the terminals of
each battery was measured, resulting in the table of data below.
2
Potential difference in volts (mid-interval value) Number of batteries

Exercise 2A
5.80 1
5.85 4
5.90 22
5.95 42
6.00 60
6.05 44
6.10 24
6.15 2
6.20 1

Calculate the mean and standard deviation of these voltages and illustrate the
data on a histogram. Mark clearly on the histogram the mean voltage and the
voltages which are two standard deviations either side of the mean.
[MEI]

7 After completing a long assignment, a student was told by his tutor that it was
more like a book than an essay. He decided to investigate how many pages
there are in a typical book and started by writing down the numbers of pages
in the books on one of his shelves, as follows.
256 128 160 128 192 64 356 96 64 160
464 128 96 96 556 148 64 192 96 512
940 676 128 196 640 44 64 144 256 72
(i) Look carefully at the data and state, giving your reasons, whether they are
continuous or discrete. Give an explanation for your answer.
(ii) Decide on the most helpful method of displaying the data and draw the
appropriate diagram.
8 As part of a data collection exercise, members of a certain school year group
were asked how long they spent on their Mathematics homework during one
particular week. The times are given to the nearest 0.1 hour. The results are
displayed in the following table.

Time spent
0.1  t  0.5 0.6  t  1.0 1.1  t  2.0 2.1  t  3.0 3.1  t  4.5
(t hours)
Frequency 11 15 18 30 21

(i) Draw, on graph paper, a histogram to illustrate this information.

(ii) Calculate an estimate of the mean time spent on their Mathematics
homework by members of this year group.
[Cambridge International AS and A Level Mathematics 9709, Paper 6 Q5 June 2008] 61
 S1 
SOLUTION

(i) n = 15
13 2 represents 132 seconds 2
13 2 9

Exercise 2B
14 0 2 5 8 8
15 1 4 7
16 2 6
17 1 8
18 2

(ii) There are 15 data values, so the median is the 8th data value.
So the median is 151 seconds.

The upper quartile is the median of the upper half of the data set.
So the upper quartile is 166 seconds.

The lower quartile is the median of the lower half of the data set.
So the lower quartile is 142 seconds.

Interquartile range = upper quartile − lower quartile

= 166 − 142
= 24 seconds

(iii) Draw a box that starts at the lower quartile and ends at the upper quartile.
Add a line inside the box to show the position of the median.
Extend the whiskers to the greatest and least values in the data set.

130 140 150 160 170 180 190

time (seconds)

Figure 2.16

EXERCISE 2B 1 For each of the following data sets, find

(a) the range

(b) the median
(c) the lower and upper quartiles
(d) the interquartile range
(e) any outliers.

71
S1 
(i) 6 8 3 2 1 5 4 6 8 5 6 7 8 8 6 6
(ii) 12 5 17 11 4 10 12 19 12 5 9 15 11 16 8
18 12 8 9 11 12 14 8 14 7
2 (iii) 25 28 33 14 37 19 23 27 25 28
(iv) 115 123 132 109 127 116 141 132 114 109
Representing and interpreting data

125 121 117 118 117 116 123 105 125

2 (i) For the following data set, find the median and interquartile range.
2   8   4   6   3   5   1   8   2   5   8   0   3   7   8   5

Use your answers to part (i) to deduce the median and interquartile range for
each of the following data sets.

(ii) 32  38  34  36  33 35   31  38  32  35 38  30  33  37  38  35
(iii) 20  80  40  60  30 50   10 80  20  50 80  0  30  70  80  50
(iv) 50  110  70  90  60 80   40  110  50  80 110  30  60  100  110  80

3 Find Score Tally

(i) the median 70  
(ii) the upper and lower quartiles
71 
(iii) the interquartile range
72 
for the scores of golfers in the first round
73     
of a competition.
74         
75     
76  
77   
78
79 
80 
81
82 

(iv) Illustratethe data with a box-and-whisker plot.

(v) The scores for the second round are illustrated on the box-and-whisker
plot below. Compare the two and say why you think the differences might
have arisen.

67 68 70 74 77
72
 S1 
4 The numbers of goals scored by a hockey team in its matches one season are
illustrated on the vertical line chart below.

5 2

Exercise 2B
4

matches
2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
goals

(i) Draw a box-and-whisker plot to illustrate the same data.

(ii) State, with reasons, which you think is the better method of display in
this case.

5 One year the yields, y, of a number of walnut trees were recorded to the
nearest kilogram as follows.

Yield, y (kg) Frequency

40  y  50 1
50  y  60 5
60  y  70 7
70  y  80 4
80  y  90 2
90  y  100 1

(i) Construct the cumulative frequency table for these data.

(ii) Draw the cumulative frequency graph.
(iii) Use your graph to estimate the median and interquartile range of the yields.
(iv) Draw a box-and-whisker plot to illustrate the data.

The piece of paper where the actual figures had been recorded was then found,
and these were:

44 59 67 76 52 62 68 78 53 63
85 93 56 65 74 69 82 53 65 70

(v) Use these data to find the median and interquartile range and compare
your answers with those you obtained from the grouped data.
(vi) What are the advantages and disadvantages of grouping data?

73
S1 
6 The intervals of time, t seconds, between successive emissions from a weak
radioactive source were measured for 200 consecutive intervals, with the
following results.
2
Interval (t seconds) 0t5 5  t  10 10  t  15 15  t  20
Representing and interpreting data

Frequency 23 67 42 26

Interval (t seconds) 20  t  25 25  t  30 30  t  35

Frequency 21 15 6

(i) Draw a cumulative frequency graph for this distribution.

(ii) Use your graph to estimate
(a) the median
(b) the interquartile range.
(iii) Calculate an estimate of the mean of the distribution.

7 In a sample of 800 eggs from an egg farm each egg was weighed and classified
according to its mass, m grams. The frequency distribution was as follows.

Mass in grams 40  m  45 45  m  50 50  m  55
Number of eggs 36 142 286
Mass in grams 55  m  60 60  m  65 65  m  70
Number of eggs 238 76 22

Draw a cumulative frequency graph of the data, using a scale of 2 cm to

represent 5 grams on the horizontal axis (which should be labelled from
40 to 70 grams) and a scale of 2 cm to represent 100 eggs on the vertical axis.
Use your graph to estimate for this sample
(i) the percentage of eggs which would be classified as large (over 62 grams)
(ii) the
median mass of an egg
(iii) the interquartile range.
Indicate clearly on your diagram how you arrive at your results.
8 The table summarises the observed lifetimes, x, in seconds, of 50 fruit flies
subjected to a new spray in a controlled experiment.

Interval Mid-interval value Frequency

0.5  x  5.5 3 3

5.5  x  10.5 8 22

10.5  x  15.5 13 12

15.5  x  20.5 18 9

20.5  x  25.5 23 2

25.5  x  30.5 28 1
74
30.5  x  35.5 33 1
 S1 
(i) Making clear your methods and showing all your working, estimate
the mean and standard deviation of these lifetimes. Give your answers
correct to 3 significant figures and do not make any corrections for
grouping. 2
(ii) Draw the cumulative frequency graph and use it to estimate the

Exercise 2B
minimum lifetime below which 70% of all lifetimes lie.

9  uring January the numbers of people entering a store during the first hour
D
after opening were as follows.

Time after opening, Frequency Cumulative

x minutes frequency

0  x  10 210 210

10  x  20 134 344

20  x  30 78 422

30  x  40 72 a

40  x  60 b 540

(i) Find the values of a and b.

(ii) Draw a cumulative frequency graph to represent this information. Take a
scale of 2 cm for 10 minutes on the horizontal axis and 2 cm for 50 people
on the vertical axis.
(iii) Use your graph to estimate the median time after opening that people
entered the store.
(iv) Calculate estimates of the mean, m minutes, and standard deviation,
s minutes, of the time after opening that people entered the store.
(v) Use your graph to estimate the number of people entering the store
between (m – 12s) and (m + 12s) minutes after opening.
[Cambridge International AS and A Level Mathematics 9709, Paper 6 Q6 June 2009]

10 The numbers of people travelling on a certain bus at different times of the

day are as follows.

17 5 2 23 16 31 8
22 14 25 35 17 27 12
6 23 19 21 23 8 26

(i) Draw a stem-and-leaf diagram to illustrate the information given above.

(ii) Find the median, the lower quartile, the upper quartile and the
interquartile range.
(iii) State, in this case, which of the median and mode is preferable as a
measure of central tendency, and why.
[Cambridge International AS and A Level Mathematics 9709, Paper 61 Q2 June 2010]
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