Calculate the Average: Finding the Mean of 8 and 0

Q: Does zero count as a number when finding averages?

Yes, absolutely! Zero is a real number and must be included in your calculation. If you ignore it, you'll get the wrong average.

Q: Why isn't the average just 8 since 0 doesn't add anything?

Even though 0 doesn't change the sum, it still counts as one of the numbers! You have two values (8 and 0), so you must divide by 2, not 1.

Q: Is this the same as finding the midpoint?

Exactly! When you have just two numbers, the average is the same as the midpoint between them. Both give you the value that's equally distant from each number.

Arithmetic Mean with Zero Values

Calculate the average of $8$ and $0$ .

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Step-by-step video solution

Watch the teacher solve the problem with clear explanations

00:00 Calculate the average

00:04 To calculate the average, we need to divide the sum by the number of occurrences

00:07 Let's sum up the numbers

00:11 And divide by the number of occurrences (2)

00:18 And this is the solution to the question

Step-by-step written solution

Follow each step carefully to understand the complete solution

Understand the problem

Calculate the average of $8$ and $0$ .

Step-by-step solution

To solve this problem, we'll calculate the average of the two numbers provided, which are 8 and 0.

We approach this problem using the formula for the average of two numbers:

$\text{Average} = \frac{a + b}{2}$

where $a = 8$ and $b = 0$ .

Let's perform the calculations:

Step 1: Add the two numbers: $8 + 0 = 8$ .
Step 2: Divide the sum by 2 to find the average: $\frac{8}{2} = 4$ .

The average of 8 and 0 is $4$ .

Therefore, the correct answer to the problem is $\textbf{4}$ , which corresponds to choice 3 in the provided answer choices.

Final Answer

Key Points to Remember

Essential concepts to master this topic

Formula: Average equals sum of all numbers divided by count
Technique: Add 8 + 0 = 8, then divide by 2
Check: Verify that 4 is halfway between 0 and 8 on number line ✓

Common Mistakes

Avoid these frequent errors

Ignoring zero when calculating average
Don't skip the zero and just use 8 ÷ 1 = 8! Zero is still a valid number that must be included in your calculation. Always count zero as one of your values and include it in both the sum and the count.

Practice Quiz

Test your knowledge with interactive questions

If the balls below are divided so that each column in the table contains an equal number, then how many balls will there be in each column?

FAQ

Everything you need to know about this question

Does zero count as a number when finding averages?

Yes, absolutely! Zero is a real number and must be included in your calculation. If you ignore it, you'll get the wrong average.

Why isn't the average just 8 since 0 doesn't add anything?

Even though 0 doesn't change the sum, it still counts as one of the numbers! You have two values (8 and 0), so you must divide by 2, not 1.

How can I visualize this average?

Think of a number line: 0 is at one end, 8 is at the other. The average 4 is exactly halfway between them - equal distance from both numbers.

What if I had more zeros in the list?

Each zero still counts as a separate number! For example, the average of 8, 0, 0 would be $\frac{8+0+0}{3} = \frac{8}{3}$ .

Is this the same as finding the midpoint?

Exactly! When you have just two numbers, the average is the same as the midpoint between them. Both give you the value that's equally distant from each number.

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