1993 AJHSME Problems/Problem 11

Problem

Consider this histogram of the scores for $81$ students taking a test:

[asy] unitsize(12); draw((0,0)--(26,0)); draw((1,1)--(25,1)); draw((3,2)--(25,2)); draw((5,3)--(23,3)); draw((5,4)--(21,4)); draw((7,5)--(21,5)); draw((9,6)--(21,6)); draw((11,7)--(19,7)); draw((11,8)--(19,8)); draw((11,9)--(19,9)); draw((11,10)--(19,10)); draw((13,11)--(19,11)); draw((13,12)--(19,12)); draw((13,13)--(17,13)); draw((13,14)--(17,14)); draw((15,15)--(17,15)); draw((15,16)--(17,16));  draw((1,0)--(1,1)); draw((3,0)--(3,2)); draw((5,0)--(5,4)); draw((7,0)--(7,5)); draw((9,0)--(9,6)); draw((11,0)--(11,10)); draw((13,0)--(13,14)); draw((15,0)--(15,16)); draw((17,0)--(17,16)); draw((19,0)--(19,12)); draw((21,0)--(21,6)); draw((23,0)--(23,3)); draw((25,0)--(25,2));  for (int a = 1; a < 13; ++a) {     draw((2*a,-.25)--(2*a,.25)); }  label("$40$",(2,-.25),S); label("$45$",(4,-.25),S); label("$50$",(6,-.25),S); label("$55$",(8,-.25),S); label("$60$",(10,-.25),S); label("$65$",(12,-.25),S); label("$70$",(14,-.25),S); label("$75$",(16,-.25),S); label("$80$",(18,-.25),S); label("$85$",(20,-.25),S); label("$90$",(22,-.25),S); label("$95$",(24,-.25),S);  label("$1$",(2,1),N); label("$2$",(4,2),N); label("$4$",(6,4),N); label("$5$",(8,5),N); label("$6$",(10,6),N); label("$10$",(12,10),N); label("$14$",(14,14),N); label("$16$",(16,16),N); label("$12$",(18,12),N); label("$6$",(20,6),N); label("$3$",(22,3),N); label("$2$",(24,2),N);  label("Number",(4,8),N); label("of Students",(4,7),N);  label("$\textbf{STUDENT TEST SCORES}$",(14,18),N); [/asy]

The median is in the interval labeled

$\text{(A)}\ 60 \qquad \text{(B)}\ 65 \qquad \text{(C)}\ 70 \qquad \text{(D)}\ 75 \qquad \text{(E)}\ 80$

Solution

Since $81$ students took the test, the median is the score of the $41^{st}$ student. The five rightmost intervals include $2+3+6+12+16=39$ students, so the $41^{st}$ one must lie in the next interval, which is $\boxed{\text{(C)}\ 70}$.


See Also

1993 AJHSME (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 10
Followed by
Problem 12
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All AJHSME/AMC 8 Problems and Solutions

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