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3.04 Box plots

Worksheet
Quartiles and interquartile range
1

For each of the following sets of scores:

i

Find the median.

ii

Find the first quartile.

iii

Find the third quartile.

iv

Find the interquartile range.

a

33, 38, 50, 12, 33, 48, 41

b

13, 15, 5, 16, 7, 20, 12

c

- 3, - 3, 1, 9, 9, 6, - 9

2

In competition, a diver must complete 8 rounds of dives. Her scores for the first 7 rounds are:

7.3, \, 7.4, \, 7.7, \, 8.4, \, 8.7, \, 8.9, \, 9.4

Determine her score in the 8th round if the upper quartile of all of her 8 scores is 8.85.

3

Below is the luggage weight of 30 passengers:

a

Find the mean check in weight. Round your answer to two decimal places.

b

Find the:

i

Median

ii

Lower quartile

iii

Upper quartile

c

In which quartile does the mean lie?

WeightFrequency
165
175
182
194
206
214
224
4

There is a test to measure the Emotional Quotient (EQ) of an individual. Here are the EQ results for 21 people listed in ascending order:

90,\, 90,\, 91,\, 92,\, 93,\, 94,\, 95,\, 95,\, 95,\, 97,\, 99,\, 100,\, 108,\, 114,\, 116,\, 116,\, 117,\, 118,\, 118,\, 122,\, 129

a

Find the median EQ score.

b

Find the upper quartile score.

c

Find the lower quartile score.

5

Consider the following set of scores displayed in the bar chart:

a

Construct a cumulative frequency table for this data.

b

Find the median score.

c

Find the first quartile.

d

Find the third quartile.

e

Find the interquartile range.

6

The finishing times (in minutes) of the competitors in a 1500 \text{ m} swimming race are listed below:

18.48,\, 16.15,\, 25.66,\, 23.21,\, 18.57,\, 22.62,\, 20.49,\, 18.16,\, 19.73,\, 18.47,\, 20.23
a

State the maximum value.

b

State the minimum value.

c

Find the median value.

d

Find the lower quartile.

e

Find the upper quartile.

7

The following list shows the number of points scored by a basketball team in each game of their previous season:

59,\, 67,\, 73,\, 82,\, 91,\, 58,\, 79,\, 88,\, 69,\, 84,\, 55,\, 80,\, 98,\, 64,\, 82
a

State the maximum value.

b

State the minimum value.

c

Find the median value.

d

Find the lower quartile.

e

Find the upper quartile.

8

An advertising agency recorded the number of viewers within various age ranges of its newest television advertisement when it went to air. The results are shown in the table:

a

Using the mean age of each age interval, find the five number summary.

b

According to the five-number summary, approximately what percentage of viewers of the ad were aged between 28 and 48?

c

The advertising agency was targeting viewers aged between 18 and 28. They would deem their ad as successful if at least 60\% of viewers of the ad were in this age range.

According to the five number summary, were they successful in reaching their target viewers?

Age IntervalFrequencyMean Age
16-2035018
21-2515023
26-3020028
31-3530033
36-4030038
41-4530043
46-5040048
51-5530053
56-6020058
61-655063
9

To gain a place in the main race of a car rally, teams must compete in a qualifying round. The median time in the qualifying round determines the cut off time to make it through to the main race. Below are some results from the qualifying round:

  • 75\% of teams finished in 159 minutes or less.

  • 25\% of teams finished in 132 minutes or less.

  • 25\% of teams finished between with a time between 132 and 142 minutes.

a

Find the median time for the qualifying round.

b

Hence, state the cut off time required in the qualifying round to make it through to the main race.

c

Find the interquartile range in the qualifying round.

d

In the qualifying round, the ground was wet, while in the main race, the ground was dry. To make the times more comparable, the finishing time of each team from the qualifying round is reduced by 5 minutes.

Find the new median time from the qualifying round.

10

Consider the following ogive:

a

Estimate the median from the graph to the nearest 2 units.

b

Estimate the upper and lower quartiles from the graph to the nearest 2 units.

c

Estimate the interquartile range from the answers to part (b) to the nearest 2 units.

2
4
6
8
10
\text{Score}
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
cf
11

Consider the following ogive:

a

Estimate the median from the graph to the nearest 3 units.

b

Estimate the upper and lower quartiles from the graph to the nearest 3 units.

c

Estimate the interquartile range from the answers to part (b) to the nearest 3 units.

3
6
9
\text{Score}
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
cf
12

The airline Flo Air decided to keep track of flight delay times (the number of minutes after the scheduled time when the plane takes off) over a week. The 100 results are shown in the dot plot:

a

Find the median delay time of the flights, in minutes.

b

Find the upper quartile.

c

Find the lower quartile.

d

Find the interquartile range.

e

If a flight is delayed for 10 minutes or more, the airline incurs a fee. Find the percentage of flights over the week for which the airline incurred a fee.

f

A rival airline, Fly Air, had a mean delay time during the same week of 45 minutes. Find the percentage of Flo Air’s flights that had longer delay times than Fly Air’s mean delay time.

Box plots
13

For the given box plot, find each of the following:

a

Lowest score

b

Highest score

c

Range

d

Median

e

Interquartile range

Score
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
14

Construct a box plot for each five number summary:

a
  • Median = 47

  • Lower Quartile = 33

  • Upper Quartile = 61

  • Lowest score = 16

  • Highest score = 71

b
  • Median = 36

  • Lower Quartile = 28

  • Upper Quartile = 42

  • Lowest score = 20

  • Highest score = 52

c
  • Median = 35

  • Lower Quartile = 25

  • Upper Quartile = 60

  • Lowest score = 5

  • Highest score = 75

15

A geography teacher has marked a set of tests. She wants to represent the results in a box plot. She has already sorted her data and created the table shown. Create a box plot to match the data in the table:

Minimum8
Lower Quartile10
Median16
Upper Quartile24
Maximum28
16

Consider the following data set:

20, 36, 52, 56, 24, 16, 40, 4, 28

a

Find the five number summary.

b

Construct a box plot for the data.

17

Consider the box plot shown:

a

State the percentage of scores that lie between each of the following values:

i

7 and 15

ii

1 and 7

iii

19 and 9

iv

7 and 19

v

1 and 15

b

In which quartile is the data the least spread out?

0
5
10
15
20
18

The box plot shows the age at which a group of people got their driving licences:

a

What is the oldest age?

b

What is the youngest age?

c

What percentage of people were aged from 18 to 22?

d

The middle 50\% of responders were within how many years of one another?

e

In which quartile are the ages least spread out?

f

The bottom 50\% of responders were within how many years of one another?

Age
15
20
25
30
35
19

The glass windows for an airplane are cut to a certain thickness, but machine production means there is some variation. The thickness of each pane of glass produced is measured (in millimetres), and the dot plot shows the results:

a

Find the median thickness, to two decimal places.

b

Find the interquartile range.

c

Construct a box plot to represent the data.

d

What percentage of thicknesses were between 10.8 \text{ mm} and 11.2 \text{ mm} inclusive? Round your answer to two decimal places if necessary.

e

According to the box plot, in which quartile are the results the most spread out?

f

Which statistics cannot be found from a box plot?

20

In training, a fighter pilot measures the number of seconds he blacks out over a number of flights. He constructs the following box plot for his data:

As long as the pilot is not unconscious for more than 7 seconds, he will be safe to fly.

The pilot concludes that he is safe to fly all the time. Is his conclusion correct? Explain your answer.

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
21

\text{VO}_2 \text{Max} is a measure of how efficiently your body uses oxygen during exercise. The more physically fit you are, the higher your \text{VO}_2 \text{Max}. Here are some people's results, listed in ascending order, when their \text{VO}_2 \text{Max} was measured:

21,\, 21,\, 23,\, 25,\, 26,\, 27,\, 28,\, 29,\, 29,\, 29,\, 30,\, 30,\, 32,\, 38,\, 38,\, 42,\, 43,\, 44,\, 48,\, 50,\, 76

a

Find the median.

b

Find the upper quartile.

c

Find the lower quartile.

d

Consider the box plot for this data set:

Are the results positively or negatively skewed?

e

Determine the value of the outlier.

20
30
40
50
60
70
80
f

An average untrained healthy person has a \text{VO}_2 \text{Max} between 30 and 40. What can we say about the majority of this group of people?

22

Construct a box plot for each of the following histograms:

a
b
c
d
e
f
23

Match the histograms on the left to the corresponding box plots on the right:

Histogram A

Histogram B

Histogram C

Box Plot 1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Box Plot 2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Box Plot 3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Histogram D

Box Plot 4
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Comparing data sets
24

The parallel box plots shows the distances, in centimetres, jumped by two high jumpers:

a

Who had a higher median jump?

b

Who made the highest jump?

c

Who made the lowest jump?

25

Two groups of people, athletes and non-athletes, had their resting heart rate measured. The results are displayed in the given pair of box plots.

a

Find the median heart rate of athletes.

b

Find the median heart rate of the non-athletes.

c

Using this measure, which group has the lower heart rates?

d

Find the interquartile range of the athletes' heart rates.

e

Find the interquartile range of the non-athletes' heart rates.

f

Using this measure, which group has more consistent heart rate measures?

Athletes
40
50
60
70
80
90
Non-athletes
40
50
60
70
80
90
26

The parallel box plots shows the prices, in dollars, of the items on the menu of an upmarket restaurant and the menu of a fast food restaurant:

a

Which restaurant has the higher median price for the items they sell?

b

What is the difference between the median prices of the items sold by each restaurant?

c

Which restaurant has a greater price range for the items on the their menu?

d

What is the price difference between the most expensive items sold by each restaurant?

e

What amount of the cheapest item at the fast food restaurant could be bought for the same price of the most expensive item at the upmarket restaurant?

27

The parallel box plots show the number of goals scored by two football players in each season:

a

Who scored the most goals in a season?

b

How many more goals did Holly score in her best season compared to Sophie in her best season?

c

What is the difference between the median number of goals scored in a season by each player?

d

What is the difference between the interquartile range for both players?

28

A builder can choose between two different types of brick that are coloured red or yellow. The parallel box plots below shows the results of tests on the strength of the bricks:

a

Using the box plot, explain why a builder might to prefer to use the red bricks.

b

Using the box plot, explain why a builder might to prefer to use yellow bricks.

29

A mathematics test is given to two classes. The marks out of 20 received by students in each class are represented in the box plots below:

a

Complete the following table:

Class 9PClass 9Q
Median
Lower quartile
Upper quartile
Range
Interquartile range
b

Which class tended to score better marks? Explain your answer.

Class 9P
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Class 9Q
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
30

The heights (in metres) of the boys and girls in a class of 30 students were recorded. The results are given below:

Boy's heights: 1.65, 1.66, 1.67, 1.68, 1.63, 1.62, 1.61, 1.60, 1.75, 1.76, 1.77, 1.78, 1.73, 1.72, 1.71

Girl's heights: 1.55, 1.56, 1.57, 1.58, 1.53, 1.52, 1.51, 1.50, 1.69, 1.70, 1.71, 1.72, 1.67, 1.66, 1.65

a

Find the five number summary for the heights of boys in the class.

b

Find the five number summary for the heights of girls in the class.

c

Draw a parallel box plots for this data.

31

The parallel box plots below shows the data collected by the manufacturers on the life-span of light bulbs, measured in thousands of hours:

a

Complete the following table. Write each answer in terms of hours.

Manufacturer AManufacturer B
Median
Lower quartile
Upper quartile
Range
Interquartile range
b

Hence, which manufacturer produces light bulbs with the best lifespan? Explain your answer.

32

The batting scores of two cricket teams are recorded in the given back-to-back stem plot:

a

Find the five number summary for the batting scores of team A.

b

Find the five number summary for the batting scores of team B.

c

Draw parallel box plots for this data.

Team ATeam B
9\ 532\ 3\ 6\ 6\ 8
8\ 8\ 5\ 5\ 4\ 142\ 9
9\ 550\ 8
62

Key: 2 \vert 3 \vert 0 = 32 \text{ and }30

33

A class took an English test and a Mathematics test. Both tests had a maximum possible mark of 20. The parallel box plots below shows the results of the tests:

a

Complete the following table using the two box plots:

EnglishMathematics
Median
Lower quartile
Upper quartile
Range
Interquartile range
b

In which test did the class tend to score better marks? Explain your answer.

34

At every training session of the season, a cyclist measured her pulse rate before a sprint and after a sprint. The before and after rates, measured in beats per minute (bpm), recorded throughout the season are presented in the box plots below:

a

How much greater was her median pulse rate after the sprint than before the sprint?

b

Find the interquartile range of her pulse rate before the sprint.

c

Find the interquartile range of her pulse rate after the sprint.

d

Find the range of her pulse rate before the sprint.

e

Find the range of her pulse rate after the sprint.

f

Are her pulse rate readings more consistent before or after the sprint?

g

In the last session of the season, the cyclist recorded her highest pulse rate of the season both before and after the sprint. By how much did her pulse rate increase during this particular training session?

Pulse Rate Before (bpm)
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
Pulse Rate After (bpm)
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
35

A survey is conducted on the price of concert tickets locally and the price of the same concert at an international venue. The results are given in the back-to-back stem plot below:

a

Find the five number summary for the price of concert tickets at local venues.

b

Find the five number summary for the price of concert tickets at international venues.

c

Draw parallel box plots for this data.

LocalInternational
7\ 6\ 3\ 061\ 8
8\ 6\ 4\ 3\ 273\ 5\ 5\ 9
9\ 6\ 5\ 1\ 181\ 5\ 7\ 9
8\ 7\ 5\ 2\ 091\ 3\ 4\ 6\ 8
1101\ 2\ 4\ 7\ 8

Key: 2 \vert 6 \vert 0 = 62 \text{ and }60

36

Two bookstores recorded the selling price of all their books. The results are presented in the parallel box plots:

a

Which bookstore had the more consistent prices? Explain your answer.

b

Comparing the most expensive books in each store, how much more expensive is the one in store B?

c

True or False: 25\% of the books in Bookstore B are at least as expensive than the most expensive book in Bookstore A.

d

True or False: 25\% of the books in Bookstore B are cheaper than the cheapest book in Bookstore A.

37

Eileen competed in the high beam gymnastics event at both the 2006 and 2010 Olympics. Her judges' scores in both years are presented in the parallel box plots:

a

What was the difference between the minimum scores she was awarded?

b

What was the difference between the maximum scores she was awarded?

c

One particular judge at the 2010 games gave Eileen score of 8.3. In which quartile of her 2006 scores would this lie?

d

In which year did the judges score Eileen most consistently?

38

A cinema is showing three films, labelled A, B and C. The ages of people watching each of the films are illustrated in the parallel box plots:

a

Which film do you think has an adults only rating, restricting it to viewers 18 years of age and older? Explain your answer.

b

Which film would you recommend for a group of 15 year olds to watch? Explain your answer.

c

Which film would you recommend to a family of two parents in their 40's and two teenagers? Explain your answer.

39

The number of vehicles sold by two companies each week from a dealership over three months was recorded in the back-to-back stem plot:

a

Find the five number summary for the weekly number of vehicles sold over these three months by company A.

b

Find the five number summary for the weekly number of vehicles sold over these three months by company B.

c

Draw parallel box plots for this data.

Company ACompany B
5\ 003\ 9
8\ 7\ 4\ 1\ 1\ 010\ 2\ 2\ 2\ 3\ 7
9\ 2\ 1\ 020\ 1\ 1\ 7
931

Key: 2 \vert 1 \vert 0 = 12 \text{ and }10

40

Ten participants had their pulse measured in beats per minute before and after exercise with results shown in the given back-to-back stem plot:

a

Find the five number summary for the participants' pulse before exercise.

b

Find the five number summary for the participants' pulse after exercise.

c

Draw a parallel box plots for this data.

Pulse beforePulse after
5\ 5\ 05
9\ 9\ 7\ 46
4\ 37
084
95\ 7\ 8
103
113\ 5\ 5
120\ 1

Key: 2 \vert 8 \vert 0 = 82 \text{ and }80

41

The test scores of 12 students in English and Music are listed below:

  • English:\ 55,\, 57,\, 63,\, 69,\, 71,\, 74,\, 77,\, 81,\, 84,\, 88,\, 91,\, 98

  • Music:\ 55,\, 61,\, 66,\, 69,\, 72,\, 74,\, 76,\, 81,\, 84,\, 86,\, 89,\, 93

a

Find the five number summary for the test scores for English.

b

Find the five number summary for the test scores for Music.

c

Draw parallel box plots for this data.

42

The test scores of 11 students in Drama and German are listed below:

  • Drama: 75,\, 85,\, 62,\, 65,\, 52,\, 76,\, 89,\, 83,\, 55,\, 91,\, 77

  • German: 82,\, 86,\, 76,\, 84,\, 64,\, 73,\, 89,\, 62,\, 54,\, 69,\, 78

Draw a parallel box plots for this data.

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