The following table shows the heads of expenditure of an institution (in…
2020
The following table shows the heads of expenditure of an institution (in lakhs) for each year:
What is the average amount of interest per year that the institution had to pay?
Answer: B. 36.66 — Concept: The average (arithmetic mean) of a set of values is their sum divided by how many values there are — Average = Sum of observations ÷ Number of…
- A.
30.50
- B.
36.66
- C.
39.66
- D.
41.02
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Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept: The average (arithmetic mean) of a set of values is their sum divided by how many values there are — Average = Sum of observations ÷ Number of observations. In a table-based data-interpretation question the governing skill is to first isolate exactly one row or column of the table, the one the question names, and then apply the mean formula to only those entries.
Application: the question asks about interest, so only the "Interest on Loan" column is used, taken across all five listed years.
Year | Interest on Loan (₹ in lakh) |
|---|---|
2015 | 23.4 |
2016 | 32.5 |
2017 | 41.6 |
2018 | 36.4 |
2019 | 49.4 |
Read the "Interest on Loan" entries for the five years 2015 to 2019: 23.4, 32.5, 41.6, 36.4 and 49.4, all in ₹ lakh.
Add them: 23.4 + 32.5 = 55.9; 55.9 + 41.6 = 97.5; 97.5 + 36.4 = 133.9; 133.9 + 49.4 = 183.3. So the five-year interest total is ₹183.3 lakh.
Count the observations: the table lists 5 years, so the number of observations is 5.
Divide the total by the count: 183.3 ÷ 5 = 36.66. The institution paid an average of ₹36.66 lakh in interest per year.
Cross-check: multiplying back gives 36.66 × 5 = 183.30, exactly the total obtained in step 2. An average must also always lie between the smallest and the largest observation, and ₹36.66 lakh lies between ₹23.4 lakh (2015) and ₹49.4 lakh (2019), so the result is consistent. The salary, transport, bonus and tax columns play no part in this question.