Question

Find the average of the following numbers: 4 and $-7$.

Short answer

The average of the numbers 4 and $-7$is $-1.2$.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. Apply the concept of the average of numbers.

The average of two numbers is calculated by adding up all the numbers, then dividing the total by the count of numbers.

Step 2. Find the sum of the numbers.

Here the numbers are $4,-7$.

Calculate the sum of the numbers as follows:

$\begin{array}{c}\text{Sumofthenumbers}=4+\left(-7\right)\\ =4-7\\ =-3\end{array}$

Count of the numbers =2

Step 3. Find the average.

Divide the sum of the numbers to the count of the numbers to find the average of the numbers as follows:

$\begin{array}{c}\text{Average}=\frac{-3}{2}\\ =-1.5\end{array}$

Therefore, the average of the numbers is $-1.5$.