Directions: Study the following bar-graph carefully and answer the questions given below: The average export of pearls for the given period (in crores ₹) was

### Concept & Formula To find the average of a given set of numbers, we sum all the values and divide by the total count. $$ \text{Average} = \frac{\text{Sum of all observations}}{\text{Number of observations}} $$ ### Step-by-Step Solution * **Total export from 2001 to 2007:** $= 5.2 + 6.5 + 7.8 + 9.9 + 10.8 + 9.5 + 11.4$ $= 61.1 \text{ crores}$ * **Number of years:** 7 * **Average export:** $= \frac{61.1}{7}$ $= 8.7285...$ * Rounding off to two decimal places, we get 8.73. ### Exam Strategy & Shortcut Instead of adding everything directly, you can pick an assumed mean (like 9) and sum the deviations. Deviations: $-3.8 -2.5 -1.2 +0.9 +1.8 +0.5 +2.4 = -1.9$ Average = $9 + (\frac{-1.9}{7}) = 9 - 0.27 = 8.73$. ### Common Pitfall A common mistake is misaligning the decimal points while summing up the values, leading to an incorrect total. Always align decimals vertically when adding. ### Final Answer Therefore, the correct answer is **8.73**.