Question

If 13 numbers are weighted so that each of the 13 numbers has an equal weight and the sum of the weights is 1, what weight should be assigned to each number?

a) 1/13
b) 1/12
c) 1/11
d) 1/10

Answer 1

Each of the 13 numbers will be assigned a weight of 1/13, because the total weight (1) divided by the number of numbers (13) equals 1/13.

Step-by-step explanation:

If 13 numbers are weighted equally and the sum of the weights is 1, then each weight should be the total weight divided by the number of weights. In this case, that would be 1 divided by 13, which can be represented as a fraction, 1/13. To arrive at this, you would take the sum of the weights (which is 1), and distribute it evenly across all 13 numbers. As there are 13 numbers and they must all have the same weight, every number will have 1/13 as its weight.

To put it simply, if you have a pie and cut it into 13 equal slices, each slice will represent an equal portion of the pie. Likewise, if you have one whole unit of weight to be allocated equally across 13 numbers, each number would be assigned a weight of 1/13.

Therefore, the correct answer to your question, choosing from the given options, is a) 1/13.