Your current grades in Math are 74, 88, 87, and 83. What are the least you can make on the next test to raise your average to at least 85?

93

Step-by-step explanation:

How do you find the average? you add them up and divide by how many there. So let's call this next test score x, averaging all of them will look like this.

(74+88+87+83+x) / 5

We want this to equal 85, or be greater. You can just set this up as an inequality but I want to explain something.

Once we get it to 85, what if we decrease x by even 1? the average will go down. Smae if we increase it by any amount. No matter how small. So if we find whatever x is to make the average 85, that is the minimum.

Anyway, let's solve that inequality.

(74+88+87+83+x) / 5 ≥ 85 (We want the average to be greater than or equal to, That's why I wrote it that way, in case there was some confusion.

(74+88+87+83+x) / 5 ≥ 85

74+88+87+83+x ≥ 425

332 + x ≥ 425

x ≥ 93

So anything less than a 93 will make the average less than 85, while 93 or above will make it 85 or above.