Research by the Food and Drug Administration

(FDA) shows that acrylamide (a possible cancer-causing substance) forms in high-carbohydrate foods cooked at high temperatures and that acrylamide levels can vary widely even within the same brand of food (Associated Press, December 6, 2002). FDA scientists analyzed McDonald’s French fries purchased at seven different locations and found the following acrylamide levels:

497 193 328 155 326 245 270

a. Compute the mean acrylamide level and the seven deviations from the mean.

b. Verify that, except for the effect of rounding, the sum of the deviations from mean is equal to 0 for this data set. (If you rounded the sample mean or the deviations, your sum may not be exactly zero, but it should be close to zero if you have computed the deviations correctly.)

c. Calculate the variance and standard deviation for this data set.