ITPEC FE Subject B October 2024 Question 5
ITPEC FE Subject B October 2024 — Question 5 of 20
Computing the geometric mean using pow(x, y).
The geometric mean of n values is defined as:
geomean = (a1 × a2 × … × an)^(1/n)
The loop multiplies all elements into product. To extract the n-th root we raise product to the power 1 ÷ n:
geomean ← pow(product, 1 ÷ n)
So A = `product`, B = `1 ÷ n` → answer (b).
Why not others:
- (a) `1 ÷ n`, `product` — arguments are swapped: this computes (1/n)^product, which is meaningless.
- (c) `product`, `n` — computes product^n, which raises the product to the n-th power instead of taking the n-th root.
- (d) `n`, `product` — computes n^product, which is unrelated to the geometric mean.
Key rule: The n-th root of a value equals raising it to the power 1/n → pow(value, 1 ÷ n).
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