4. Last weekend, 625 runners entered a 10,000-meter race. A 10,000- meter race is 6.2 miles long. Ruben won the race with a finishing time of 29 minutes 51 seconds. The graphs show information about the top 10 runners. Based on the scatter plot, what is the range of ages of the top 10 runners?
Answer: C
The range of ages of the top 10 runners is 16.
The range of ages among the top 10 runners is calculated by subtracting the youngest runner's age from the oldest runner's age, resulting in a difference of 16 years.
A) 9
This option suggests that the range of ages is only 9 years, which would imply that the ages of the top 10 runners are quite close together. However, the data reflects a broader age distribution, making this option incorrect.
B) 1
A range of 1 year between the ages of the top runners would indicate that they are all nearly the same age, which is highly unlikely in a competitive setting like a 10,000-meter race. Thus, this option is also incorrect.
C) 16
This option correctly indicates that the age difference between the oldest and youngest of the top 10 runners is 16 years, which represents a more realistic and varied age distribution among competitive runners.
D) 40
A range of 40 years would suggest an extremely wide age gap, which is not typical among the top finishers in a professional race. This makes option D incorrect as well.
Conclusion
The correct answer, C, accurately reflects the age range of 16 years among the top 10 runners, highlighting a reasonable variance in ages for competitive athletes. All other options fail to accurately represent the true age distribution, either by underestimating or exaggerating the range.