Step 1 :The question is asking for the value of the test statistic in a hypothesis testing scenario. The test statistic can be calculated using the formula for a z-score, which is \((\text{sample mean} - \text{population mean}) / (\text{standard deviation} / \sqrt{\text{sample size}})\). In this case, the sample mean is 4.6 psi, the population mean (under the null hypothesis) is 4.5 psi, the standard deviation is 0.5, and the sample size is 180.
Step 2 :Let's calculate the test statistic using these values. The sample mean is 4.6, the population mean is 4.5, the standard deviation is 0.5, and the sample size is 180.
Step 3 :The test statistic is calculated to be approximately 2.68. This is the value of the z-score that we would compare to a critical value to determine whether to reject the null hypothesis.
Step 4 :Final Answer: The value of the test statistic is approximately \(\boxed{2.68}\).