Step 1 :Given that the tallest living man at one time had a height of 231 cm, the shortest living man at that time had a height of 120.1 cm, the mean height of men at that time was 170.89 cm, and the standard deviation was 6.85 cm.
Step 2 :We need to find out which of these two men had the height that was more extreme. To do this, we will calculate the z-scores for both the tallest and shortest man and compare them. The man with the higher absolute z-score has the more extreme height.
Step 3 :The z-score is a measure of how many standard deviations an element is from the mean. It is calculated using the formula \(z = \frac{x - \mu}{\sigma}\), where \(x\) is the value, \(\mu\) is the mean, and \(\sigma\) is the standard deviation.
Step 4 :First, calculate the z-score for the tallest man: \(z = \frac{231 - 170.89}{6.85} = 8.78\).
Step 5 :Next, calculate the z-score for the shortest man: \(z = \frac{120.1 - 170.89}{6.85} = -7.41\).
Step 6 :Compare the absolute values of the z-scores. The absolute value of 8.78 is greater than the absolute value of -7.41.
Step 7 :\(\boxed{\text{Therefore, the tallest man had the height that was more extreme.}}\)