A chemical engineer must report the average volume of a certain pollutant produced by the plants under her supervision. Here are the data she has been given by each plant:
\begin{tabular}{|c|r|}
\hline \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{ plant } & \begin{tabular}{r}
volume of \\
pollutant
\end{tabular} \\
\hline Cross Creek & $3.01 \mathrm{~L}$ \\
\hline Allegheny & $47.88 \mathrm{~L}$ \\
\hline New Bedford & $0.961 \mathrm{~L}$ \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
What average volume should the chemical engineer report? Be sure your answer has the correct number of significant digits.
\[
\square \mathrm{L}
\]
ㅁ
Answer
\(\boxed{17.3 \, \text{L/plant}}\)
Step 1 ：\(3.01 \, \text{L} + 47.88 \, \text{L} + 0.961 \, \text{L} = 51.851 \, \text{L}\)
Step 2 ：\(\frac{51.851 \, \text{L}}{3 \, \text{plants}} = 17.2836666667 \, \text{L/plant}\)
Step 3 ：\(\text{Round to three significant digits: } 17.3 \, \text{L/plant}\)
Step 4 ：\(\boxed{17.3 \, \text{L/plant}}\)
