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Official Explanation:

The question asks whether I, II, or III “can” have the same standard deviation.
We know I can have the same standard deviation as A, B, and C. Option III: A-30, B-30, and C-30 will also have the same standard deviation. A set's standard deviation remains the same if you shift all elements by the same constant.

For II,
If A=B=C are equal, they will have zero standard deviation, II. 3A+3, 3B+3 and 3C+3 will have zero standard deviation.

Hence all three can have the same standard deviation as A, B and C.

The correct answer is E.
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I still don't understand how 3A+3, 3B+3 and 3C+3 can be relevant. Multiplying or dividing the numbers in set, WILL definitely change the stdv, how can we conclude that it's zero? Please, explain :(

Thanks.
siddhantvarma
Official Explanation:

The question asks whether I, II, or III “can” have the same standard deviation.
We know I can have the same standard deviation as A, B, and C. Option III: A-30, B-30, and C-30 will also have the same standard deviation. A set's standard deviation remains the same if you shift all elements by the same constant.

For II,
If A=B=C are equal, they will have zero standard deviation, II. 3A+3, 3B+3 and 3C+3 will have zero standard deviation.

Hence all three can have the same standard deviation as A, B and C.

The correct answer is E.
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Hi trepsixore

Let's make sure we understand the question correctly. The question asks, "The standard deviation of which of the following can be the same as the standard deviation of A, B, and C?"

Then, I'm given three sets to evaluate:

I. |A|, |B| and |C|
II. 3A+3, 3B+3 and 3C+3
III. A-30, B-30 and C-30

I want to see if the standard deviation of any of these sets can be equal to that of set A, B and C. In other words, can there be a scenario where 3A+3, 3B+3 and 3C+3 can have the same standard deviation as A, B and C? Well yeah, if A, B and C are all equal to 0, the standard deviation of A, B and C is 0. The standard deviation of 3A+3, 3B+3 and 3C+3 will also be 0 because this set reduces to {3,3,3}. I hope that makes sense. :)
trepsixore
I still don't understand how 3A+3, 3B+3 and 3C+3 can be relevant. Multiplying or dividing the numbers in set, WILL definitely change the stdv, how can we conclude that it's zero? Please, explain :(

Thanks.
siddhantvarma
Official Explanation:

The question asks whether I, II, or III “can” have the same standard deviation.
We know I can have the same standard deviation as A, B, and C. Option III: A-30, B-30, and C-30 will also have the same standard deviation. A set's standard deviation remains the same if you shift all elements by the same constant.

For II,
If A=B=C are equal, they will have zero standard deviation, II. 3A+3, 3B+3 and 3C+3 will have zero standard deviation.

Hence all three can have the same standard deviation as A, B and C.

The correct answer is E.
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