To find the average of these 4 numbers add them together then divide by 4:

\( \frac{17 + 11 + 18 + 10}{4} \) = \( \frac{56}{4} \) = 14

Use PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multipy/Divide, Add/Subtract):

4 + (3 + 5) ÷ 4 x 3 - 4²
P: 4 + (8) ÷ 4 x 3 - 4²
E: 4 + 8 ÷ 4 x 3 - 16
MD: 4 + \( \frac{8}{4} \) x 3 - 16
MD: 4 + \( \frac{24}{4} \) - 16
AS: \( \frac{16}{4} \) + \( \frac{24}{4} \) - 16
AS: \( \frac{40}{4} \) - 16
AS: \( \frac{40 - 64}{4} \)
\( \frac{-24}{4} \)
-6

If 78% of the town's 27,000 voters cast ballots the number of votes cast is:

(\( \frac{78}{100} \)) x 27,000 = \( \frac{2,106,000}{100} \) = 21,060

The mayor got 62% of the votes cast which is:

(\( \frac{62}{100} \)) x 21,060 = \( \frac{1,305,720}{100} \) = 13,057 votes.

The distributive property for multiplication helps in solving expressions like a(b + c). It specifies that the result of multiplying one number by the sum or difference of two numbers can be obtained by multiplying each number individually and then totaling the results: a(b + c) = ab + ac. For example, 4(10-5) = (4 x 10) - (4 x 5) = 40 - 20 = 20.

The commutative property states that, when adding or multiplying numbers, the order in which they're added or multiplied does not matter. For example, 3 + 4 and 4 + 3 give the same result, as do 3 x 4 and 4 x 3.