Step 1: Calculate \(\mu\), the average marks of girls.
Let \(n_B=20\) be the number of boys and \(n_G=30\) be the number of girls.
Let \(\bar{x}_B=12\) be the boys' average and \(\bar{x}_G=\mu\) be the girls' average.
The combined average \(\bar{x}_C=15\).
Using the formula for combined mean:
\[ \bar{x}_C = \frac{n_B \bar{x}_B + n_G \bar{x}_G}{n_B + n_G} \]
\[ 15 = \frac{20(12) + 30(\mu)}{20 + 30} \]
\[ 15 = \frac{240 + 30\mu}{50} \]
\[ 750 = 240 + 30\mu \]
\[ 510 = 30\mu \implies \mu = 17 \]
Step 2: Calculate \(\sigma^2\), the combined variance.
The formula for the combined variance of two groups is:
\[ \sigma^2 = \frac{n_B(\sigma_B^2 + d_B^2) + n_G(\sigma_G^2 + d_G^2)}{n_B+n_G} \]
where \(\sigma_B^2=2\) and \(\sigma_G^2=2\) are the variances of the groups, and \(d_B, d_G\) are the deviations of the group means from the combined mean.
- \(d_B = \bar{x}_B - \bar{x}_C = 12 - 15 = -3\), so \(d_B^2 = 9\).
- \(d_G = \bar{x}_G - \bar{x}_C = \mu - 15 = 17 - 15 = 2\), so \(d_G^2 = 4\).
Now substitute all the values into the formula:
\[ \sigma^2 = \frac{20(2 + 9) + 30(2 + 4)}{50} \]
\[ \sigma^2 = \frac{20(11) + 30(6)}{50} \]
\[ \sigma^2 = \frac{220 + 180}{50} = \frac{400}{50} = 8 \]
Step 3: Calculate the final value \(\mu + \sigma^2\).
\[ \mu + \sigma^2 = 17 + 8 = 25 \]