To find the mean number of pets, we use the formula for the mean of a frequency distribution: $$ \text{Mean} = \frac{\sum (x \cdot f)}{\sum f} $$ where $x$ is the number of pets and $f$ is the frequency. Step 1: Calculate the sum of $(x \cdot f)$ for each category. For 0 pets: $0 \times 4 = 0$ For 1 pet: $1 \times 12 = 12$ For 2 pets: $2 \times 8 = 16$ For 3 pets: $3 \times 2 = 6$ For 4 pets: $4 \times 1 = 4$ For 5 pets: $5 \times 2 = 10$ For 6 pets: $6 \times 1 = 6$ Step 2: Sum these products to find $\sum (x \cdot f)$. $$ \sum (x \cdot f) = 0 + 12 + 16 + 6 + 4 + 10 + 6 = 54 $$ Step 3: Calculate the sum of the frequencies, $\sum f$, which represents the total number of classmates surveyed. $$ \sum f = 4 + 12 + 8 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 30 $$ Step 4: Divide the sum of $(x \cdot f)$ by the sum of $f$ to find the mean. $$ \text{Mean} = \frac{54}{30} $$ $$ \text{Mean} = 1.8 $$ The mean number of pets is $\boxed{\text{1.8}}$.