- Mean: add the values and divide by how many there are.
- Median: put them in order and take the middle one.
- Mode: the value that appears most often.
Worked examples
Data: 3, 5, 7, 7, 8
Mean:
Median: 7
Mode: 7
An even number of values: 2, 4, 6, 10
The median is halfway between the middle two: .
The mean is .
Your mean on 4 tests is 80. What do you need on the 5th to have a mean of 82?
The total you need is .
You have .
Common mistake
The median of 9, 2, 5 is 2, because it's in the middle.
Put the values in order first: 2, 5, 9. The median is 5.
Try it yourself
- Find the mean and median of 4, 8, 6, 10, 2.
Show answer
Both are 6.
- Find the median of 1, 3, 5, 9.
Show answer
4
- Your mean on 3 tests is 70. What do you need on the 4th for a mean of 75?
Show answer
90
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