From 5B the middle value of the given list of data when arranged in an order.

To find the median value in a list with an odd amount of numbers, one would find the number that is in the middle with an equal amount of numbers on either side of the median.

Example 1

In a data set of {3, 13, 2, 34, 11, 26, 47}, the sorted order becomes {2, 3, 11, 13, 26, 34, 47}. The median is the number in the middle {2, 3, 11, 13, 26, 34, 47}, which in this instance is 13 since there are three numbers on either side.

Now boys and girls, what if we have an even amount of numbers, what do we do?

To find the median value in a list with an even amount of numbers, one must determine the middle pair, add them, and divide by two. Again, arrange the numbers in order from lowest to highest.

Example 2

In a data set of {3, 13, 2, 34, 11, 17, 27, 47}, the sorted order becomes {2, 3, 11, 13, 17, 27, 34, 47}. The median is the average of the two numbers in the middle {2, 3, 11, 13, 17, 26 34, 47}, which in this case is fifteen: {(13 + 17) ÷ 2 = 15}.

Do you understand? If not, read over the concept once more.

As our final activity, complete the exercise below:

Exercise 5

Find the median of the following data. (a) 27, 39, 49, 20, 21, 28, 38 (b) 10, 19, 54, 80, 15, 16 (c) 3,8,2,4,6,9 (d) 10 30, 20, 50, 40, 70, 60 (e) 3, 5, 2, 8, 1, 15, 9, 18

That’s all for today boys and girls. Check back next week for the answers to this week’s questions. Have a splendid week ahead!