# mean, median, mode

• Oct 21st 2008, 04:50 PM
mommy
mean, median, mode
Help!!
Helping my son with homework and I am lost:

find the value of x that makes the mean the given mumber
37, 50, 42, 34, 31 37, 31, x; mean = 38.5
I don't know where to start and where to go next

157, 188, 161, 129, x; mean = 151.8

• Oct 21st 2008, 05:47 PM
Jhevon
Quote:

Originally Posted by mommy
Help!!
Helping my son with homework and I am lost:

find the value of x that makes the mean the given mumber
37, 50, 42, 34, 31 37, 31, x; mean = 38.5
I don't know where to start and where to go next

157, 188, 161, 129, x; mean = 151.8

start by looking up what "mean" means. it refers to the arithmetic mean, which is the average. the average of a set of numbers is the sum of all the numbers divided by the number of numbers there are

so for the first, we need $\frac {37 + 50 + 42 + 34 + 31 + 37 + 31 + x}8 = 38.5$

now solve for $x$

similarly, for the second problem, solve $\frac {157 + 188 + 161 + 129 + x}5 = 151.8$ for $x$

when you are finished, tell us the answers you got
• Oct 22nd 2008, 04:56 AM
marionca57
Mean, median, mode
Mean: I tell my students that mean is the mean one because it makes you add up all the numbers and then divide by how many there are (total). THe previous post does a great job how to do it.

Median: I tell my student to think middle. Put all the numbers in order and find the middle number. If there is an odd number of numbers that it. If there is an even set of numbers you need to look at the two in the middle. If they are the same thats it. If they are different you need to find the middle of them (mean). Example if the two middle numbers is 5 and 7 then 6 would be the median. (5+7) / 2 = 6. There can only be one median.

Mode: Think of most. Find the number that appears the most. There can be more than one mode.

Hope this helps.
Marion