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Average values

Mean, median, and mode are three kinds of "averages".

There are many "averages" in mathematics, but these are the three most common. To explain let's find the mean, median, mode, and range for the following list of values:

16, 14, 21, 13, 13, 18, 13, 14, 13

Mean

The "mean" is the "average" you've been used to since primary school. To calculate the 'mean' value you add up all of the numbers and then divide your answer by the number of numbers you added.

(16, 14, 21, 13, 13, 18, 13, 14, 13) ÷ 9 = 15

Median

The "median" is the "middle" value in the list of numbers. To find the median, your numbers have to be listed in numerical order, so you may have to rewrite your list first.

13, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 16, 18, 21

There are nine numbers in the list, so the middle one will be the (9 + 1) ÷ 2 = 10 ÷ 2 = 5th number:

13, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 16, 18, 21

Mode

The "mode" is the value that occurs most often. If no number is repeated, then there is no mode for the list.

The mode is the number that is repeated more often than any other, so 13 is the mode.